I found Maximilian in the training yard the morning after my wolf identified Reign's scent.

He was running drills with the Gammas, his shirt off, muscles moving under sweat-slicked skin. The picture of Alpha strength. The pack members watching from the sidelines looked at him like he was carved from marble.

I waited until he called a break. He saw me standing at the edge of the yard and walked over, grabbing a towel.

"Estelle." He didn't smile. Didn't frown. Just wiped his face and waited.

"I need you to address the pack," I said. Kept my voice level. "About the rumors."

He draped the towel around his neck. "What rumors?"

"You know what I'm talking about." I stepped closer, lowered my voice. "They think I wasn't here when the fire started. That I abandoned Shiloh. Katelyn's been—"

"Katelyn's been traumatized." His tone was flat. Final. "She's processing her own grief. If pack members are talking, that's natural. It'll pass."

"It won't pass if you don't say something."

He looked at me then. Really looked. His eyes were the same cold gray they'd been since the fire. "A Luna earns respect through composure, Estelle. Not by demanding her Alpha fight her battles."

The words hit like a slap. I felt my wolf stir, hackles rising.

"I'm not asking you to fight," I said carefully. "I'm asking you to tell the truth."

"The truth is that you've been obsessed with those ruins for over a week." He tossed the towel onto a bench. "Digging through ashes every night like some kind of—" He stopped himself. Shook his head. "The pack is trying to heal. Your behavior is disturbing that process."

"My behavior?" My voice cracked. I hated that it did. "Our son died, Maximilian. I'm allowed to—"

"You're allowed to grieve." He cut me off. "But you're also Luna. And right now, the pack needs stability. Not a leader who can't move forward."

I stared at him. He looked back, expression carved from stone.

"So you won't say anything," I said quietly.

He hesitated. For just a second, something flickered across his face. Then it was gone. "I'll consider it."

He turned and walked back to the Gammas. Called for them to resume drills. Didn't look back.

I stood there for a long moment, feeling the hollow space in my chest throb. Then I left.

That evening, there was a gathering in the main hall. Nothing formal. Just pack members sharing a meal, trying to rebuild some sense of normalcy after the fire.

I came down the stairs and stopped at the corridor entrance.

Maximilian was already inside. Standing near the hearth, talking to Beta Silas and two of the Deltas. And beside him, one hand resting lightly on his forearm, was Katelyn.

She was wearing a soft blue dress. Her hair was pulled back. She looked small and fragile next to his bulk. Reign was a few feet away, playing with wooden blocks under the watchful eye of an Omega.

I watched as Katelyn leaned in, said something too quiet for me to hear. Maximilian nodded. Didn't pull away from her touch.

The Deltas glanced at me. Looked away quickly.

I stood there in the corridor, alone, while my mate stood in the warm light of the hall with his mistress at his side.

No one came to get me. No one called my name.

I turned and walked back upstairs. My footsteps echoed in the empty hallway.

Behind me, I heard laughter from the hall. Light. Easy. The sound of a pack moving on.

---

That night, I went back to the ruins.

The moon was full overhead, casting silver light over the blackened beams. I stepped over the rope barrier and walked to the center of what used to be the living room.

My hands were shaking. I knelt down, pressed my palms into the soot-covered floor, and tried to breathe.

My wolf surged forward without warning.

Pain shot through my fingertips. I gasped, looked down, and saw claws—long, silver, razor-sharp—splitting through my skin. My nails fell away like shed scales. Blood welled up, black in the moonlight, and dripped onto the ash.

I tried to pull her back. Couldn't. She was too strong. Too angry.

My vision sharpened. Colors bled away, replaced by stark contrasts of shadow and light. I could smell everything—old smoke, rotted wood, the faint chemical tang of suppressor residue.

And underneath it all, that scent. Cedar and iron.

My wolf's voice tore through my skull. It was rough, raw, like she'd been howling for weeks and had shredded her throat doing it.

*"Investigate."*

One word. But it landed like a command.

I looked down at my hands. The claws were still there, gleaming in the moonlight. My fingers had stopped shaking.

Something inside me shifted. Settled.

I wasn't just grieving anymore. I was hunting.

I stood slowly, claws retracting back into my fingertips with a wet sound. The pain faded. My vision returned to normal.

But my wolf stayed close to the surface now. Watchful. Waiting.

I walked out of the ruins and back toward the pack house. My mind was already working, turning over possibilities, strategies.

The mandatory pack run was in two days. Full moon protocol. Everyone shifted. Everyone ran.

Including Katelyn. Including Reign.

And in wolf form, scent suppressants didn't hold as well. The body burned hotter. The chemicals broke down faster.

I would position myself downwind. I would confirm what my wolf already knew.

And then I would decide what to do with the truth.

---

The night of the run, I dressed in loose clothing that would tear easily during the shift. Tied my hair back. Checked my reflection in the mirror.

I looked calm. Composed. Every inch the perfect Luna.

My wolf grinned inside my chest.

The pack gathered at the edge of the forest just after sunset. Maximilian stood at the front, already half-shifted, his eyes glowing amber in the dim light. Katelyn was near the back with Reign, both of them dressed in simple tunics.

I moved through the crowd, positioning myself carefully. Downwind of them. Close enough to catch scent, far enough not to draw attention.

Maximilian howled. The sound echoed through the trees, primal and commanding.

The pack shifted as one.

Bones cracked. Skin split. Fur erupted. Within seconds, the clearing was full of wolves—gray, black, brown, silver. The air filled with the scent of earth and musk and wild things.

I shifted last. Let my wolf take over, felt the familiar pull and stretch as my body reshaped itself. Four paws hit the ground. My senses exploded outward.

The pack surged forward into the forest. I stayed back, let them pass, then fell in behind Katelyn and Reign.

Katelyn's wolf was small, reddish-brown, with a white patch on her chest. Reign ran beside her, gangly and uncoordinated, still learning his paws.

I kept my distance. Watched. Waited.

The run went deep into the territory. We leapt over streams, tore through underbrush, chased phantom prey. The pack moved like a single organism, synchronized and powerful.

And then the wind shifted.

It came from behind me, swept forward, carried scent straight from Reign to my nose.

I caught it. Full force. Undiluted.

Cedar and iron. Maximilian's Alpha blood. Unmistakable.

My wolf snarled. The sound ripped out of my throat, feral and vicious. Three Deltas running nearby stumbled, ears flattening, heads whipping toward me in confusion.

I didn't care. Couldn't stop.

The rage was so violent it felt like my chest would crack open. My vision went red at the edges. My claws dug into the earth, tearing up roots and soil.

Katelyn's wolf glanced back. Our eyes met.

For one heartbeat, her mask slipped. I saw it in her gaze—acknowledgment. Triumph. She knew I knew.

Then she turned and kept running, Reign at her side, disappearing into the trees.

I stood there, shaking, while the rest of the pack flowed past me like water around a stone.

Maximilian was Reign's father.

The betrayal wasn't just emotional. It was blood-deep. Calculated. Hidden.

And now I had proof.