My Alpha Believed Her Lies Over Our Bond

The summons came three days after the soup incident, delivered by Victor with the same clinical detachment he brought to all of his duties as Beta. 'The Alpha has requested your presence in the main hall for the Pack Heritage photoshoot at noon.' He paused, studying me with eyes that revealed nothing. 'You should wear something... appropriate.'

I knew what 'appropriate' meant. Not the Luna's formal gowns that hung in my wardrobe, gathering dust. Something that would mark me as lesser. I chose a simple gray dress that buttoned to the throat, the kind worn by pack staff during formal functions. The irony wasn't lost on me.

The great hall was a flurry of activity when I arrived. Photographers—humans from the city, oblivious to the true nature of the family they were capturing—adjusted lights and backdrops. Loretta sat in her wheelchair in the center of it all, draped in a gown the color of blood, her dark hair arranged in perfect waves.

And around her neck, catching the light with every movement, hung the Harvey family rubies.

My rubies. The jewels that had been placed around my neck on my mating day, the ones that had adorned every Luna of the Black Moon Pack for generations. The ones Matthew had told me, in softer days, were a symbol of my place in the pack's heart.

'Luna Penelope.' Victor appeared at my elbow, his voice pitched low. 'You'll be standing here.' He gestured to a spot three paces behind Matthew's chair, slightly to the left. 'The photographers need you in the background. For... context.'

Context. As if I were part of the furniture, a prop to complete the picture of pack hierarchy.

Matthew entered, and the room shifted like iron filings to a magnet. He wore his formal Alpha attire—black suit, silver cufflinks, the kind of commanding presence that had once made my heart race. Now it just made my stomach clench.

He didn't look at me. Not once.

'Alpha Matthew,' the head photographer called, his voice bright with professional enthusiasm. 'We're ready to begin. If you could stand behind Miss Loretta, one hand on her shoulder... perfect. Now smile like you're celebrating something beautiful.'

Loretta's smile was radiant. Matthew's was practiced. I stood where I was told, my hands folded in front of me, watching my mate pose with another woman while wearing my jewelry.

'The next shot,' the photographer announced, 'will be the two of you together. Miss Loretta, if you could stand...' He trailed off, clearly confused.

Loretta rose from her wheelchair with fluid grace. My breath caught. The photographers, focused on their equipment, didn't notice. But I saw Matthew's eyes flicker—he'd seen it too. For one heartbeat, I thought—

'The chair was just for comfort,' Loretta said lightly, her hand finding Matthew's arm with practiced ease. 'I can stand for a few photos.'

Matthew's face smoothed over. 'Of course, sweetheart. Whatever makes you comfortable.'

They posed together—his arm around her waist, her head tilted back against his shoulder, the rubies gleaming between them like a promise. The photographers clicked away, calling out directions, completely unaware of the perversion they were documenting.

I stood in my gray dress and watched my life become a photograph I wasn't truly part of.

Hours later, I found her in the garden.

Loretta sat on a stone bench, her wheelchair folded neatly beside her, stroking something small and gray in her lap. My heart stopped when I recognized the runt wolf pup—Shadow, the tiny creature I'd found abandoned at the edge of our territory last winter. The one I'd nursed back to health in secret, hiding him from a packhouse that had no room for gentleness.

'So this is your little friend,' Loretta said, her fingers tangled in Shadow's fur. 'I found him wandering. Poor thing seems lost.'

I took a step forward. 'Shadow, come here.'

The pup whined, struggling to get away from Loretta's grip. She held him tighter, her nails digging into his fur.

'Don't be greedy, Penelope,' she said, her voice dropping to that cold register she used when we were alone. 'Some things are too weak to survive in this world.'

I lunged forward as she stood, the pup squirming in her arms. But I was too late.

The crack of breaking bones echoed through the garden. Shadow's small body went limp, his eyes still open, fixed on me with a trust I had failed to honor.

Loretta let him fall to the ground between us. 'Oops,' she whispered.

She collapsed back into her wheelchair just as footsteps approached. Matthew appeared at the garden entrance, his expression darkening as he took in the scene.

'What happened?' he demanded.

Loretta's face crumpled into perfect grief. 'I was just trying to hold him, and he got so scared... he thrashed and fell. I couldn't catch him in time.'

I stared at Matthew, waiting for him to see through the lie, to notice the wheelchair she'd just risen from without assistance.

'She killed him,' I said, my voice breaking. 'Matthew, she killed Shadow.'

He looked down at the small, broken body, then back at me with cold impatience. 'It was an accident, Penelope. Stop acting like a child over a dead animal.'