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.