The storage unit smelled like dust and old lavender. My mother's scent, faded but still there, clinging to the cardboard boxes stacked against cinder block walls. I'd driven three hours to reach this place—a forgotten corner of what used to be Carter territory, back when my family name meant something more than a target on my back.

My hands shook as I tore through the first box. Old photo albums. Baby clothes. A worn cookbook with her handwriting in the margins. Nothing useful. Nothing that could help me fight back against what Jace had done.

The bond ache pulsed with every heartbeat. A phantom limb that wouldn't stop screaming.

I moved to the next box. Then the next. Clothes. More photos. A jewelry box full of costume pieces that—

Pain lanced through my skull.

Not the bond. Something else. A pressure building behind my eyes, sharp and invasive. Then I heard her voice, clear as if she stood beside me.

*"Bri? Can you hear me?"*

Kehlani.

My breath caught. The mind-link. We'd shared one when I was Luna—a pack connection that should have severed when Jace rejected me. But there it was, a thin thread I'd forgotten existed, and she'd found it.

*"Oh good,"* her voice dripped false sweetness. *"I wasn't sure this would still work. Guess you're not completely cut off yet."*

I pressed my palm against the cold concrete wall, steadying myself. "What do you want?"

*"Just thought you should know."* I could hear the smile in her mental voice. An image flickered through the link—Kehlani standing in front of a mirror, tilting her head to display the fresh mark on her neck. The bite was deep, claiming, exactly where mine used to be. *"It's official. I'm Luna now. Really official."*

My jaw clenched. "Congratulations."

*"Oh, and there's more."* Her hand moved in the mental image, resting on her flat stomach. *"I'm pregnant. Two months. Jace is thrilled. The pack healer confirmed it this morning. A real heir for Ironveil. Not like… well. You know."*

The words hit like a physical blow. Two months. She'd been sleeping with him for at least that long. Probably longer. While I cooked meals he threw away. While I organized ceremonies he skipped. While I waited for a mate who was never really mine.

*"You should have just been grateful he kept you around as long as he did, Bri."* Her voice turned sharp, vicious. *"You were always just… furniture. Something to fill space until the real thing came along."*

The link severed with a snap that made my ears ring.

I stood there in the dusty silence, breathing hard. My hands had curled into fists without me realizing it. The bond ache should have been the worst pain—but it wasn't. This was worse. Three years of friendship, of late-night talks and shared secrets and her hand in mine at my mother's funeral. All of it a lie. All of it calculated.

Then I felt it.

A vibration at the base of my skull. Low. Angry. Not an emotion—something deeper. Something alive.

My wolf.

She was still drugged, still suppressed, fighting through layers of wolfsbane that had caged her for three years. But she was there. Pushing. Furious.

I grabbed the next box with new focus. Tore through it. Found nothing. Moved to the cedar chest in the corner—the one with the rusted lock I'd always meant to pick but never had time for.

I smashed the lock with a brick from outside.

Inside, beneath layers of tissue paper, I found a silver chain. A pendant hung from it—crystal, sealed, with something dark preserved inside. A folded note lay beneath it, yellowed with age. My mother's handwriting covered the page.

*My dearest Briar,*

*If you are reading this, something has gone terribly wrong. If you find yourself without a pack and without a wolf, take this pendant to Silvercrest territory. Present it to the Lycan King. He will know what it means. He will know who you are.*

*Trust your blood, my darling. It is stronger than any bond they try to force on you.*

*All my love,*

*Mom*

I held the pendant up to the dim light. The crystal caught it, refracting it into rainbow shards across the concrete walls. Inside, something dark swirled—preserved scent, I realized. Lycan blood.

My mother had left me a key. Not to a door. To an identity.

I laid everything out on the dusty floor. The pendant. The three wolfsbane vials I'd taken from Jace's study. My phone with photographs of every page in his ledger. The Carter territorial maps I'd memorized as a child, boundaries and pack lines etched into my memory.

I wasn't running. I wasn't hiding.

I was building a case.

The drive to Silvercrest territory took six hours. I didn't stop. Didn't eat. The pendant hung cold against my chest, tucked under my shirt. My wolf stirred every few miles—small movements, like something stretching after a long sleep.

By the time I reached the border gates, dawn was breaking. Two guards stepped forward, their eyes narrowing as they caught my scent. Or rather, the lack of it. No pack. Just the faint chemical residue of wolfsbane clinging to my skin.

"State your business," the taller one said. His hand rested on the weapon at his belt.

I pulled the pendant from under my shirt. Let it catch the early light.

"I need to see the Lycan King."

Both guards went very still. The taller one stepped closer, nostrils flaring. His expression shifted—confusion, then something like recognition, then alarm.

"Come with us," he said quietly. "Now."

They didn't touch me. Didn't restrain me. But they flanked me as we walked through Silvercrest territory, past wolves who stopped and stared, past buildings that radiated old power. We climbed stairs. Walked down a corridor lined with portraits of Lycan royalty dating back centuries.

The guards stopped at massive oak doors.

"Wait here," the shorter one said. He disappeared inside.

I stood in the hallway, the satchel heavy against my hip. My wolf pushed harder now, closer to the surface. The wolfsbane was wearing off. I could feel my senses sharpening—sounds growing clearer, scents more distinct.

The door opened.

"He'll see you," the guard said. His voice had changed. Respectful now. Almost reverent.

I walked into a private chamber. Stone Bishop stood by the window, his back to me. Even from behind, his presence filled the room—an alpha aura so dense it made the air feel thick.

He turned. His eyes found the pendant first, then my face.

"Give it to me," he said. His voice was deep, commanding, but something underneath it trembled.

I unclasped the chain and handed it over.

Stone opened the crystal seal with careful fingers. Lifted it to his nose. Inhaled.

The change was immediate. His eyes blazed gold. His entire body went rigid. A sound tore from his throat—half-growl, half-something older, something that predated language. The windows rattled. The floor vibrated.

He stared at me with those burning gold eyes.

"You're hers," he whispered. "You're my—"

I opened my satchel. Pulled out the vials. The phone. The maps. Laid them across his desk one by one.

"I am not here for a father," I said clearly. "I am here for a tribunal."