(Isara’s POV)

Hours passed. The laughter below slowly faded until the pack house fell silent.

My parents retired to one guest chamber. Brienne took the other. And Xavian… I knew exactly where my Alpha would be.

My throat felt dry. I needed water, but I forced myself to wait a little longer to be certain everyone slept.

At last, I slipped from the bed, crept down the stairs and entered the kitchen. I poured water from the stone basin into a glass.

Then I heard Xavian’s low voice drifting from his study.

“I do not care what it takes. Keep her under the sleep spell.”

I froze, the glass halfway to my lips.

“No. I do not want her waking,” he said coldly. “I pay you enough gold to ensure that.”

My heart pounded against my ribs.

“The spirit watchers detected brain activity? Then increase the potion. I do not want her conscious. Ever.”

I slowly set the glass down and moved closer. The study door stood slightly open.

“You fail to understand,” Xavian hissed. “Sariah is a threat. If she wakes, everything collapses.”

Silence. Then his voice again. “Yes, I know it breaks healer law. That is why I will triple your payment.”

Another pause.

“Because she saw me,” he snapped. “She saw me with Brienne months ago. She threatened to tell Isara. So I dealt with it.”

My hand flew to my mouth.

“The carriage crash was no accident,” Xavian said without emotion. “I forced her off the mountain road myself. She should have died, but the old woman survived. Now she lies in a coma and she must remain there.”

No…

“If she wakes and tells Isara what she witnessed, my plans shatter. Keep her asleep until after the celebration. After that, I do not care. Let her die naturally. Just make sure it cannot be traced to me.”

The call ended. His chair scraped across the floor.

I ran.

I rushed up the stairs and closed the chamber door just as his footsteps echoed through the corridor. I pressed my back against the wood, shaking.

Xavian tried to kill Sariah. He kept her trapped in forced sleep. He planned to let her die.

With trembling hands, I grabbed my communicator stone and called Raiden.

He answered on the second ring. “Luna Silverhowl. It is late.”

“I need your help,” I whispered desperately. “It is about my foster mother, Sariah. Xavian forced her carriage off the road months ago because she caught him with Brienne. Now he pays the healer to keep her in a coma. She shows signs of waking and he plans to let her die.”

Silence answered me.

“Please,” I begged. “I must move her somewhere safe. I cannot do it alone. His wolves are everywhere.”

“Where is she kept?”

“Moonfang Healing Den. Chamber 27.”

“She will be moved before dawn,” Raiden said calmly. “She will be protected.”

Relief washed over me. “Thank you. Thank you.”

“But you understand what this means, Isara.”

I closed my eyes. “Yes.”

“Speak it.”

“I accept your offer,” I said softly. “I will become your mate.”

“Good. Four days remain.”

The line went silent. I sat in the darkness, the stone still in my hand.

I had agreed to mate with a wolf I had never met. My mate’s greatest enemy.

Xavian did not know it yet, but I had become his reckoning.

I could not sleep. My mind replayed every word I heard in that study.

Then footsteps approached. A soft knock followed.

“Isara?” Brienne’s voice sounded gentle. “May I enter?”

I gave no answer.

“Isara, please. I only wish to speak.”

Silence.

“Open the door.”

The handle turned. She stepped inside.

There was a pause. Then her tone changed. The sweetness vanished.

“You look pitiful, sister,” she drawled.

I remained still.

She smirked. “Know this. The pup in my womb belongs to Xavian. He chose me.”

I slowly sat up and faced her.

A cruel grin curved her lips. “He told me how dull you are in his bed. How you never satisfied him. How he shut his eyes and imagined someone else.”

My hands curled into fists.

“And those pups?” She laughed. “Four chances. And you failed each time. What kind of she wolf cannot even carry a single heir?”

My vision blurred with rage.

“Your body must be flawed,” she continued. “Perhaps the Moon Goddess knew you would be a terrible mother.”

I rose and walked toward her.

“Xavian loves me,” Brienne said with pride. “I carry his true heir. A strong pup who will live. Because I can give him what you never could. A real family.”

I shoved her.

She stumbled back, eyes wide.

“Leave,” I said coldly.

“You vicious creature,” she hissed. “How dare you.”

“I said leave.”

I slammed the door shut and locked it. Silence followed. Then footsteps moved down the hall.

I returned to the bed and sat down.

Suddenly, a heavy thud echoed below. A scream pierced the air.

“Xavian! Help! Xavian….”

My blood turned to ice. What did she do?

The chamber door burst open so violently it struck the wall. The lock splintered.

Xavian stood there, chest heaving, fury burning in his eyes. Behind him, my parents held a sobbing Brienne.

“You pushed her down the stairs?” Xavian’s voice was dangerously calm.

“What? No!”

“She came to comfort you,” my mother cried. “To make peace. And you attacked her.”

“That is not true.” I stepped forward. “She entered my chamber and insulted me.”

“It is true,” Brienne sobbed. “I only wished to check on her. She pushed me.”

“I shoved her away from my door. I did not push her down the stairs.”

Before I could speak another word, Xavian’s fist struck my face.

The force threw me backward. My head slammed against the stone wall. Pain exploded through my skull.

Darkness swallowed me whole.

(Isara’s POV)

When I woke inside the pack infirmary, my head felt like it had been split by a claw. My cheek burned and I tasted iron on my tongue.

I tried to rise, but my limbs felt heavy and weak. Pain covered every part of me.

“You are awake at last.” Xavian’s voice was flat and cold.

I forced my eyes open. He sat near the tall window of the Moonfang Healing Den, watching me like I was nothing.

Memories rushed back. In eight winters of being his Luna, Xavian had never struck me before that night.

“Xavian,” I breathed. “How could you?”

“Beg forgiveness from Brienne.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Kneel and apologize to your sister for harming her.”

“I did not harm her.” I tried to sit up again despite the pain. “She mocked me. She said cruel things.”

“I do not care what words she used.” He stood. “You touched a she wolf who carries an Alpha heir. You could have killed my pup.”

“She threw herself down the steps of the pack house.” Tears slid down my face. “She lies. She always lies.”

“Apologize.”

“No,” I said, my voice firm.

His eyes darkened. “No?”

“I will not beg for a sin I did not commit.”

He watched me for a long moment. Then he smiled and it was colder than winter frost.

“Very well.”

He seized my arm and pulled me up. My legs shook beneath me.

“What are you doing?” I gasped.

He gave no answer. He dragged me from the room and down the stone hall of the Healing Den.

“Xavian, stop. Where are you taking me?”

He kept walking until we reached the sacred ward where the most wounded wolves lay.

My stomach twisted.

“No,” I whispered. “Please, Xavian.”

He ignored me and stopped before Room 27. Sariah’s chamber.

“Xavian, please,” I cried. “Don’t do this.”

He pushed the door open.

Sariah lay pale and still upon the bed of furs, silver threads of moon magic glowing around her. Crystal runes blinked softly beside her, tracking her fading life. Raiden’s warriors had not arrived yet.

A healer turned, shocked. “Alpha, you cannot enter without…”

“Remove the life binding spell,” Xavian ordered, his voice like ice.

The healer stared. “My Alpha?”

“I said remove it.”

“My Alpha, if we break the spell, her spirit will leave within moments.”

“I am aware,” he replied coldly. “Do it now.”

The healer looked at me, then back at him. “I need the High Council’s seal before—”

“I am Xavian Silverhowl, Alpha of this territory,” he said quietly. “My word is law. I fund this Healing Den with my gold and my power. If you refuse me, I will strip you of your rank and banish you from every pack land. Do you understand?”

The healer’s face lost all color. With shaking hands and tears in her eyes, she began to undo the glowing threads of moon magic.

“No!” I lunged forward, but Xavian caught me and held me back.

“Please,” I sobbed. “She is all I have. She raised me. Please.”

The soft hum of magic faded.

The glowing runes dimmed.

“Xavian, please!” I fell to my knees. “Do not do this. I beg you.”

He looked down at me. “Apologize to Brienne.”

“I will apologize,” I screamed. “I will beg for anything. Just spare her.”

“Say it.”

“I am sorry,” I cried, shaking. “I am sorry for pushing Brienne. I am sorry for everything. Please, Xavian. Do not take her from me.”

He studied me in silence.

“Restore the spell,” I shouted. “Please restore it.”

Then a voice echoed from the hall. “Alpha Silverhowl!”

Another healer rushed in. “It is Lady Brienne. She cannot breathe. Her wolf is in distress.”

Xavian released me at once. “Summon every healer and shaman in this den. No harm must touch Brienne or my heir.”

He left without another glance. He even dragged the healer from Sariah’s side with him.

I ran into the hallway.

“Help!” I cried. “Please, someone help us!”

But every healer hurried toward Brienne.

I turned back to the bed, staring at the fading crystals and runes.

“I am sorry,” I whispered to Sariah. “I do not know how to mend the spell.”

I touched the stones and whispered every prayer to the Moon Goddess I knew. Nothing answered me.

The glow around her weakened.

“No, no,” I sobbed. “Please, Mother. Do not leave me.”

The final rune flickered and went dark.

“No!” I threw myself over her body. “Mother. Please.”

But her spirit had already crossed into the Moon Goddess’s embrace.

I do not know how long I lay there, crying over her.

When the healers returned, they tried to pull me away. I would not release her.

Pack guards had to be called.

They dragged me from the room as I screamed and fought like a wild wolf.

In the waiting chamber, Xavian sat beside Brienne. She wept softly while my mother stroked her hair.

When he saw me being carried past, he did not look troubled. He simply turned back to Brienne and held her close.

Sariah was gone. Xavian had ended her life. Just as he had ended the lives of my unborn pups.

With shaking fingers, I took out my communicator and sent a message to Raiden.

[He killed my mother. It is too late.]

His reply came at once.

[What happened?]

I told him everything. There was a long silence before his next words appeared.

[I will make him answer for this, Isara. I swear it on my wolf and my crown.]

If Xavian believed he had broken me, he would soon learn how wrong he was.

(Isara’s POV)

The next few days moved fast. I held a quiet moon rite for Sariah, inviting only the few pack members and old friends who truly cared for her spirit.

Xavian hardly spoke to me. He spent all his time around Brienne, making sure she was comfortable for the grand Alpha gathering.

The day before the celebration, I found Xavian inside his study in the pack manor. He was speaking through a crystal communicator with the event steward about the feast.

When he noticed me, he lifted one finger, telling me to wait.

I stood there while he discussed roasted elk, rare wine and silver moon lilies, as if he had not ended Sariah’s life.

At last, he ended the call and looked at me with annoyance. “What do you need?”

“I require your mark on these.” I placed a folder before him. “They are for Sariah’s death scroll and burial rites.”

He glanced over the papers without reading them. “Fine.”

He picked up his pen.

“I am sorry about your foster mother,” he said in a distant tone as he signed the first page. “But it was her time, was it not? The healers already told you her spirit was fading.”

My teeth pressed together.

He kept signing, not truly seeing the words. “It happens. She was old. She lived long enough.”

He killed her. And now he spoke as if it was the Moon Goddess’s will.

“There.” He pushed the folder back. “All done. Anything else?”

“No.”

“Good. Finish everything quickly. The gathering is on Saturday. I do not want sorrow spoiling the mood.”

Sorrow. That was what my grief meant to him.

“Of course,” I said softly, taking the folder.

As I turned, Brienne’s voice sounded from the hall.

“Xavian? Are you finished? I need your thoughts on my gown. Oh...” She paused when she saw me. “Isara. I did not notice you.”

“I am leaving,” I said.

“Wait.” She stepped inside, her hand resting over her stomach. “I wish to speak with you.”

I remained silent.

“I know you are grieving Sariah,” she said gently. “Losing a mother is painful.”

My hands tightened around the folder.

“But remember,” she went on, “Sariah carried me in her womb. We shared true blood. If anyone suffers more, it is me.”

I stared at her. She had rejected Sariah after the blood test revealed the truth.

“You only lived with her for ten years,” Brienne said. “She bore me for nine months. That bond is deeper than anything you can claim. So truly, I am the one who lost a mother. You are only making a scene.”

Something inside me broke. My hand rose before I could stop it. The sound of the slap rang across the stone walls.

Brienne stepped back, clutching her cheek. For a heartbeat she stood frozen. Then she burst into loud tears.

“Xavian,” she cried. “She struck me. She did it again.”

Xavian rose at once.

“What’s wrong with you?” he thundered.

“She was mocking me,” I said, my voice trembling. “She said that she felt more pain than I ever could.”

“I do not care what she said.” His hand came down across my face.

The force made me stumble. I caught the wall to stay upright.

“I only tried to comfort her,” Brienne sobbed. “I told her I shared her sorrow because Sariah was my birth mother too and she attacked me.”

“You are lying!”

Xavian seized my arm harshly. “Enough. I will not hear another word.”

He pushed me toward the door.

“Leave my sight,” he said coldly. “If you so much as glare at Brienne again, you will regret it.”

I stumbled from the study, holding the folder close.

Behind me, his voice turned soft. “Are you well, my heart? Did she wound you? Come, let me see.”

I climbed the stairs slowly, my cheek burning where he struck me.

In eight winters of marriage, Xavian had never raised his hand against me. Now he had done it twice in four days for Brienne.

I entered the bedroom and locked the door. Then I opened the folder and looked at the papers he had signed.

He had not read a single word.

He had signed the separation decree. He had signed the transfer confirming my half ownership of Silverhowl Fragrances. He had signed the proof that I withdrew my gold from his trade empire.

He had signed the ruin of his own house and did not even know it.

I took images of every marked page and sent them to Raiden.

[He signed everything. The gathering is tomorrow night. Are you prepared?]

His answer came at once. [Everything is ready. Tomorrow, you leave that manor and never return.]

The day of the gathering arrived. Xavian and Brienne left hours earlier for the grand hall of the territory, leaving only my parents behind.

At the sixth hour of evening, my mother knocked.

“Isara, put on your dress. We are heading to the hall soon.”

“All right.”

“Wear something bright. Not black.”

I did not reply.

She sighed. “Xavian works hard to make this night flawless. Do not ruin it with your mourning.”

Then she walked away.

When the house fell silent, I moved fast. I pulled the travel trunks from the back of the wardrobe and placed them in the hall.

On the table, I set a large envelope. Inside were the signed separation scrolls, the images of Xavian and Brienne together and the healer records showing what he did to my unborn pups.

There was also the contract proving my fifty percent claim over Silverhowl Fragrances and the document showing I withdrew my investment.

And every other paper needed.

I looked at the envelope. It sat there like a spell waiting to be unleashed.

By the time he opened it, I would be gone.

His trade empire would fall and his name would be stained across every pack.

I summoned a courier hawk through my communicator, then lifted my bags and stepped out of the manor.

A black carriage waited behind the estate walls. Raiden stood beside it and opened the door for me.

“Are you prepared?” he asked quietly.

I glanced back once at the manor. At the life I was leaving.

“Yes,” I said. “I am ready.”

I entered the carriage. Raiden joined me.

As we rode away, I sent one final message to the courier.

[Deliver the envelope now.]

Then I blocked Xavian’s number, Brienne’s number and my parents’ numbers.

I was finished.

“Where are we going?” I asked Raiden softly.

“To my kingdom beyond the northern borders,” he said. “Where no one can touch you.”

I placed my hand over my stomach, over the small life growing within me.

“Good,” I whispered.

As the manor disappeared from sight, I watched it fade without regret.

Xavian believed I was weak and easy to control. He had no idea what he had forged.

The woman who loved him died the night I found him with Brienne beneath the moonlight.

The woman riding beside Raiden was different.

She would make him answer for every lie, every betrayal, every slain pup.

Xavian Silverhowl’s perfect Alpha gathering was about to become his darkest humiliation and I would watch his world burn.