The scent of damp earth and pine lingered in the night air as I stood outside the Lunar Court, my fists clenched at my sides. The verdict was not guilty, and my best friend, Jennie, walked away free.

“She was with me that night,” Joey, my fiancé, had said to the Elders.

My heart pounded in my chest as I turned to him. “Joey, you know that’s not true.”

He refused to meet my gaze. “Jennie couldn’t have bitten your mother. She wasn’t there.”

A lie. A betrayal.

But I had no proof. No witnesses. And so, the court ruled that my mother had been attacked by a rogue—not by Jennie, not by someone I had once called my sister.

As I watched Jennie lower her head in fake remorse, I knew Joey had chosen his side. And it wasn’t mine.

Days passed, and I pushed forward with my wedding preparations, trying to bury my grief beneath satin and lace. Jennie was no longer in my bridal party—I had ensured that. But the hole she had left in my heart was impossible to ignore.

I arrived at the wedding boutique, ready to try on my dress, but hushed voices caught my attention as I stepped inside.

“You really think Kelly won’t find out?” Cameron’s voice carried through the air.

“She won’t if you shut the fuck up,” Joey hissed.

I took a step back, pressing myself against the wall. My wolf bristled beneath my skin, warning me that something was wrong.

Cameron scoffed. “You were with Jennie that night, Joey. You weren’t just covering for her but binding yourselves as mates.”

The floor beneath me seemed to shift. My fingers trembled as I clutched the fabric of my sweater.

Jennie. Joey. Bound as mates.

Why would they do that on the day my mother was bitten? Are they accomplices?

I turned and walked out of the boutique, unable to breathe. My vision blurred as I stumbled through the streets, past the shops, past the pack members who barely spared me a glance.

My phone vibrated in my pocket, but I ignored it. Joey’s name flashed on the screen again and again. I turned my phone off.

He didn’t deserve to find me.

The sun had long since set by the time I wandered through the town's quiet streets. I didn’t know where I was going—only that I couldn’t return.

“Kelly?”

I froze.

Cameron stood a few feet away, watching me cautiously. “We were waiting for you earlier. What happened?”

I exhaled slowly, and my body felt stiff. “You already know.”

His jaw tightened. “Joey—”

“Don’t,” I snapped. “Don’t defend him.”

“I wasn’t going to.” He sighed, stepping closer. “But you need to talk to him.”

I let out a bitter laugh. “Why? So he can spin more lies? So he can tell me how none of this is what it looks like?”

Cameron hesitated. “It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.”

I shook my head. “But it did.”

The weight of everything pressed down on me—the loss, the humiliation, the betrayal. The entire pack would know. The whole pack would laugh at me. Pity me.

Joey had bound himself to Jennie, yet he hadn’t even canceled our mating ceremony. Knowing what he had done, he had been willing to go through with it.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” My voice was barely above a whisper.

Cameron sighed. “Because it wasn’t my place.”

I turned to face him fully, my hands trembling at my sides. “But it was your choice. You could have respected me enough to tell me the truth.”

A bitter laugh escaped Cameron. “You think?” He rubbed a hand over his face. “Listen, I get why you’re angry, but you must face this.”

“I don’t need to do anything,” I bit back. “Joey made his choice.”

Cameron exhaled, his gaze dark. “Yeah, and you’re making yours.”

I turned away, gripping my stomach as nausea rolled through me. I wanted to scream, to break something, to let my wolf take over and tear through the lies that surrounded me.

But I wasn’t just fighting for myself anymore. I was fighting for my child.

Cameron hesitated before placing a hand on my shoulder. “Whatever you decide, I’ll back you up.”

I glanced at him, searching his face for any sign of deception. But there was none. For the first time, I felt a flicker of something close to relief.

“I need time,” I murmured.

Cameron nodded. “Take all you need. Just don’t disappear.”

I didn’t answer. Instead, I turned and walked away, feeling the weight of the night settle on my shoulders.

But before I could think of what to do, my body felt heavy and collapsed to the ground. That was the only thing I remember before I closed my eyes.

When I woke up, I first noticed the sharp, sterile scent of antiseptic. My head pounded as I blinked against the dim light filtering through the closed curtains. The walls were plain, and the room was unfamiliar.

Then, I saw Cameron. He was sitting beside my bed, arms crossed, his face unreadable.

I tried to sit up, but a wave of dizziness hit me. Cameron noticed immediately and placed a firm hand on my shoulder.

“Take it easy,” he said. “You lost consciousness yesterday. You’ve been out for a day.”

My heart stuttered. “A whole day?”

He nodded. “The healer said it was due to stress. You’re lucky—your baby is still healthy, but you can’t keep putting yourself through this.”

The reminder of my pregnancy settled over me like a weight—my and Joey’s child.

“Please don’t tell Joey…” I begged Cameron.

“Again, it’s not my place. But if you want Joey to choose, I will support you. I promise,” Cameron said without hesitation, his eyes full of sincerity.

I exhaled shakily. “I need to get out of here.”

Cameron’s lips pressed into a thin line, but he didn’t argue. He helped me sit up slowly, his hand lingering near my back, ready to catch me if I swayed again.

When I stepped out of the healer’s room, I stopped cold. Jennie and Joey stood in the hallway. Their faces twisted with shock when they saw me. Jennie clutched Joey’s arm, her eyes wide.

“Kelly?”

I forced my expression into something neutral, though my stomach twisted in knots. I wasn’t ready to see Jennie this early. I still cursed her for what happened to my mother. I knew she had bitten my mother because she called me that night. She said she had a rogue sickness, and my mother went to her to heal her. After that, my mother got bitten, and they claimed innocence.

What shocked me more was to see Joey with her. Here I was, suffering from all the betrayals he did and the fact that I was carrying Joey’s child. Here, he was spending his precious days alone with Jennie.

“Why are you here? Are you sick?” Joey asked. He didn't even ask why I hadn’t shown up to the wedding boutique yesterday to try on the wedding dress.

“I was just under a lot of stress,” I said evenly.

Joey nodded and glanced at Jennie before saying, “I’ll see you at home after I help Jennie with her checkup.”

My nails dug into my palms, but I refused to let them see how deeply those words cut me. Just as I turned to leave, Cameron appeared at my side. His entire body tensed at the sight of Joey and Jennie together.

“Are you out of your damn mind?” he snapped at Joey.

Joey’s jaw tightened. “Cameron, don’t—”

“You have no shame, do you?” Cameron stepped closer, his voice dark and fury. “She knows, Joey. She knows everything.”

Joey paled, but I reached for Cameron’s arm before he could say more. “Not here,” I murmured. “I’ll talk to him at home.”

Cameron’s eyes burned with anger, but he held his tongue.

As I walked past Jennie, my gaze flickered to her hand, resting lightly on her stomach.

Suddenly, a sinking realization settled over me. Was Jennie pregnant, too? I didn’t stop to ask. I couldn’t.

As Cameron and I walked away from the healer’s hall, he turned to me, concern deepening the lines on his face. “Are you sure you want to talk to him alone?”

I nodded. “Joey’s not violent. He’s just… disloyal.” My voice wavered. “And in love with someone else.”

Cameron clenched his fists. “I don’t trust him.”

Neither did I, but I needed answers. I needed justice for my mother.

So I went home and waited for Joey. Cameron refused to leave, and I had no strength to keep pushing him away. I wanted to think of everything I could tell Joey, but I was too tired to argue.

When Joey finally arrived after a few hours, his brows furrowed in confusion at the sight of Cameron.

Joey scoffed, shaking his head before turning to me. “What’s going on, Kelly?”

I met his gaze, my hands trembling at my sides. “I know everything, Joey.”

He stiffened. “Everything?”

“About Jennie. About that night. About how you bonded with her while my mother was dying.”

His expression darkened. “Kelly, it’s not that simple.”

“It is,” I snapped. “You had a choice. And you chose her.”

Silence stretched between us, thick with tension.

Joey exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. “I never wanted to hurt you.”

“Then why did you?” My voice cracked. “You let me believe we had a future. You let me plan our wedding while you were already bound to someone else.”

Joey’s gaze dropped to the floor. “I thought I could make it right.”

“By lying to me?”

Joey didn’t answer. I took a deep breath, my wolf stirring beneath my skin. “I want justice for my mother, Joey.”

His head snapped up. “Kelly, don’t.”

“You can choose between me and Jennie,” I continued, voice steady. “But if you choose her, I will ensure you both pay for your actions.”

It was a bad move. It doesn't make sense to ask him to choose between Jennie and me, but I must do it for my child. I want to tell my child when he grows up that his father chose another woman. Joey didn’t choose, and my child should never trust his father.

Joey’s expression hardened. “You’re being ridiculous.”

That was when Cameron stepped forward. “Then let me make it simple for you,” he said coldly. “If you choose Jennie, I will marry Kelly. And you won’t be able to take her away from me.”

Joey’s face twisted with disbelief. His hands clenched into fists at his sides, his entire body radiating tension. “You’re lying,” he hissed, his gaze shifting between Cameron and me. “You wouldn’t actually marry him.”

I didn’t know how to respond. The words barely settled in my mind, yet something about Cameron’s unwavering presence strengthened me.

“I’m serious,” Cameron said. “You don’t deserve her, Joey.”

Joey scoffed, shaking his head. “You think she’s just going to leave me? We’re true mates.”

“True mates don’t betray each other,” I snapped. “True mates don’t bind themselves to someone else while their Luna’s mother is dying.”

Joey’s golden eyes darkened with rage. “You don’t understand.”

“I understand more than you think,” Cameron cut in. “You bonded with Jennie behind Kelly’s back, and now you think you can just keep her? You’re pathetic.”

That was all it took.

Joey’s fist swung first, connecting with Cameron’s jaw. The sickening crunch of bone against bone echoed in the room. Cameron stumbled back but recovered quickly, retaliating with a punch to Joey’s ribs. Joey grunted, his breath hitching as he lunged again.

“Stop it!” I shouted, stepping between them as they brawled like feral wolves. “Enough!”

Cameron took a step back, breathing heavily. Joey wiped the blood from his lip, his gaze seething with anger.

“This isn’t over,” Joey growled. “Kelly, you are mine.”

Something inside me snapped.

“No,” I said, voice steady. “I was yours. But you lost me.”

Joey’s face fell, his expression wavering. “We’re meant to be together.”

I shook my head. “Not anymore.”

A heavy silence filled the room before I turned to Cameron. “If I accept your proposal, will you help me get justice for my mother?”

Cameron’s gaze softened. “Yes.”

Joey’s voice cut through the air like a blade. “You’re making a mistake.”

I turned back to him, my eyes burning with tears. “No, Joey. You did.”

His hands clenched into fists. “Jennie was a mistake. She was what I wanted for a good time, but you… you’re my future.”

My breath hitched. “How can you say that?”

“You don’t understand—”

“How can someone have two mates?” I interrupted. “Did you complete the bonding ceremony with Jennie?”

Joey hesitated, and that was all the confirmation I needed. If the pack found out, I wouldn’t just be betrayed. I would be humiliated. My Luna title would be ripped from me, and Joey would still have his power.

I exhaled sharply. “Get out.”

His eyes widened. “What?”

“This is my house,” I said, voice cold. “I don’t want to see you again.”

Joey hesitated, but something in my expression must have told him I wasn’t bluffing. Without another word, he turned and stormed out.

I collapsed onto the couch, my hands shaking as tears spilled down my cheeks. “I thought I could still love him,” I whispered. “But after tonight… it’s just gone.”

Cameron crouched beside me. “Use me, Kelly,” he said, his voice gentle but firm. “Whatever you need. Revenge, power, protection—I’ll give it to you.”

I looked into his eyes and nodded. “Then let’s do this.”

Weeks passed, and what was supposed to be a wedding between Joey and me became a wedding for Cameron and me instead.

The pack elders whispered among themselves, casting doubtful glances in my direction. How could I rule a pack if I couldn’t keep a relationship steady?

Cameron stood tall beside me, his expression unreadable. Then, in front of everyone, he spoke up.

“Your Luna was betrayed,” he said, his voice carrying across the pack. “Joey and Jennie dishonored her and this pack, yet you question her ability to lead? She has every right to choose a new mate, and I will stand beside her.”

The murmurs quieted, but doubt still hung thick in the air.

Cameron turned to the Elders. “I ask for your blessing.”

The Elders hesitated. Cameron was strong, but he wasn’t their first choice. Yet, they had no choice. If they denied him, they would deny me—the heir to the Alpha’s throne.

Finally, one of them spoke. “You have it.”

The others nodded reluctantly in agreement. Cameron and I exchanged glances. We had won this battle.

But Joey and Jennie weren’t done fighting.

“They’re lying to you,” Joey’s voice rang through the crowd.

Cameron and I turned, only to see Joey and Jennie standing at the edge of the gathering.

“Cameron is no true Alpha,” Joey sneered. “He’s a rogue by blood. His mother adopted him into this pack, but he has no right to lead.”

A hush fell over the crowd.

Cameron’s muscles tensed, but his face remained stoic.

Jennie took a step forward, a cruel smile on her lips. “And let’s not forget,” she added sweetly, “Kelly is carrying Joey’s child.”

Gasps erupted from the pack. I felt the blood drain from my face.

Joey took another step forward, his eyes locked on me. “That’s my child,” he said. “And you will give them to me.”

My breath hitched. The weight of the moment settled heavily on my chest.

Cameron’s growl rumbled beside me. “Over my dead body.”

Joey’s smirk widened. “That can be arranged.”