After My Mate Crowned His Mistress Luna, I Fought Back

The heavy oak doors of the Silver Claw Pack's grand hall magnified the silence as I stood at the podium. My voice, usually steady and commanding, echoed slightly as I pointed to the map of our northern borders.

"As you can see, the rogue incursions have increased by twelve percent since the last full moon," I stated, meeting the gaze of the Council elders. "I propose shifting the Gamma unit to the ridge line to—"

"That will be enough, Cecilia."

My mate’s voice cut through the air like a whip. I froze, my hand hovering over the map. Alpha August Spencer stood up from his throne, his aura restless and agitated. He wasn't looking at me. His eyes were fixed on the side entrance, where the heavy curtains parted.

A hush fell over the room. Violette Fox stepped forward. She looked delicate, wearing a white dress that seemed to swallow her slender frame, her eyes wide and shimmering with unshed tears. She looked like a porcelain doll that had been broken and glued back together—fragile, but undeniably present.

"August?" I asked, my voice low. "We are in the middle of a security briefing."

He ignored me. He walked down the steps of the dais, bypassing me completely to take Violette’s hand. He led her up the stairs, placing her right beside his chair—the space reserved for the Luna.

"Elders, warriors," August announced, his voice booming with Alpha command. "Violette has returned to us from the brink of death. It is a miracle granted by the Moon Goddess. To ensure her comfort and safety as she reintegrates, I am making an executive decree."

My stomach twisted. A cold dread seeped into my bones.

"Effective immediately," August continued, squeezing Violette’s hand, "Violette will assume the title of Acting Luna for all internal pack affairs. Furthermore, to secure her future, I am transferring five percent of the prime river valley territory to her name."

The hall erupted in murmurs. I stood there, the blood draining from my face. Internal affairs? That was my domain. The river valley? That was the most fertile land in the territory—land that my father, Alpha Marcus Knight, had helped secure with his resources when we married.

"August," I said, my tone sharp enough to slice glass. "You cannot simply—"

"It is done," he snapped, finally looking at me. His eyes were cold, devoid of the warmth they held just a week ago. "Sit down, Cecilia."

I didn't sit. I turned on my heel, my chin held high despite the burning humiliation in my chest, and marched out of the hall. I am a Knight. I do not let them see me bleed.

My feet carried me instinctively to his private office. I needed answers. I needed to understand why the man I had spent a year saving was publicly dismantling me.

I shoved the office door open. "August, you—"

The words died in my throat. The air in the room was thick, suffocating. It wasn't just the smell