Luna Rejects Deceitful Alpha

I smoothed my hands over the stack of pack documents, organizing them neatly on Anthony's mahogany desk. The Alpha's office smelled of his cologne—sandalwood and something sharper, like pine. I'd always found it comforting before. Now, as I reached for another file, a strange tingling sensation prickled at the edge of my consciousness.

"Michelle," Anthony's voice echoed in my mind, but not directed at me. He was using the pack mind-link, thinking I couldn't hear.

I froze, my fingers hovering over a territorial report.

"Mother, you should have seen how easily I've manipulated everyone," Anthony's mental voice continued, dripping with smug satisfaction. "The entire pack believes I'm still recovering from that rogue attack three years ago."

My heart stuttered. The rogue attack that had left him weakened—the one I'd nursed him through for months, holding him when he shook with pain, celebrating every small recovery...

"But I've been at full strength for over a year now," he boasted, and I could hear the smirk in his thoughts. "Playing the struggling Alpha is so much easier than actually leading. All those boring meetings, territory disputes..."

I gripped the edge of the desk as his words sliced through me.

"And the best part? Michelle actually believes I need her. The way she fusses over me, desperate for any sign of affection..." His mental laugh was cruel, cutting. "It's pathetic how grateful she is for scraps of attention."

My wolf howled inside me, a sound of pure anguish that I barely managed to contain in my mind. My hands trembled as I forced myself to remain still, to keep my expression neutral.

"The way she looks at me with those adoring eyes," he continued to Marcus, his Beta brother. "As if I'm some precious gift from the Moon Goddess herself. It's embarrassing."

I swallowed hard, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill. Everything—every moment, every touch, every whispered promise—had been a lie.

---

That evening, I positioned myself near Anthony's private study, my heart pounding against my ribs. I'd spent the day in a fog of betrayal, but something colder was taking root inside me.

"Come on," I whispered to myself, extending my consciousness outward. As Luna, I had access to the pack mind-link, though Anthony thought I rarely used it.

Anthony's voice came through clearly, intimate and warm in a way he rarely spoke to me anymore.

"Yasmin, baby, I know it's hard," he murmured, and my stomach twisted at the endearment. "But we're so close to getting what we want."

Yasmin Shaw—the pack healer's assistant who always looked at me with those pitying smiles.

"How much longer do I have to watch that weak Luna play house with you?" Yasmin's voice was sharp with frustration. "I'm tired of hiding."

"Just a little longer," Anthony soothed. "Once she gives me an heir—"

"Then you'll reject her and I'll finally take my rightful place," Yasmin finished, her voice smug now. "And we'll raise her little pup together."

My nails dug into my