The night I discovered my husband’s whore was carrying his heir, I smiled for the cameras—and plotted his ruin.

Scarlett was born a queen—heir to a powerful legacy, Luna of the Dark Moon Pack by blood and by sacrifice. She gave everything to Alexander: her love, her loyalty, her life.

In return, he paraded his mistress before their pack... and dared to call it duty.

But Scarlett won't be another broken woman weeping in the shadows.

She’ll wear her crown of thorns with pride, tear down every lie built around her, and when she strikes, it will be glorious.

The Alpha forgot that the woman he betrayed is far more dangerous than the girl who once loved him.

Betrayed

Scarlett's POV

I smelled him on her before I saw them together.

Sandalwood and cedar—Alexander's scent, the one that used to make my wolf purr with contentment.

Now it clung to another woman's skin like a brand of ownership, thick enough to taste at the back of my throat.

Faye. His childhood sweetheart.

His "true love" who'd rejected him five years ago, who'd walked away to chase her dreams in the city, who'd abandoned him when his pack was on the brink of collapse.

But as Luna, I didn't even know when she'd returned.

No one had asked for my approval—pack law be damned.

And by the time I found out, she was already standing in my place, basking in the glory I'd bought with blood.

The grand ballroom glittered with success.

Pack members laughed, champagne flutes clinking in toasts to our rise—from tenth place to second in the Continental rankings.

A victory I had bled for. Sacrificed for.

And my husband was celebrating it with his mistress in his arms.

I stood frozen in the arched doorway, still wearing my coat from the drive over. My fingers crushed the fabric of the garment bag I carried—the white silk gown I'd designed for TOMORROW NIGHT, diamonds sewn into every seam.

Yes. Tomorrow night.

Everyone had told me the banquet was tomorrow.

I'd believed them like a fool.

If I hadn't overheard the seamstress mention it during my fitting, I would've stayed in the dark. Excluded from my own pack's celebration while another woman took my place.

"Luna?!" My maid, Ruby's shocked voice cut through the music like a knife.

Every head in the ballroom swiveled toward me.

The whispers started immediately:

"Didn't Alpha say Luna was sick?"

"Are you a puppy? You still believe those lies—"

"Oh goddess, so both of them are here—"

Each word was a needle piercing my chest.

But the real fool wasn't these guests.

It was me. I was the biggest idiot of all.

My wolf, Kara, snarled deep in my chest.

"Rip their throat out."

I wanted to. I was supposed to be the bravest female warrior in our pack.

But right now, I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.

Across the room, Alexander's hand slid lower down Faye's back—possessive, deliberate, public.

And he was looking directly at me while he did it.

His blue eyes, the ones that used to soften when they found mine across a room, held nothing but cold warning now.

Don't make a scene. You know what's at stake.

Bastard.

That's when Faye saw me.

Her green eyes widened with theatrical surprise, her red lips forming a perfect O of false concern.

She pressed one manicured hand to Alexander's chest—a gesture of intimacy that made bile rise in my throat—and leaned in to whisper something that made his jaw clench.

Then she looked at me again and smiled.

Triumphant. Victorious. Mine.

Bitch.

How could I possibly tolerate this?

The ten steps across that ballroom floor felt like walking through fire.

Every eye tracked my movement.

The music faltered, then died completely. Conversations cut off mid-sentence. Even the servers froze, champagne bottles suspended in mid-pour.

I could smell their fear spreading through the room like smoke.

Good. They should be afraid.

I was the daughter of the Winter Pack. I had chosen Alexander as my mate when he was nothing but a struggling heir to a dying pack.

I had merged our territories during my father's memorial ceremony, had convinced my people to accept him as their Alpha when they'd wanted to tear him apart.

I had worked tirelessly to repair the rift between him and my people, had even pretended he'd been in control all along.

IT'S ME who had made him.

And now, when our pack had reached its peak, he dared to humiliate me like this? What was his purpose in doing this? He wanted the entire pack to know that only Faye was his true Luna?

Impossible.

The Winter Pack would never tolerate betrayal.

My heels clicked against marble—each step a declaration of war.

Alexander moved to intercept me, stepping in front of Faye like a shield.

His broad shoulders blocked her from view, but I could see her peering around him, watching me with barely concealed glee.

"Scarlett." His voice carried the tone he used in Council meetings—authoritative, dismissive, as if I were a subordinate instead of his mate. "Now's not the time for this conversation."

I stopped three feet away, close enough to see the muscle jumping in his jaw. Close enough to smell Faye's jasmine perfume mingling with his scent. The combination made my stomach turn.

"I think now is exactly the time," I said, my voice ringing clear across the silent ballroom. I looked past him to Faye, who had the audacity to meet my gaze with feigned innocence. "If you plan to humiliate me in public, then I will defend my dignity in public."

Pregnancy

Scarlett's POV

"Faye, darling—remind everyone here. Didn't you tell Alexander he wasn't good enough for you? That you were leaving to find someone worthy of your time?"

The crowd stirred like disturbed water.

Heads turned toward Faye, who'd gone from pale to crimson in the span of a heartbeat.

"That was years ago," she stammered, her perfect composure cracking. "I came back to—to help—"

"Help with what, exactly?" I stepped closer, and this time Alexander's hand twitched as if he wanted to stop me but didn't dare. Not with all these witnesses.

"Because if by 'help' you mean climbing into bed with my husband, then I suppose I should thank you for making his betrayal so obvious."

Someone gasped. Another person cursed under their breath.

Faye's eyes brimmed with practiced tears. Real fear flickered behind them now as she realized the crowd was turning.

She turned to Alexander, her voice breaking beautifully.

"Alpha, I—I realize now it was a mistake to come. I should leave before I cause more trouble—"

She made it three steps before Alexander caught her arm.

Time seemed to slow. I watched his fingers wrap around her wrist, watched him pull her back against his chest, watched his arm slide protectively around her shoulders.

Every wolf in that ballroom saw it.

Every witness to our mate bond watched him choose her over me.

The mark on my neck—the one he'd given me three years ago during our mating ceremony—began to burn.

Not the pleasant warmth of a bond being honored, but the searing pain of betrayal made manifest.

"Scarlett." Alexander's voice was low, dangerous, vibrating with barely restrained Alpha command. "You know how important tonight is. I need everything to be perfect for the Council representatives."

His eyes bored into mine, and I saw the threat there, cold and clear.

"If you keep making a scene, it won't just be my reputation that suffers. Your perfume business, all those contracts you've been negotiating—they'll disappear overnight."

He wasn't wrong. Half my clients were in this room right now, watching this disaster unfold.

The Council representatives he'd invited were already whispering among themselves.

But I was done being managed. Done being threatened. Done being his puppet Luna who smiled and stayed silent while he destroyed everything we'd built.

"You're absolutely right, ALPHA," I said, loud enough for the nearest cluster of pack members to hear. My smile was sharp enough to draw blood.

"This celebration is far too important to ruin with messy emotions. So please—" I gestured toward Faye with exaggerated courtesy, "—take care of your ex. Just remember where your wife sleeps when you're done."

I held his gaze for one more second, letting him see everything he'd destroyed in me.

Then I turned on my heel before he could respond, before I could see whether he'd follow or stay with her.

We both knew which he'd choose.

The crowd parted for me like I was toxic.

Their silence was worse than any insult—heavy with judgment, thick with pity, loaded with the weight of witnesses who'd seen their Luna humiliated and done nothing to stop it.

I walked through them all with my head high and my spine straight, even as my heart shattered with every step.

Even as I felt Kara retreating deeper into my consciousness, whimpering like a wounded animal.

Behind me, I heard Alexander say something in a low voice. Heard Faye's tearful response. Heard the music resume—tentative at first, then growing bolder.

The celebration continued.

As if nothing had happened.

As if I hadn't just been erased in front of everyone who mattered.

***

I barely made it through the front door before my legs gave out.

My hands hit the marble floor first, then my knees. The impact sent shockwaves up my thighs, but the pain was nothing compared to the fire spreading from the mark on my neck.

"Luna!" A voice echoed from somewhere in the house, panicked and distant.

I couldn't answer. Couldn't do anything but crawl toward the nearest bathroom, my coat dragging behind me like a wounded animal's tail.

The bathroom tile was cold against my palms.

I barely got the toilet seat up before I vomited again—violent, wrenching heaves that brought up nothing but bile and champagne I didn't remember drinking.

The mark burned hotter.

Inside, Kara was howling. The sound echoed through my skull like a death knell.

"He's killing us," she whimpered. "Every time he touches her, it kills us a little more."

I knew. God, I knew.

Because this was the Moon Goddess's punishment.

When the Alpha who marked you takes another to his bed, your body bears the consequences.

Every thrust, every moan, every moment of his pleasure becomes your pain.

The bond doesn't lie.

It can't.

I had felt it before—those unexplained moments of nausea during pack meetings, the sudden weakness that hit me in the middle of training sessions, the burning sensation that woke me from sleep at 2 AM.

I had thought I was sick. Overworked. Stressed from managing both the pack and my business.

Now I understood.

Every time my body rebelled, it was because Alexander was with her.

In our bed. In our home.

While I bled myself dry trying to build his empire.

I sat there on the bathroom floor, my back against the tub, and stared at nothing.

I hated the Moon Goddess for this. Hated her with every fiber of my being.

She punished the faithful while the betrayers walked free. She bound women to men who destroyed them and called it divine will.

She watched her daughters suffer and did nothing.

Nothing.

***

I spent the night in the bathroom. And Alexander didn't come home.

Till 8 AM, I heard the front door open.

Alexander's footsteps in the hallway—heavy, purposeful, heading straight for my office.

I set down my coffee cup carefully and turned to face the door.

He walked in without knocking, still wearing last night's suit. His hair was mussed, his tie undone. He smelled like Faye's jasmine perfume and sex.

The mark on my neck twinged.

We stared at each other across ten feet of expensive carpet.

Then he opened his mouth and detonated my entire world with a simple sentence:

"Faye is pregnant."