Dawn Crawford POV:

I didn't sleep.

I sat by the window and watched the celebratory bonfires burn down to embers, just like my heart.

When the first rays of dawn touched the sky, I rose.

I faced the mirror and looked at the pale woman staring back, at the violet shadows beneath her eyes.

I would not break.

I was the Luna of the Blackwood Pack.

Even if my mate had betrayed me, I would not lose my dignity.

I chose a severe black suit, pulling my silver-white hair into a tight, perfect bun at the nape of my neck.

I used makeup to paint a mask of composure over my exhaustion.

The Pack House was quiet as I stepped into the hallway.

The mess from last night's aborted celebration was gone, but the air was thick with a lingering awkwardness.

I was heading to the dining hall when I ran right into him.

Jaxson.

He hadn't slept either; the dark stubble on his jaw told me that.

His eyes were a complicated storm of emotions as he looked at me.

He opened his mouth to speak, but I walked past him without a word, giving him no opening.

"Dawn, we need to talk."

His Alpha command echoed in my mind.

I wanted to sever the disgusting link.

But he was the Alpha; I couldn't block him completely.

Instead, I focused my will, building an icy wall around his voice in my head.

It wouldn't silence him, but it would muffle his words and make him feel my rejection.

He grunted, a soft, sharp sound of surprise.

He felt my mental barrier.

A flash of shock, then anger, crossed his face.

I entered the dining hall.

At the long, polished table, Julianne was already seated.

In the chair next to the Alpha's seat.

My seat.

She saw me and immediately stood, her face arranged in a perfect, humble smile.

"Good morning, Dawn. Did you sleep well?"

I gave her a cold look, ignoring her question. I turned to the servant standing nearby. "Move my place setting to the far end of the table."

The servant's eyes widened in panic.

She glanced at me, then at Jaxson, who had just walked in behind me.

She was frozen with indecision.

Julianne's smile faltered.

Her eyes welled up instantly, a perfect picture of wounded innocence.

"I... I didn't mean to. I just wanted to be closer to you..."

Jaxson strode to her side, placing a protective hand on her shoulder.

He glared at me.

"Dawn, stop it. Julianne means no harm."

"I have no desire to sit with a stranger," I stated calmly, my eyes locked on Jaxson. "And that is my seat."

The temperature in the room dropped to freezing.

A stern, female voice cut through the tension.

"Jaxson, let her sit where she wants."

Jaxson's mother, Eleanor Fisher, the former Luna who had trained me herself and whose authority in this pack was second only to her son's, stepped out from a side hall.

She wore an immaculate dress suit, her expression severe as her sharp eyes swept over the three of us.

As the former Luna, she understood the importance of my position.

Jaxson's jaw tightened, but he deferred to his mother.

"Mother, Dawn is overreacting."

"Your Fated Mate is displeased because of the woman you brought into our home. That is not an overreaction," Eleanor said, her voice quiet but filled with indisputable power. "Your duty is to soothe your Luna, not to stand here and blame her."

Julianne's face went pale.

She looked to Jaxson for help.

Under his mother's unwavering gaze, Jaxson finally relented.

He gave a sharp nod to the servant, who scurried to do as I'd asked.

Then he led Julianne to a seat on his other side, far from me.

I sat alone at the head of the long table, eating my breakfast with practiced elegance, as if nothing had happened.

I could feel Jaxson's burning stare on me the entire time.

The meal ended in suffocating silence.

I dabbed my lips with my napkin and rose to leave.

"Dawn, don't go. We have to talk."

Jaxson tried the mind-link again, a note of pleading in his tone this time.

I paused but didn't turn around.

I reinforced my mental shield, making his voice a distant, distorted mumble in my head.

Then I walked out of the dining hall without a backward glance.

I could feel his anger, but beneath it, there was something else... confusion.

It was a small, cold victory.

I made my way to the pack's study.

My office.

The place where I managed our world.

But when I pushed the door open, I stopped.

Jaxson had already had people move Julianne's luggage into the small suite adjoining my study-the rooms that were meant for the future Alpha heir.

He wasn't just bringing her into our home.

He was letting her invade the space meant for my future child.

This was a new declaration of war.

Jaxson Fisher POV:

I watched Dawn's cold, rigid back as she stared at the room I'd arranged for Julianne.

But she didn't give it so much as a second glance, which bothered me more than if she had screamed.

I followed her into the study and shut the door behind us.

This was her space.

It smelled of her, of cool moonlight and clean paper.

It was a scent that used to drive me wild with need.

Now, it just made me uneasy.

"Dawn, let me explain."

I pushed through her mental barrier with my Alpha strength.

She flinched, the forced entry clearly causing her pain.

She turned, and her violet eyes were no longer just sad.

They were a frozen wasteland.

"Explain?" she finally said, her voice terrifyingly calm. "Explain why you brought a pregnant woman into our home? Explain why she is carrying your child?"

Her questions hit me like a physical blow.

My wolf snarled inside me, desperate to soothe our mate, to pull her into my arms and beg for forgiveness.

But my human mind, my honor, held me back.

I had to make her understand.

"During an ambush," I began, my voice rough, "A silver-tipped arrow was meant for me. It was Hector Gonzalez, Julianne's father, who threw himself in front of it. He died saving me."

I described the bloody battle, the chaos, and Hector's dying wish.

"He made me swear I would look after his only daughter and his grandson. I gave him my word, Dawn. I swore I would take care of them for the rest of my life."

I stared at her, willing her to see the impossible position I was in.

To understand my duty, my honor as an Alpha.

"Julianne's mate was killed in an earlier raid. She had no one. I couldn't turn my back on my oath. I know what I'm asking is impossible, Dawn. But a Fated Mate bond is law, and an oath sworn on a dying man's blood is also law. I am trapped between two vows, and I chose the one that came with a life debt."

"As for the child..." I faltered.

I vaguely mentioned a night filled with grief and pressure, of comforting a distraught Julianne...

I didn't finish the whole story.

The meaning was clear enough.

Dawn listened without a single change in her expression.

When I was done, she let out a soft, short laugh.

It was a sound filled with endless mockery and sorrow.

"So, for your 'honor' and your 'oath, ' I am expected to accept that my Fated Mate has fathered a child with another woman, and I must welcome her as family?"

Her voice was quiet, but each word was a lash against my skin.

A wave of frustration washed over me.

"I'm not asking you to be warm to her! I'm just asking you to accept her presence! I am the Alpha, and this is my decision!"

"And I am your Luna, Jaxson," she reminded me, her voice like steel. "The one chosen for you by the Moon Goddess. There is no such thing as a 'chosen mate, ' not when the Fated Mate is still alive."

Her words struck at the core law of our society, and I had no counter.

My wolf howled in agreement with her.

It hated Julianne's presence.

But I ruthlessly suppressed it.

"Julianne and her family sacrificed everything for me," I repeated stubbornly. "I have to give her a place here. It's what I owe them."

"And you'll sacrifice me to do it?" Dawn took a step forward, and for the first time, fire lit her violet eyes. "You'll use my dignity, my position, our Mate Bond, to repay your debt to her?"

"It's not like that!" I roared, feeling backed into a corner.

"It is exactly like that." She shook her head, the fire in her eyes dying, turning back to cold ash. "I will not accept it. I, Dawn Crawford, will not share my Alpha with another woman."

Her words were a final judgment, cutting off any hope of persuasion.

I looked at her resolute face, and a raw anger surged through me.

She was being unreasonable.

Jealous and petty.

"You have to accept it!" I grabbed her arm, trying to use my Alpha dominance to force her to yield. "That is an order!"

She didn't fight me.

She just looked down at my hand on her arm, then back up at my face.

Her eyes were filled with a profound disappointment and something that looked like pity.

Her expression made me feel like a brutish tyrant.

I released her arm as if it had burned me.

My wolf whimpered in my head, pained that I had hurt our mate.

"If this is your decision, Alpha Fisher," she said, taking a step back, creating a chasm between us, "then so be it."

I knew what calling me Alpha Fisher meant, and her words carried a dark premonition of the consequences.

She turned to her desk.

She picked up a heavy ring of brass keys and a thick, leather-bound ledger.

"But you cannot expect me to accept her and continue to perform my duties as Luna." She pushed the keys and the ledger toward me, her voice flat and calm. "From this day forward, the internal affairs of the Blackwood Pack can be managed by your 'chosen mate'."