Isla’s POV

The second the mindlink ended, I let myself breathe.Garrick was coming.

But the relief was short-lived.

The next time I opened my eyes—well, I didn’t open them. I couldn’t. Still dark. Still blind.

But everything else had changed.

Something cold wrapped around my skin.

Metal.Chains.Panic crawled into my throat.

“W-What is this?” I croaked. My voice was dry. “Why am I chained?”

I tried to sit up, but pain screamed through my spine, and the chains yanked tighter.

Someone was in the room. Two someones.

Their scents were heavy. Cold. Wrong.

Dungeon wolves.

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” I whispered.

“You mated with rogues,” one of them said flatly. “By Alpha Kale’s command, you’re under arrest for desecrating your Luna title.”

My heart slammed against my ribs. “That’s not true. You know that’s not true!”

The second wolf snorted. “Then why are you carrying a rogue pup?”

“She’s still healing,” the healer snapped. “She can’t walk. Her spine—her legs—she’s blind!”

“She doesn’t need her eyes,” one guard replied. “She just needs to suffer.”

They yanked the chains.I screamed as my body hit the ground like trash.

My legs didn’t even twitch. My face smacked the floor. Something reopened between my thighs and I felt the hot trickle of blood.

I couldn’t even catch my breath before they grabbed my arms and dragged me.

Across stone. Down steps. Each bump felt like it was breaking me all over again.

Then they threw me at someone’s feet.A voice I knew all too well spoke above me.

“Here she is.”

Kale.I tried to raise my head but everything spun. The air buzzed with whispers. Hateful ones.

“She mated with rogues!”

“She’s not fit to be Luna!”

“She’s carrying filth!”

I tried to speak, but all that came out was a sob.

Then I forced it out. “Please… just sever the bond. I don’t want this. Let me go.”

Everything went quiet,then an Elder spoke.

“There is no bond to sever.”

I blinked. Or tried to.

“What?”

“Your Alpha requested a temporary bond,” the Elder said. “Six years. It expires in five days.”

Gasps. All around me.

“She didn’t know?”

“Kale bonded her temporarily?”

I couldn’t breathe.

Then Kale stepped forward, voice smooth as butter. I wanted to vomit.

“She had dangerous fantasies,” he said. “Nia warned me. Isla dreamt of rogues. Being bred by them.”

That wasn’t true. That wasn’t even close to true.

“I thought I could help her,” he went on. “But she gave in to her urges. She chose them.”

They believed him. I could feel it.

“I married Nia four years ago,” he said, like he was announcing the weather. “In case Isla failed the test.”

Test?

Four years ago?

That was the night my parents died.

The night I got stabbed.The night I lost my baby.

I choked. “You… mated her the same night?”

“I needed security,” he said flatly. “In case you failed.”

Failed? FAILED?

I collapsed again. My body couldn’t hold me anymore.

“She is still Luna for five more days,” the Elder declared. “And as Luna, she must be punished.”

The crowd didn’t miss a beat.

“100 lashes!”

“Strip her pride!”

“Make her bleed!”

I shook my head weakly. “Please… I can’t… I can’t even feel my legs—”

“Begin.”

The first lash felt like fire.The second tore through me.By the tenth, I couldn’t scream anymore.

Somewhere around stroke forty, I started to drift.

By sixty, I was gone. Floating somewhere that didn’t hurt.

Eighty brought me back.Ninety—I could taste blood.And at one hundred… I was still alive. But barely.

I lay on the stone floor, broken open. My blood soaked into the cracks beneath me. My eyes were still dark. My back ached with shredded skin. My legs—still gone.

I couldn’t move.But I heard everything.

Kale’s voice, again.

“As Alpha, I cannot leave my pack without a Luna,” he said. “It grieves me to do this, but Isla is no longer fit.”

Footsteps.Then I heard her voice ,Sweet. Soft and annoying.

Nia.

“I accept the honor. With love for this pack.”

Gasps. Applause.

Then she turned toward me.

“But please… don’t be too hard on my cousin. I’m sure she didn’t mean to fall so low.”

Applause again. Cheers.

“She’s more deserving!”

“A real Luna!”

“She still cares for her cousin. So kind.”

Kale raised his voice again.

“In five days, we will crown Lady Nia as the True Luna.”

Five days.The exact day our bond ends.My fingers twitched. Barely. But I felt it.

He planned this. Every part of it. Every second.

Kale leaned close enough that I could smell his cologne.

“And let this be a lesson,” he said, “to any wolf who forgets their place.”

The crowd left like they’d eaten their fill.

I was nothing more than leftovers now.

No one looked at me.No one cared.But that was their first mistake.

Because even on the ground, blind and broken—I still had breath.And I still had Garrick.

Four days.In four days, he would come for me.

And when I left this place…I wouldn’t go quietly.

I would make them remember,every lash,every lie.

every betrayal.

I would make every single one of them bleed.

Isla’s POV

The pain brought me back, not softly.

It dragged me into consciousness like claws down my back. I almost screamed, but my voice was cracked from begging them to stop flogging me.

I couldn’t move. Not really. I was lying on my stomach. My skin felt tight and burning. Wet in places. Dry in others. My back—I could tell it was shredded open like paper.

The healer hovered beside me. Her voice was soft. Not kind. Just… careful.

“You’re lucky to be alive.”

I didn’t answer. What should I say? Oh thank you?

“The flogging… did more damage than we thought,” she added.

Then she paused. And that pause told me everything.

“The rogue pup… it didn’t survive.”

The words didn’t hit right away.

Then they did. I turned my head slowly. The world tilted. My chest beat so fast.

Not because I wanted that child. Not because it was planned.

But because it was mine. Because it was life. Because it was the last thing I had left.

Now even that was gone.

“There’s more.”

Of course there always is, I thought to myself.

“Your womb. It ruptured. We had to remove it to save you.”

I sighed softly. I was no longer a Luna, no longer a wolf who could carry life. No longer a mother.

“You’ll survive,” she said again.

But I didn’t feel alive. I felt empty and hollow, dead inside.

But then… something odd happened. The room had a glow. I blinked once. Twice.

Not color. Not full clarity. Just… shadows. Outlines. A faint shimmer around things. Like seeing through water. Blurry, distant, but there.

Then I felt warmth in my legs, a pulse. I tried not to move, but my big toe twitched. Then, slowly, under the covers, I curled my foot.

It worked. My foot moved. I almost sobbed—but held it.

Because no one could know.

Just then, the nurse walked in.

“Alpha Kale has summoned her.”

The healer stood. “She can’t walk.”

“Then wheel her. He says she needs to pack her things. The Luna quarters will be reassigned today.”

Today? Not after the bond ends. Not in five days.

I clenched my jaw. The healer argued again. Said I’d tear open the wounds. Said I wasn’t strong enough.

I didn’t care. I tried to sit. Pain erupted down my spine like lightning.

But I didn’t stop. Eventually, they gave me a wheelchair.

I forced my body into it. My hands trembled. My back throbbed. The healer shook her head.

“You shouldn’t be doing this.”

But I had to. Because they wanted to strip me of everything. And I would not let them do it without watching.

The halls were quiet.

Every servant stared as I passed. Some looked away. Others didn’t bother.

I was no longer Luna. I was just… Isla.

The girl who broke. The wolf who bled. The slut who mated rogues.

When the nurse wheeled me into the Luna quarters, my chest seized.

Everything still looked like me. The books I loved. The pillows I embroidered. The photo of my parents on the wall.

And the urn—my mother and father’s ashes—sat gently on the mantelpiece, in the same white glass vessel I picked the day after their funeral.

I could see everything in black and white, but I still tilted my face away to make sure nobody found out I was regaining my sight.

From the side of my eyes I saw Nia come into my chambers. My jaw twitched, but I said nothing.

“Oh, cousin,” she said sweetly. “You’re early.”

I didn’t respond. My fingers felt around for the drawer. The last things I still owned.

She walked forward, smiling with too many teeth.

“You look… well. Better than expected.”

She stopped beside me. Her perfume was syrupy and thick. Her voice dripped.

“You used to walk these halls like you ruled them. Like he belonged to you.”

She bent down, her lips brushing near my ear.

“But nothing was ever yours, Isla. Not Kale. Not the Luna title. Not even the child in your belly.”

My breath hitched, but I still said nothing. I was not about to fall right into her trap, knowing that I just had a few days and I would be gone.

She stepped around me. Still smiling.

“But look at you now. Crippled. Blind. Wombless. And cursed.”

I stared up at her. My hands curled tight in my lap.

“You’re not worth it,” I whispered.

She laughed, then pushed the wheelchair really hard. I slammed into the ground. Pain exploded in my spine, down my legs.

But I didn’t cry out. Then I heard tiny footsteps, bare, slapping lightly against the tile.

A small boy with a glass of dark juice. Big green eyes. Caius.

He stood at the door with the same cold look in his face.

“Mommy,” he said, voice innocent. “What is this wicked woman doing here, and why does she look so dirty?”

Hearing this, I just sighed, but then I felt something cold and wet poured all over. I looked to my side to see that he poured his juice on me.

It soaked my shirt. My arms. My face. It burned where the flogging had torn skin.

I sucked in a breath, but didn’t flinch.

“Caius,” Nia said in mock surprise. “What a terrible accident. Come here, baby.”

He started running towards her, slipped from the juice on the floor and smacked his face on the ground. Blood flowed from his burst lips, and he began crying.

“Oh no! What did you do to him!” Nia shrieked, turning sharply toward me. “You HIT him! You monster!”

“I didn’t touch him,” I said, still on the floor.

But she had already scooped him up, pressing his face to her chest as if she were shielding him.

“Poor baby,” she cooed, walking out with him in her arms. “She won’t hurt you again.”

I didn’t cry. I had done enough of that already.

Instead… I looked.

And from where I lay, something shimmered beneath the bed.

A sliver of silver. I reached for it. My fingers shook. My back screamed.

But I pulled the board loose. Inside was a scroll. Bound in black ribbon. Dusty.

I unwrapped it. The words glowed softly. Silver.

Lunaris ink. Only visible to the true Luna.

My father's seal. The bond contract.

The one Kale signed in blood before he took my hand in front of the Pack.

And the final line burned into my heart:

“In the event of betrayal, the Alpha’s lands, title, and loyalty revert to the true Luna, and her alone.”

I held it in my trembling hands.

This wasn’t revenge. This wasn’t spite.

For the first time in days, I truly smiled. But before I could enjoy it, I heard footsteps and I quickly put the scroll back.

Kale. Jason. Nia.And Caius—his lips still bleeding.

Kale looked down at me on the floor.

“You hit my son?” he growled.

“I didn’t—”

He didn’t let me finish. In three strides, he grabbed the urn on the mantel.

My parents.And smashed it on the floor.

Ash and white dust spilled across the tile like smoke.

“No!” I screamed, reaching weakly for it, tears pouring down my cheeks. But deep down, I told myself: this pain… I’m performing it for them.

Still, my screams were real.

“She hurt Caius,” Nia sobbed dramatically. “She deserves to kneel and apologize.”

“I didn’t hurt him. He slipped. He—”

“I don’t care!” Kale snapped. “You’ll kneel outside in front of the Pack House and apologize. And from now until the bond severs, you will clean and cook and serve this house like the cursed thing you are.”

Jason hesitated. “She’s crippled. She can’t kneel.”

Kale turned to the Omegas. “Then wheel her out.”

They did. The Pack House watched. Dozens of eyes. Cold. Judging.

Kale stepped outside with a massive stone.

“She thinks she’s too crippled to kneel and say sorry?”

He dropped the boulder onto my lap.

I screamed. The pressure sent pain shooting up my legs, my spine, my skull.

Rain began to fall.Heavy. Cold. Soaking through my shirt. Mixing with my tears.

But through it all… I remembered, that scroll.

They thought I was broken. They thought I was blind. Crippled.

But in four days, I would leave this place,it will rain just like today , but it will rain fire

I’d make them burn.

Isla’s POV

They wheeled me back inside after the stone.

After the blood.After the humiliation.

My thighs were numb, but fire still crawled up my back. I couldn’t tell if it was the rain, the pain, or the memory of my mother’s ashes—

scattered like nothing.Like dirt.

Like I never mattered.

The Omegas said nothing. Just rolled me into the servants’ quarters like a sack of bones.

That was fine.Let them think I was finished.

Let them believe I was blind and broken.

They didn’t know what I’d found.They didn’t see my toe twitch beneath the blanket.They didn’t feel the heat that had returned to my blood.

So when morning came, and the orders were delivered—I was ready.

“The Alpha says she must prepare the Gathering feast,” a servant whispered.I was lying in bed, face to the wall.

“She must cook and serve all Alphas and their Lunas.”

“She can’t even hold a spoon,” someone muttered.

“She’ll do it,” another said. “She’ll die if she doesn’t.”

They underestimated how far I’d already died inside.

Kale appeared hours later, arms crossed, Jason standing awkwardly behind him.

“The Luna Gathering is at dusk,” Kale said sharply. “Make yourself presentable.”

I said nothing.He stepped forward, grabbed my jaw roughly. “Speak.”

“My apologies,” I whispered. “I’ll do as commanded.”

His lip curled in a cruel smile. “Good girl.”

Jason looked away. Kale walked out.

Nia entered next.Perfume thick as syrup. Robes of red and gold.Smiling like a crowned cobra.

“Oh cousin,” she purred. “I hear you’re cooking. So noble of you. But if you poison the stew, we’ll make Caius flog you next.”

I didn’t reply.Not even when she pulled at my hair roughly, twisting it into a bun that pulled my scalp raw.

“You’ll serve wine. You’ll pour it in silence. You’ll scrape bones from the floor when the feast ends.”

She leaned close.

“And don’t look at the Alphas. They don’t want to see your cursed face.”

I smiled gently, the way the blind might.

“I’ll serve my Pack. As Luna.”

Her smile slipped.She stormed out.

…

They dressed me like a forgotten widow.

Pale gray dress. No shoes. No makeup. No jewelry.Hair scraped back like I was already buried.

The Pack House gleamed.Tables stretched across the dining hall. Silverware polished. Candles lit.

Laughter echoed like thunder.

Alphas and their Lunas, Beta couples, warriors from neighboring regions.The elite. The power-hungry.And me.A crippled Luna with a ladle and a broken back.

I rolled into the hall alone, a tray on my lap.

Soup. Roasted meat. Honeyed bread.

The room hushed.Whispers began.

“That’s her?”

“She looks dead.”

“She served rogues and lost her womb.”

“Why is she even here?”

I kept my eyes down.Let the tears sting silently.

Let the shame soak through my bones.

Kale sat at the head. Nia beside him. Caius on her lap like a little crowned prince.She kissed his forehead, whispering sweet nothings while glaring at me.

“Bread to Alpha Desmond first!” she barked as I reached for the wrong plate.

“Yes, my apologies.”

I changed course. Slowly. Blindly.

I heard him before I saw him.

A deep, cool voice that sliced through the noise like a blade.

“She’s still Luna, isn’t she? Show some respect.”

The room stilled.Forks froze mid-air. Nia’s giggle died in her throat. Even Kale glanced up.

I lifted my head slightly, just enough to glance through my lashes.

A stranger stood in the doorway. Tall. Broad shoulders cloaked in a charcoal coat. Dark hair swept back. And eyes—gods—silver like moonlight on a blade.

Alpha… someone.I didn’t recognize him. But he stared at me like he could see past my blank gaze. Past my silence. Straight into the bones of my fury.

I lowered my eyes again and resumed wheeling forward, inch by inch, toward the long table with the heavy tray balanced across my lap.

Until—Nia stuck out her foot.Just a little. Just enough.My wheel caught.The tray jolted.

And everything—crashed.

Plates shattered.Soup splashed.Bread hit the marble floor with a wet thud.

And I—I fell.Face-first. Onto the cold, polished stone.

Hot lamb broth soaked through my tunic. Something sharp sliced my palm. My cheek pressed into crumbs and soup and shame.

The gasps came first.Then the laughter.

Snickering. Snorting.

“Clumsy bitch.”

“She’s always been cursed.”

“Probably wanted to serve a rogue banquet—”

Howls of laughter. Silverware clattered,I bit my lip hard enough to taste blood.

Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t—

A hand. Large. Warm. Calloused. Slipped under my arm.

The stranger lifted me like I weighed nothing, placing me gently back in the chair with a strength that didn’t show off — it just was.

Then he turned.His voice was ice.

“You should all be ashamed. She is still Luna. For one more day. You owe her that.”

Silence.Even Kale said nothing.

He didn’t protest. Didn’t defend me either.

The man wheeled me out himself.Through the heavy doors. Into the quiet corridor.

He stopped when we were alone, and leaned slightly toward me.

“You can stop pretending now, Isy.”

My breath caught.I jerked my head up.

And stared, it was Rick.Older. Stronger. Taller. But still him.Still that crooked half-smile, and those storm-silver eyes I thought I’d never see again.

“You… You’re early .”

His smile faded. “And I’ve come to take you away.”

Tears burned my lashes. “It’s not time.”

His jaw tensed. “I know. But watching them treat you like this—” He exhaled sharply, like he might go back in there and tear Kale’s head off.

“I need to finish it,” I whispered.

He nodded once. “One more night,” he said softly. “Then I burn this place to ash.”

He lifted my hand and kissed it.And like smoke, he vanished into the shadows.

I wheeled myself back, alone.This time, I didn’t go into the hall.I went to the kitchen.

Peeling potatoes until my knuckles split.

Stirring broth until my arms shook.

Kneading dough while the musicians played and Nia spun in her lavender dress and Caius told lies with syrupy charm.

They laughed.But they didn’t know, that I will become the owner of their pack in one day time ,they didn’t know my legs were healing.

Didn’t know the last true Luna had her claws again.I scraped trays. I swept crumbs.

And when the floor was clean and the ovens went cold, I slipped into the pantry.

There, from beneath a hidden flap in the crate of flour, I pulled out a scroll sealed with a sigil made of silver wax and moonstone ash.

The Lunaris Scroll.My final claim, and my letter severing me and my identity from this Pack erasing everything about me,making me a Rogue.

It had to be filed at the High Commission before the bond was severed—or all claims to Luna status would dissolve at midnight tomorrow.

But I couldn’t walk into the central tower.

Not like this.I touched the tiny bronze bell beside the scroll.Within seconds, the raven arrived.

Jet black, with shimmering feathers and moonfire eyes. The crest of Wolfram’s messenger birds glimmered under its throat—a magical courier trained to travel between packs and commissions.

“Take this to the Commission in Ashford,” I whispered. “Luna Isla of Wolfram. It must be logged before sunset tomorrow.”

The bird dipped its head.And vanished into the wind.I sat in the hallway long after.

Shaking. Trembling. But smiling.Because they thought they’d broken me.

But in truth—They’d only given me time.

One more day, and my claws would no longer be bound.

The contract would break, and with it my revenge then I wouldn’t weep.The Pack would.

Because I would make it rain fire.