Chapter 3
The pack healer's quarters smelled of antiseptic and mountain herbs, a sharp contrast to the lingering scent of silver burns on my skin. Elena Blackwood worked in silence, her gentle hands cleaning the blistered wounds that Haven's 'accident' had left across my arms.
"This is the fourth time this month," Elena murmured, her voice barely above a whisper as she applied a cooling salve. "Silver contact, wolfsbane exposure, that fall down the stone steps..." She paused, her brown eyes meeting mine with careful concern. "These accidents seem to follow a pattern, Luna."
I watched her document each burn with clinical precision, photographing the distinctive marks silver left on werewolf skin. Her medical journal lay open beside us, pages filled with dates, injuries, and detailed descriptions. Evidence, though neither of us dared speak that word aloud.
"I can't say anything officially," Elena continued, wrapping clean bandages around my forearms. "Pack hierarchy binds my tongue. But if you ever need these records..." She tapped the journal meaningfully.
"Thank you," I whispered, understanding the risk she took even in documenting this much. "For everything."
Elena's expression softened. "You don't deserve this treatment, Luna. Whatever political games are being played, you don't deserve to suffer for them."
I left the healer's quarters with fresh bandages and a spark of hope I hadn't felt in months. Someone saw the truth, even if they couldn't speak it.
***
The Alpha's study should have been locked. I'd learned Everett's patterns over two years—he conducted business there every morning, leaving for pack patrol by noon. But today, the heavy oak door stood slightly ajar, and papers scattered across his massive desk caught the afternoon light streaming through tall windows.
I shouldn't have entered. Luna or not, Everett guarded his private correspondence jealously. But something about the letterhead visible from the doorway made my wolf stir with recognition. Ironwood Pack official seal.
My hands trembled as I lifted the letter, my eyes scanning the formal text with growing disbelief.
*Alpha Murphy,*
*Regarding your inquiry about securing the legendary undefeated Alpha warrior from Ironwood Pack for personal protection services, I must inform you that such arrangements require extensive vetting and substantial compensation.*
*The warrior you seek has never been defeated in formal combat and commands the highest respect among inter-pack communities. Given your request specifies protection for a chosen mate rather than a Luna, additional considerations apply.*
*If you remain serious about this alliance, please provide detailed background on the individual requiring protection and your specific security concerns.*
*Respectfully,*
*Council of Pack Relations*
I sank into Everett's leather chair, the letter crumpling in my grip. He'd been trying to hire me. The legendary Alpha warrior he desperately wanted to protect Haven was sitting in his own home, wearing his mark, enduring his neglect.
The irony tasted like ashes in my mouth. While he dismissed me as weak, worthless, unfit to be Luna, he'd been secretly corresponding about the very reputation I'd sacrificed to become his mate. The undefeated warrior who'd earned respect across every pack territory was the same woman he allowed to be humiliated in his great hall.
I photographed the correspondence with shaking hands, adding it to my growing collection of evidence. When the time came to reclaim my identity, I'd need proof of everything—the abuse, the neglect, and now this ultimate insult.
Footsteps echoed in the hallway. I quickly returned the papers to their scattered arrangement and slipped out through the side door, my heart hammering against my ribs.
***
The servants' entrance had become my preferred route through Silvermoon territory, but tonight it served a different purpose. Marcus Stone waited in the shadows beyond the kitchen gardens, his familiar scent carrying comfort and memories of better days.
"Goddess above, Ellie," he breathed when I emerged from the pack house. His eyes took in my bandaged arms, the careful way I moved, the grey servant's tunic that had replaced my Luna's finery. "What has he done to you?"
"Nothing I can't survive," I replied, but my voice cracked on the words. Seeing Marcus—my former Beta, my friend, the one person who'd never doubted my strength—broke something loose inside my chest.
He stepped closer, his protective instincts warring with respect for my autonomy. "The diplomatic meeting was a cover. I had to see for myself." His jaw tightened. "This isn't the Ellie Franklin I served under. This isn't the Alpha who never lost a challenge."
"That Alpha is gone," I whispered.
"No." Marcus's voice carried the conviction that had made him an exceptional Beta. "She's buried, but not gone. I've been preparing, Ellie. Maintaining your records, your achievements, your rightful place in the inter-pack community. When you're ready to reclaim what's yours..."
He pulled a slim folder from his jacket. "Documentation of every victory, every alliance you forged, every pack that still speaks your name with respect. The warrior world hasn't forgotten you, even if you've forgotten yourself."
I clutched the folder against my chest, feeling the weight of my former life in those pages. "I don't know if I can be her again."
"You never stopped being her," Marcus said firmly. "You just learned to hide her. But when you're ready to come home to Ironwood, we'll be waiting."
As he disappeared back into the forest, I stood alone in the moonlight, holding proof of who I'd been and who I could be again. For the first time in two years, the future felt like a choice rather than a sentence.
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