My Alpha Destroyed My Hands to Protect His Mistress

The great hall blazed with torchlight and laughter. Pack members crowded around tables laden with roasted meat and ale, celebrating another victory against the rogues who'd tried to breach our northern border. They had no idea the wards I'd woven into the territory's edge were what kept them safe. They never did.

I stood near the back wall, as always. Luna in name only. River's mate by a bond he'd never truly honored.

"Julie." River's voice cut through the noise like a blade. The hall fell silent. "Come here."

Every eye turned to me. I moved forward, my simple dress a stark contrast to the finery around me. River sat at the head table, Alondra perched beside him in a gown that cost more than most pack members earned in a month. The Luna Stone—his mother's heirloom that he'd never let me wear—glittered at her throat.

"The Falcon's Eye," River said, his tone casual but his eyes hard. "Hand it over."

My fingers instinctively went to the amulet hidden beneath my collar. The ancient artifact pulsed against my skin, warm with the protective magic I'd poured into it years ago. "River, I—"

"Alondra needs protection." He gestured to the woman beside him, who gazed up at him with wide, frightened eyes. "A true Luna deserves the pack's best defense. You understand, don't you?"

The words hit like a slap. A true Luna. As if I were nothing.

"Of course, Alpha," I said quietly, though my wolf stirred restlessly inside me. Not now. We couldn't reveal ourselves. Not yet.

But I didn't remove the amulet.

River's jaw tightened. "My study. Now."

I followed him through the corridors, Alondra's heels clicking behind us. The study door slammed shut, and River rounded on me.

"Why are you making this difficult?"

"Because the Falcon's Eye isn't jewelry." I kept my voice steady, measured. "It's the keystone to the northern wards. Without it positioned correctly, the defenses will—"

"I don't care about your superstitions." River moved closer, his Alpha aura pressing down on me. "Give it to me."

"River, please listen—"

"She wants me dead." Alondra's voice trembled as she clutched River's arm. "Can't you see? She's keeping the protection for herself while I'm left vulnerable. What if the rogues come back? What if they—" Her voice broke into a sob.

River's eyes flashed gold. His wolf was rising.

"I would never—" I started, but he wasn't listening anymore.

"You've always been selfish," he snarled. "Weak. Useless. I should have rejected you years ago."

The words should have hurt. Maybe once they would have. But I'd heard variations of them so many times that they'd lost their sting. What terrified me was the way his hands were shaking, the way his wolf was taking control.

"River, calm down—"

He lunged.

I tried to dodge, but he was faster, stronger. His hand closed around my wrist like a vice. The other hand grabbed my fingers.

"You want to hide things from me?" His voice was barely