I was a princess of the sea. And the moment I saw the werewolf Alpha, Dominic, I fell. Hard.

I wanted to be his mate. To be part of his world. So I sacrificed everything I was to the Moon Goddess.

But he locked me in the pack's isolation room for three days. To "think about what I'd done."

All because I didn't rush to help his childhood friend, Harper. She took a dive at the pack banquet, and the room erupted in laughter.

Harper cried and collapsed into Dominic’s arms. "Marina must be jealous of how good you are to me. She used her outsider magic to make me fall in front of everyone!"

As he locked me away, Dominic's eyes were full of disappointment.

"I've spoiled you, Marina. And now you're using my love as a weapon against my own people. Three days. When you're ready to submit, you will contact me through the mind link and apologize. Only then will I let you out."

But he didn't know the truth.

Burning sage soothes a werewolf's spirit.

But for a mermaid, it’s poison.

The smoke scorched my lungs. The poison flooded my veins.

I suffocated in that sealed room. And no one ever knew.

"Liam. It's been three days."

Dominic's voice boomed through his lavish villa, an Alpha's command laced with raw frustration. "Drop the mind-link block on the isolation room. Let's see if she's ready to beg."

My ghostly form chilled as I watched the man I once loved with every fiber of my being.

His brows were knitted in a tight line, annoyed by my so-called "stubbornness."

He had no idea. He would never get his apology.

Because his Marina was already dead.

His Beta, Liam, answered respectfully, tapping on a tablet. "Yes, Alpha. Mind link is restored."

Dominic closed his eyes. His powerful mind reached for the room where he'd imprisoned me.

One second, two...

"What's going on? Why can't I feel her?"

"Maybe... the Luna is in some kind of trance? Her presence... it's just gone," Liam guessed.

"Meditating?" "That girl never learns," Dominic scoffed, his voice dripping with disdain. "I bet she's blocking me on purpose, waiting for me to come crawling back."

Mistakes?

A sharp pain pierced my soul.

My only mistake was giving up the sea and my birthright... all to love a fool like you.

The memory flooded back.

That damned pack gala. The beginning of the end.

Three days ago. The Silver Moon Gala.

Beneath shimmering crystal chandeliers, the powerful elites of the werewolf world mingled.

I was on Dominic's arm, playing the part of his perfect Luna.

He held me possessively. His hot breath ghosted over my ear. "You're the greatest treasure here tonight, Marina," he whispered. "My treasure."

It was the first time he'd brought me to such a grand pack event.

Until his childhood friend, Harper, walked toward us, smiling.

"Marina, you look so beautiful tonight," she said, her voice sickly sweet.

I replied politely, "You look beautiful too, Harper."

"It's a shame I can never compare. After all, you're the Alpha's fated mate." A flicker of resentment crossed her eyes, gone in a flash. "And I'm just an ordinary she-wolf."

Just then, a server walked past with a tray of drinks.

Harper suddenly lurched forward, crashing to the polished floor in a heap.

Glass shattered. Blood trickled from her knee.

The entire hall went silent.

"Gods, are all the Silver Moon Pack's she-wolves this clumsy?"

"Can't even walk straight. How pathetic."

Laughter rippled through the crowd.

I instinctively reached for Harper, but she flinched away from my touch.

"Marina, don't touch me!" she cried, scrambling backward. "You've done enough!"

Done what? I hadn't done anything!

"Harper, what are you talking about?" Dominic asked, his voice low.

"I don't know... Ever since you got with Marina, I've been getting these headaches..." Harper clutched her forehead, her eyes filled with tears as she looked up at Dominic, full of hurt and dependence. "Just now... when Marina got close, it felt like a needle twisting in my head. My legs just... gave out from under me. Dom, I'm so scared... Is she mad? Because you're too nice to me? Did she use those strange powers of hers... to humiliate me in public?"

What?

I stared at her in shock. "Harper, I never..."

"She's jealous of how good you are to me," Harper sobbed, burying her face in Dominic's chest. "So she used her outsider curse to make me fall!"

Outsider curse?

The murmurs around us grew louder.

"So Alpha Dominic's mate isn't a wolf."

"Typical outsider. They're all savages."

"Why would our Alpha choose someone like that as his Luna?"

I felt every eye in the room on me, filled with contempt and disgust.

"Dominic, I really didn't..."

"Enough," he cut me off coldly. "We're leaving. Now."

Back at the villa, he flung me onto the sofa.

"Dominic, let me explain. I didn't hurt Harper, I was even going to—"

"Going to what? Get jealous?" He looked down at me, the disappointment in his eyes ready to swallow me whole. "Because I was kind to Harper? Because she's my pack-sister, the closest thing I have to family? So you used your pathetic little tricks to humiliate her? Marina, I spoil you, but not so you can take advantage of my love and bully my packmates!"

"I didn't!" The tears broke free. "You don't believe me?"

"The proof is right in front of you!" he roared. "Harper is sweet and simple. She doesn't lie."

Harper never lies... so that makes me what? A vicious liar? In your heart, Dominic, what am I to you?

"I've spoiled you," Dominic said, his gaze fixed on me. "And you're using your outsider powers to bully my people."

"I didn't bully anyone..."

"You need to think about what you've done," he interrupted. "Three days in the isolation room. You're going to think long and hard about what it means to be a Luna."

The isolation room?

My heart hammered in my chest.

"Dominic, no. I can't—"

"That was an order." His Alpha command crashed over me, paralyzing my will. "Three days. When you've learned your lesson, you will contact me through the mind link and apologize. Then I'll let you out."

The door to the isolation room opened. A thick, white smoke billowed out.

Sage.

Deadly poison for a mermaid.

I couldn't breathe. "Dominic, I can't be near that! The sage..."

"More excuses? Sage is for purification. It cleanses the spirit. This is the highest quality." He stared at me coldly. "Marina, the act is over."

"This isn't an act!" I screamed. "It will kill me! I will literally die in there!"

"It's just a few herbs." He shoved me inside without a second glance. "This is the best herb for cleansing a wolf's spirit. Marina, you need to adapt to our ways."

"Dominic, please, listen to me—"

SLAM!

The heavy door crashed shut.

I pounded on it frantically. "Dom! Open the door! I really can't breathe this in!"

The sage smoke grew thicker, the sharp scent burning my airways.

"Dominic!" I screamed through our mind link. "I can't breathe!"

Static. Then, silence.

He cut me off.

His cold voice came from the other side of the door. "Harper's fall made our pack a laughingstock at the gala. How can you be a Luna like this?"

I slid down the door, tears streaming down my face. "Dom, I love you. Why would I ever embarrass you on purpose—"

"It's just smoke." His voice was muffled, but every word was a dagger twisting in my heart. "When you've learned some humility, I'll consider letting you out."

I wanted to answer him. To tell him I had never been anything but humble.

I gave up my throne. My power. My home in the deep sea. I gave up everything for him.

But I couldn't form the words.

The toxic smoke filled my lungs. My vision blurred.

In my last moments of consciousness, I heard their footsteps fade away.

Then, everything went dark.

And now I float here, a ghost forced to watch my murderer's pathetic little drama unfold.

He thinks this is just another one of my desperate plays for his attention.

He'll never know. The moment that door slammed shut, he had already lost me forever.

Dominic yanked at his tie, his jaw tight. A sharp pain clawed at his chest—the mate bond, fraying.

His wolf howled in agony, but he shoved the feeling down, mistaking its pain for his own frustration with Marina.

"Give her two more days," he snapped, his voice pure ice. "Don't you dare let her out until I hear her crying and begging for me in the mind link. We're going to headquarters."

My soul followed them, drifting toward the Silver Moon Pack's headquarters.

When the elevator doors opened, I saw a sight that filled me with a cold rage.

Harper was sitting in my chair. In my office. She was rifling through my files as if she owned the place.

"Harper, thank you for handling this," Dominic said, sitting across from her. His voice was so gentle it made me want to scream.

"Oh, don't thank me, Dom." Harper looked up, her eyes shimmering with false concern. "I just... I can't help but worry about Marina."

"Worried about her?"

"Was it too cruel? Locking up the Luna like that?" Harper bit her lip, a perfect picture of feigned guilt. "You two are fated mates. She must be heartbroken."

Heartbroken? I'm dead, you two-faced, conniving bitch!

"Maybe it's my fault," Harper continued, her voice a soft murmur. "You're too good to me, and Marina sees me as a threat. That's why she lashed out."

Dominic's expression hardened instantly. "Harper, don't think like that."

"But..."

"You're my best friend since we were pups," he cut her off, his voice firm and absolute. "That will never change. Marina has to accept it."

Best friend since they were pups.

And me?

I was just an outsider. A mate who needed to be "disciplined."

"Dom, maybe Marina just loves you too much," Harper's voice grew even softer. "Women get jealous, especially of a childhood friend..."

"Jealousy?" Dominic sneered. "Harper, you're too naive. Marina’s problem isn't love. It's possession."

He stood and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, his back to her.

"She needs to be broken."

Broken.

The word was a physical blow, ripping through my soul.

If my ghost could cry, tears would be streaming down my face.

"What do you mean, 'broken'?" Harper asked, feigning ignorance.

Dominic turned, a cruel light in his eyes.

"Marina is from the sea. She despises dry air. She can't stand smoke." A cruel smile touched his lips. "So I'm using the very things she hates most to break her. If she wants to be my Luna, she will learn to obey."

It's not hate, you fool! It's a deadly poison!

"Dom..." Harper hesitated.

"What?"

"Isn't that... isn't that too cruel?" she asked, pretending to be worried. But I saw the flash of excitement in her eyes.

"Cruel?" Dominic laughed. "Harper, I just locked her up. If it makes her obedient and stops the jealousy, what's a few days?"

Just then, there was a knock on the office door.

"Come in."

Liam entered, his face grim. "Alpha, we have an emergency."

"What is it?" Dominic asked, annoyed.

"The life-sign monitor for the isolation room... Alpha, it's flatlined." Liam's voice trembled. "We're getting no heartbeat or respiration from Luna. It's been like this for forty minutes."

I saw Dominic's body go rigid for a second.

Deep inside him, his wolf was howling in pain.

The mate bond was disappearing.

The connection was breaking.

But his mind refused to accept it.

"Flatlined?" He barked out a laugh, but it sounded strained. "She's faking it."

"Alpha, the monitors don't make mistakes..."

"Don't fall for her tricks!" Dominic slammed a folder on the desk, sending papers flying. "She's not a wolf, but she's no fragile human! That woman can heal herself!"

Heal myself? What a complete and utter fool I was. Dominic, I gave up all my divine power for you. I'm more fragile than a human now, you absolute fool!

"Besides, I just locked her up. How could a little smoke kill her?" His voice was rising, bordering on hysterical. "Don't you dare open that door!"

Liam stared at him, horrified. "Alpha, if something really happened—"

"There is no 'if'!" Dominic cut him off, his chest heaving. "This is just another one of her desperate tactics to force my hand! I won't fall for it!"

"Dom, calm down," Harper said, gently rubbing his back. "Maybe... maybe she really learned her lesson, but she's just too embarrassed to apologize?"

"Learned her lesson?" Dominic sneered. "If she had, why hasn't she apologized through the mind link?"

Because I'm dead! I'm nothing but a fading wisp of a soul!

"Turn off all the alarms," Dominic ordered, his voice dangerously low. "She wants to play games? Fine. Let her play."

After Liam left, Dominic leaned back in my chair, a smug smirk playing on his lips.

"Harper, you want to know why I'm so sure Marina's fine?"

"Why?" Harper asked, feigning curiosity.

Dominic leaned back, a cold smirk on his lips.

"Because Marina," he said, his voice a strange mix of pride and contempt, "is a monster. The crushing pressure of the deep sea? She was born in it. It's her playground."

Monster.

He called me a monster.

The memories came rushing back, the pain I had tried so hard to forget.

Ten years ago, in the deep-sea temple, I prayed to the Moon Goddess to be with him.

"Princess, are you certain you wish to make this bargain?" the Goddess's voice softened with sorrow, echoing from the altar.

I nodded without hesitation. "I am. I want to be with that werewolf."

"The price is steep," the Goddess's light dimmed. "You must shed your scales, surrender your divine core—your very life force—and give up the protections of the sea."

"I'll do it."

"You will become more fragile than any human. High pressure, toxic fumes, extreme temperatures... a single one could be your end."

"As long as I can feel his warmth, nothing else matters."

My sisters wept around the altar, their eyes filled with tears.

"Marina, don't do this!" my eldest sister, Coral, pleaded. "Giving up your divinity for a land-dweller is not worth it!"

"He doesn't even know what you've done for him!" my second sister, Pearl, said angrily. "The mate bond between a wolf and a mermaid is unstable. You're gambling everything!"

"I don't care," I clenched my fists. "As long as I can be his fated mate, as long as I can forge that bond with him, I will give up anything."

The Moon Goddess sighed. "Silly child. Love has made you blind."

A holy light enveloped me. Searing pain tore through every nerve. My silver scales peeled away, one by agonizing one. My glowing blue core was ripped from my chest.

I screamed and convulsed in agony, but just before I lost consciousness, I saw Dominic reaching for me under the moonlight.

For him, it was all worth it.

When I woke up, I was a fragile "mortal."

But I could finally feel the real warmth of his embrace. I could use my weakened, enchanting song to clear his path on the battlefield.

I thought I had become his perfect Luna. That my sacrifice had paid off.

Now, he was twisting that sacrifice into 'proof' that I was indestructible. He called me a monster. I made myself weak for him, and he called it 'playing the victim.'

A bottomless rage clawed its way up from the depths of my shattered soul.

I will have my revenge! I will make them pay!

The immense rage exploded from me.

The vase on the office desk began to tremble.

I'll destroy this place! Destroy everything! Make them both pay!

I gathered every ounce of my fading essence and hurled it at the vase.

A flicker of movement. A whisper of displaced air.

The vase on the desk wobbled for a second, then stood still.

I collapsed in the empty air, realizing in despair that my soul was too weak to even knock over a vase.

"Strange," Harper murmured, looking around. "Was that a draft? I thought the windows were closed."

Dominic gasped, his hand flying to his chest. His face twisted.

The mate bond.

It was snapping.

His inner wolf was howling, feeling the agony of losing its mate.

But his mind still refused to accept reality.

"Dom, you look pale," Harper stood up, worried. "Should we go home and check on Marina?"

"Check on her?" Dominic sneered as he got up, but I noticed his legs were trembling. "Fine. Let's go see just how long she can keep up this act."

He was going home!

This was my last chance!

Let him see my body with his own eyes. Let him know what he's done!

Burning the last of my soul's energy, I lunged for the house's alarm system.

The piercing shriek of an alarm tore through the air.

Dominic's phone buzzed wildly, flashing a bright red alert:

TOXIC GAS DETECTED IN VILLA. EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY.

I saw his face change, his chest rising and falling faster.

But he quickly composed himself.

"See?" Dominic sneered, though his own face was pale. "She's even hacking the security systems now. Her little performance is getting more and more elaborate."

No! It's not an act, you fool! It's the stench of my rotting corpse!

"Dom, the system wouldn't go off for no reason," Harper said, faking concern. "Maybe we should really go back and look?"

"Of course we're going back," Dominic said, gathering his files, his eyes turning dangerous. "Harper, you're coming with me."

"Really?" Harper couldn't hide her excitement. "But... is that a good idea?"

"It's a great idea," Dominic scoffed. "I want you to see her little performance firsthand. I want you to see just how manipulative an outsider can be."

They were going back together.

They were going to see my body.

I screamed in his ear, a desperate, silent roar: Go on. Go see what you've done.

You're about to see her, Dominic.

The girl you left bleeding from her eyes and nose, her skin blistered raw by your "purification."

You're about to meet the corpse you created.