CHAPTER 3: THE THING IN THE DARK

The syringe did not touch Luna's skin.

Luna's body moved fast. Before she even knew what was happening. The same feeling that had gotten her into trouble in the ballroom now saved her life. Her hand snapped up. Grabbed the Draven man's wrist. She was strong. Stronger than she should be for someone her size. His bones hurt under her fingers. He made a hissing sound. The syringe fell to the ground, rolling into the dark.

"That's new," he said, breathing hard, staring at his wrist as it had surprised him.

"Get out of my territory, " Luna said. Her voice sounded wrong. It was deeper. There was another sound underneath it. It was like something was trying to get out of her throat.

Kade hit the Draven man hard. With all his Alpha strength. And the man fell against the railing. He did not fight back. He did not even look surprised.

"I got what I came for, " the man said, having trouble breathing, grinning up at Luna and Kade with blood on his teeth. "I wanted to see if Luna would change in front of you. I guess I have my answer."

"Change into what?" Kade's hands were clenched in the man's collar, his whole body shaking with anger. "What did Draven do to Luna?"

"Ask Luna, " the man said, looking at her with a gleam in his eyes. "Ask her what happens on the moon now. Ask her if she still remembers what she is."

Kade's grip on the man's collar loosened for just long enough. The man twisted free, jumped over the railing, and dropped two stories into the gardens below without stumbling. By the time Kade got to the edge, there was nothing, just some disturbed grass and a fading scent that did not smell like anything.

"Luna," Kade said, turning back to her. His face was pale. Paler than Luna had ever seen it before. "What did he mean?"

Luna was staring at her hand. Still curled from where she had hurt the Draven man's wrist. Her heartbeat sounded strange. Too slow, too fast, then something in between that did not make sense.

"Luna," Kade said, walking towards her slowly, his hands out as if she might run away. "Talk to me."

Luna did not know what to say. "I do not know what I am anymore," she said. Her voice was smaller than she wanted it to be. "I know what I used to be. A wolf. Simple. I used to be yours for a while before you took that back too."

Kade started to say something. Luna kept talking. "They took me three months after you rejected me," she said. "I was weak. Half-feral from the bond break. Easy to grab. They kept me in a facility for eleven months. I do not remember most of it. I remember waking up. I remember the full moon after. I do not have a memory of what happened during it. Just blood on my hands the morning that was not mine."

Kade made a sound. Something between a growl and a groan.

"Eleven months," he said, his voice empty. "I looked for you, Luna. I tore apart three territories looking for you. I need you to know that. I never stopped."

Luna laughed. "You rejected me. Then you looked for me?" she said. "That is very you, Kade. You do things halfway. Call it devotion."

Kade stopped himself. Closing his eyes. "It does not matter now," he said. "It clearly did not work. They got you anyway."

Luna said, "No, it worked the way they wanted it to. You rejected me publicly, so no pack in the territory thought to protect what already looked abandoned. You made me an easy target, Kade. You just did not know you were doing it."

The silence that followed was worse than anything they had said.

"There is something. The full moon is in four days." She said

"I know." He said

"You do not understand. Whatever they put inside me. It is not on the moon's schedule anymore. It is on its own. It is getting stronger every time something provokes it." She said.

As if her words were a summons, pain shot through her, sharp and electric. It dropped her to one knee on the ground. Kade caught her before she hit the ground, and the second his hands touched her skin, she felt it again. The bond, screaming.

"Luna, stay with me, " Kade said.

"Something is happening. Kade, it is not the moon. It is not supposed to be happening." She said

Her spine arched. Her nails got longer against Kade's arm, drawing blood. He did not even seem to notice. Somewhere, behind them, through the doors, Priya's voice rang out. Announcing to the guests that she had wonderful news to share with her fiancé.

Right as Luna Reyes began to change into something that had never existed in Ridgeback territory before.

Luna screamed. The sound got stuck in her throat.

Kade covered her mouth with his hand. Pulled her close to him. He dragged her back into the shadows of the terrace wall just as the doors opened and the guests started pouring out to see what was happening. Luna's body was still changing, her bones shifting under her skin in a silent way that didn't make any sound.

"Don't look at her, " Kade growled at the guests. He was low and commanding like an Alpha giving an order. Every wolf present looked down instinctively. "Get back inside. Now."

They obeyed. Pack rules are pack rules, even if they were all a bit drunk on champagne.

The moment the terrace was clear, Kade turned to Luna. What he saw made his heart stop.

Her eyes had turned black. Not yellow like a wolf's or brown like a human's, just black. Veins that looked like ink were spreading under her skin like something was moving under there trying to get out. She was barely breathing.

"Luna," he said. He took her face in his hands, making her look at him. "Fight it. Whatever this is, fight it."

For a moment nothing happened. Then slowly the black started to go first from her eyes, then from her throat. She gasped for air like she'd been drowning. She collapsed into Kade's chest, shaking hard.

"It stopped," she whispered. "Why did it stop?"

"I don't know, " Kade said. He held her close. "It stopped when I touched you. Both times."

Luna pulled back, looking at him. Something dangerous and hopeful showed on her face. She quickly hid it. "That doesn't mean anything."

"Luna…"

"It doesn't," she said. Her voice cracked. "You can't fix this by holding me, Kade. You can't be the cure for a problem you helped create."

Before he could answer, the terrace doors opened again. Priya came out looking angry and upset.

"There you are, " Priya said. She looked at Luna and Kade close together. She saw Luna's torn dress and her expression turned cold. "You're missing your engagement announcement, darling."

"Priya, now isn't…"

"Is the time? " Priya said. She took Kade's arm like she was staking a claim. "I already told them you'd be back. They're waiting."

She pulled him toward the doors. Kade looked back at Luna, torn and guilty. Luna straightened her dress, wiped her face clean, and said nothing.

The ballroom was quiet when they got back. Glasses were. Four hundred faces were looking at the small stage. Priya climbed the steps, smiling, and pulled Kade up beside her.

"Thank you all for being here tonight, " Priya began. She was smiling, under the lights. "To celebrate not my engagement to Alpha Kade Ashworth…"

Luna stood at the edge of the crowd, her arms around herself. She could still feel the change happening under her skin.

"But something, " Priya said. Her hand moved to her stomach deliberately. "Something we weren't planning to share until after the wedding." She smiled directly at Luna. "I think it's only fair everyone knows exactly where things stand."

The room made a sound. A gasp, a murmur. Four hundred people realized they were about to witness something.

"I'm pregnant," Priya said. She was smiling at Luna. "Kade's child. Due in six months."

The silence that followed hurt Luna. It had nothing to do with Dravens' serum and everything to do with two years of grief.

Kade's face was pale. "Priya, that's not…"

"Not what, darling?" Priya's smile didn't waver. Her eyes were locked on Luna. "Not true? Or not something you wanted announced in front of your ex-mate?"

Every wolf in the room turned to look at Luna, waiting for her reaction.

Luna didn't fall apart.

She smiled. Slow, sharp, and calm. The black crept back into her eyes for a moment before she blinked it away.

"Congratulations," she said clearly. Her voice carried across the room. "Truly. Because if that's your baby, Priya, you'll want to check the paternity."

Priya's smile faltered. "Excuse me?"

"I can smell a lie from across a room now," Luna said softly. She stepped forward into the light, her eyes fully black. "It's one of the things they gave me.. That baby doesn't smell like Kade at all."

For three seconds nobody in the ballroom breathed. It was like time had stopped.

Then Priya laughed. It was a fake sound that did not even reach her eyes. "She is not okay. Look at her, look at her eyes. She just tried to attack a guest on the terrace. Now she is making up stories to save face in front of the man who rejected her. This is the kind of crazy behavior the council warned Kade about."

"Check." Her voice was very calm. The black was still swallowing the whites of her eyes. "I am not asking anyone to take my word for it. I am asking Kade to check. He is an Alpha. He can smell a lie as well as I can now. Better probably, since he has had the ability his whole life instead of eleven months." Luna said

Every eye in the room turned to Kade. He did not move for a moment. Then slowly he turned to Priya. Something in his face had gone very still and very careful. It was like he was thinking hard about something he did not want to think about.

"Priya," he said quietly. "Look at me."

"Kade, do not do this in front of everyone. Do not let her. " Priya said

"Look at me," Kade said; now his voice was demanding.

Priya's calm face cracked for the first time that night. She looked at him, jaw tight, eyes bright. Kade inhaled slowly through his nose. He was trying to figure out if she was telling the truth.

His face changed. He said, "You are not pregnant. There is no scent of a child on you all."

The ballroom erupted into noise. People were gasping, talking, someones champagne glass shattered on the marble floor. Priyas mouth. Closed twice before she said anything.

"I was going to be. I was going to make sure of it tonight, actually, before your little rejected mate decided to crash my engagement and ruin everything again." She said.

Kade's voice was very cold. He said, "You lied about carrying my child. In front of four hundred witnesses. To trap me into a marriage before I could ask a question."

Priya said, "You needed to be pushed. You have been in love with a ghost for two years, Kade, a woman you threw away yourself. I was tired of waiting for you to move on from a rejection you chose. "

Kade said, "I chose it to save her life."

Priya said, " Look how well that worked out. She is not even a wolf anymore. She is something Draven built in a lab. You are standing here defending her like she is still the woman you rejected. She is not. She is not even close."

Luna felt those words. They hurt her.

Kade said to Priya, "Get out of my territory. The engagement is over."

Priya's eyes went wide, then narrow. She said, "You will regret this. Both of you will. You have no idea what I gave up to be standing here tonight, Kade. You have no idea who is actually paying for the privilege of standing to you."

She. Walked out through the terrace doors into the dark. This time no one stopped her.

The ballroom stayed frozen. Four hundred guests were holding their breath, waiting to see what the Alpha would do next.

Kade turned to Luna. He said, "I need to tell you something. Something I should have told you the second you walked back into this territory tonight."

Luna said, "What?"

Kade said, "Priya did not just show up in my life by accident two years ago. She was introduced to me. By a pack liaison who handled outside alliances. A liaison who came from Draven territory."

Luna felt like the floor was tilting under her feet.

She said, "She is one of them."

Kade said, "I do not know yet. I know she is connected. Which means whatever they did to you, whatever is happening in your body now. Someone has been feeding them information about you from inside my own pack. For two years."

Luna's black eyes finally began to fade. They were replaced by something colder, more focused than sadness.

"Then we find out who." She said.

Behind them, the terrace doors that Priya had walked through banged open again. It was not the wind. The air outside was dead calm. Every wolf in the ballroom turned toward the sound. They saw thirty Draven wolves standing shoulder to shoulder in the moonlight. At the center of them, smiling like she had planned this from the beginning, stood Priya.