Chapter 6

My feet moved faster than my brain could register. One minute I was clinging to whatever little control I had left; the next, I was bolting down the hall as if my life depended on it. Which, given the situation, wasn't far from the truth.

How did I end up here? One moment, I was just another woman trying to survive heartbreak, and now… now I was Luna to the Alpha King.

Contracted Lama, that tiny voice in my head whispered, as if that made a difference.

It didn't.

Grayson's silky voice replayed in my head, like a broken record I couldn't shut off.

“I have a problem with my erection. I can't get hard.”

The bluntness of his confession had knocked the air out of my lungs. Him? Of all people? Grayson Blackwood, with his carved-from-stone jawline and eyes that seemed to strip me bare every time they landed on me—that man had problems getting aroused? It didn't seem possible. But that was the least of my problems.

I had no time to process the absurdity of it all before I crashed into someone. Hard. My body hit the floor with a painful thud, a curse half-formed on my lips.

“Watch it!” An annoyed voice cut through the air.

My hands stung where they'd broken my fall. I winced, staring at the floor for a moment before blinking up at the woman standing over me. She was stunning—long, dark hair, sharp cheekbones, and eyes so intense they practically pierced through me. She looked like she belonged on a runway, not in the halls of this freezing castle.

I continued to stare at her, and her eyes narrowed. “Will you not apologize? Do you realize that Grayson is my cousin and you almost ruined a dress worth more than your life?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but a deep, commanding voice boomed down the hall. My head snapped toward it just as a tall man strode toward us. His eyes, hard and unforgiving, locked onto the woman with a look that could freeze water.

“Elaine,” he said in a tone that left no room for argument, “Grayson told you he didn’t want to see you around for a while after what you did.”

The woman, Elaine, only smiled in return—a dark, mischievous smile. “It’s nice to see you too.”

Grayson. He called him Grayson, not Alpha. There was something almost casual in the way they spoke about him, which made me even more curious about the dynamics in this place.

Then the man’s gaze shifted to me, and his features softened—only slightly. “I’m Liam, Grayson’s Beta.” He looked me up and down, his expression unreadable, before continuing, “He asked me to escort you to your room. He wants his Luna as comfortable as she can be.”

Elaine’s eyes snapped open in surprise as she crossed her arms over her chest, sizing me up as if I were nothing.

“His Luna?” she repeated, her voice dripping with disdain. She shot me a glare that could burn through steel. “Where the hell did she crawl out of to become his Luna?”

Her eyes raked over me again, full of judgment, as if she were searching for any weakness she could exploit. I wanted to say something—anything—but the words wouldn’t come. Not that it would matter. This woman had already decided I was her enemy.

Liam, to his credit, ignored her entirely. He gave me a polite smile, gesturing down the hallway. “This way. I’ll show you to your room.”

I stood there, my legs feeling like jelly, before snapping out of it and following him, all too aware of Elaine’s eyes burning into my back. Just as I passed her, her voice—cold and venomous—reached my ears.

“I don’t know who you think you are,” she said, her tone as sharp as a blade, “but outsiders aren’t welcome here. Count your days, Luna.”

I didn’t turn around. I couldn’t. Instead, I swallowed the lump in my throat and quickened my pace, keeping my focus on Liam’s broad back.

Liam led me through the winding halls in silence, stopping in front of a heavy metal door. He pushed it open, revealing a lavish room that looked like it had been ripped from a magazine—dark wood, plush carpets, and an enormous bed that screamed luxury.

“This is your room. Make yourself comfortable. Grayson will call for you soon.”

I nodded, still feeling out of place. “Thank you.”

He gave me a small smile before stepping out, the door closing softly behind him. And just like that, I was alone again, with nothing but my spiraling thoughts for company.

What the hell had I gotten myself into?

I was lost in my thoughts when the sharp ringing of my phone yanked me back to reality. I fumbled in my pocket, my fingers trembling slightly as I pulled it out. The screen flashed with the caller ID, but I didn’t need to look.

It was Isabella. The phone with the evidence—the proof of betrayal that had thrown me into this mess.

I swallowed hard and answered, barely able to get a word in before the voice on the other end exploded, “How fucking dare you?”

I jerked the phone away from my ear, wincing at the sheer volume of Isabella’s scream. “What is wrong with you, Bels?” I whispered harshly, trying to contain the storm of emotions crashing through me.

My parents always taught me to be composed, to maintain control. In their eyes, perfection was the only acceptable standard. Be perfect, stay calm, never lose your cool—that’s who I was supposed to be. But then there was Isabella, my total opposite. She was wild, unpredictable, chaotic—everything I wasn’t.

It all started when her fist accidentally met my face on our first day at the werewolf academy. I still remembered the moment like it was yesterday.

She’d thrown a punch, missed her actual target, and clocked me right in the nose instead. It hurt like hell, mixed with surprise, but what followed surprised me even more—she didn’t apologize.

Instead, she marched up to me, grabbed my face, and said, “What in the moon goddess of a swirling-eye creature are you?” She paused for a moment, her eyes suddenly brightening as if she had finally found all the answers. “This is fate. You and I are best friends now.”

I’d stared at her like she’d lost her mind, clutching my throbbing nose. But here we were, nine years later, and Isabella had bulldozed her way into my life, chaos and all.

“Ava Lilian Pierce!” she screamed, snapping me back to the present. “I know you’re not still on this call ignoring me! And WHY THE HELL DID I JUST FIND OUT YOU LEFT DYLAN—AND NOT FROM YOU?!”

I winced, rubbing my temples. “Please keep it down, Bels,” I murmured, exhaustion seeping into my voice. “I’ve already had the worst day.”

“Don’t you dare, Lilian,” she shot back, her voice full of fire. (She was the only person who ever called me Lilian—always insisting on being different.) “You better start talking, or I’m coming over. Now.”

I could practically see her pacing, probably already grabbing her jacket to storm out the door. “You don’t even know where I am,” I muttered under my breath.

There was a pause. “Exactly. Which is why you better explain what’s going on right now. What is happening, Lilian? Talk to me.”

I sighed deeply, my chest tightening as the words fought to escape. “He was cheating, Bels,” I finally said, my voice barely above a whisper. “And… he used to hit me. I just couldn’t stay. I couldn’t keep pretending.”

The silence on the other end was deafening. It stretched for what felt like an eternity before Isabella finally spoke, her voice softer now. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Shame. Embarrassment. The words ricocheted inside my skull, haunting me like they had for weeks now. How could I tell her? I was supposed to be the perfect one—the one with all the answers, the one with everything under control.

My voice trailed off, thick with emotion. I couldn’t even finish the sentence before Isabella interrupted.

“Actually, you know what, scratch that. Where are you? I’m coming to get you.”

The urge to let her rescue me—to finally just collapse into someone else’s arms and let them carry the weight—was strong. But I couldn’t.

Something clicked in my brain, though, cutting through the fog. I frowned. “Wait… how did you even know I left Dylan?”

There was no hesitation on her end. “It’s spreading like wildfire through the packs. Everyone knows by now.”

Everyone. The weight of that single word settled in my chest like a stone. My heart sank into the pit of my stomach, dragging with it all the dread I’d tried to suppress.

And if everyone knew…

Then, my phone buzzed in my hand, vibrating through my hand like the strike of a match. I glanced at the screen, my heart clenching. Another name.

Luther Pierce.

Father.

I let out a shaky breath, pulling the phone away from my ear. “Bels, I’ve got to go. It’s him.”

“Oh no, Lilian—”

“I’ll call you later.” I didn’t give her time to argue before hanging up, another breath catching in my throat. I stared at the screen for a long, agonizing second, forcing myself to swipe and bring the phone to my ear. I closed my eyes, steeling myself for the cold judgment I knew would follow.

“Hello, Father,” I greeted him, trying to sound composed, but my voice wavered.

The silence that followed was worse than the words I knew were coming. And when they did, they were icy enough to freeze the blood in my veins.

“Get to the compound. Now.”

21:53 Thu. Dec 12