Chapter 3
The sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the healing chambers, and my heart lurched with a mixture of hope and dread. Clayton's familiar scent reached me—pine and leather mixed with something darker that I couldn't identify. Maybe he would finally see what Ainara had done. Maybe he would put an end to this madness.
"What's going on here?" Clayton's voice boomed through the chamber as he stepped into the doorway. His Alpha presence filled the space, commanding and powerful. Relief flooded through me as I turned toward my mate, ready to explain the destruction, the chaos, the way Ainara had refused my Luna authority.
But the words died in my throat when I saw his expression.
Clayton's dark eyes swept over the shattered vials, the overturned altar, Marcus clutching his broken wrist—and his face showed no surprise. No shock. No anger at the destruction of our pack's medical supplies. Instead, his jaw tightened as his gaze landed on me.
"Clayton, thank the Moon Goddess you're here," I began, stepping forward. "Ainara has destroyed weeks of medical preparations. Marcus is injured, and Elena's healing salve—"
"Enough." The word cracked through the air like a whip, and I felt the crushing weight of his Alpha tone pressing down on me. Not the gentle authority he used during pack meetings, but the full, overwhelming force that demanded immediate submission. "You're interfering with matters beyond your understanding, Nora."
The chamber fell silent except for Marcus's labored breathing. I stared at my mate, certain I had misheard. "I'm sorry, what?"
Clayton's eyes were cold, distant. "You heard me. This isn't your concern."
"Not my concern?" My voice rose despite the Alpha pressure bearing down on me. "Clayton, she's destroyed emergency medical supplies! People will die without—"
"You're challenging pack hierarchy," he cut me off, his tone growing more dangerous. "And I won't tolerate it. Not from you. Not from anyone."
The apprentice healers shrank further into the corners, their fear so thick I could taste it. Marcus looked between Clayton and me with growing horror, as if he couldn't believe what he was witnessing.
But it was Ainara's triumphant smile that made my blood turn to ice.
"See?" she purred, moving to Clayton's side with predatory grace. "I told you she doesn't understand her place. A real Luna would never question her Alpha's decisions."
Clayton didn't push her away. Didn't correct her. Instead, he looked at me with something that might have been disappointment. "Ainara is under my protection, Nora. I thought I'd made that clear."
"Your protection?" The words felt foreign on my tongue. "Clayton, she just destroyed Elena Rodriguez's healing salve. Elena could die from infection without it."
"That's Marcus's responsibility to figure out," Clayton said dismissively. "Not yours."
I felt something crack inside my chest—not my ribs, but something deeper. Something that had been holding my world together. "I'm Luna of this pack. The welfare of our members is exactly my responsibility."
"You're my mate," Clayton corrected, his voice carrying a warning that made my wolf whimper. "And your responsibility is to support my decisions, not question them in front of the pack."
The humiliation was a physical blow. In front of the healers—wolves who had looked up to me, who had trusted in my leadership—my own mate was stripping away my authority like it meant nothing.
Ainara stepped closer to Clayton, her hand brushing against his arm in a gesture that was far too intimate for a wolf under mere "protection." "She's always been too weak for this position," she murmured, loud enough for everyone to hear. "A real Luna would understand pack dynamics."
Clayton didn't move away from her touch.
The silence stretched between us like a chasm, filled only by Marcus's quiet whimpers of pain and the steady drip of spilled medicines hitting the stone floor. I looked at my mate—really looked at him—and saw a stranger wearing Clayton's face.
"Get out," he said quietly, his Alpha tone making the command impossible to ignore. "All of you. Marcus, find another way to handle your supply issues. Nora, we'll discuss your behavior later."
My behavior. As if I was the one who had caused this destruction. As if I was the one who had betrayed everything we stood for.
I turned on my heel and walked toward the door, my spine straight and my head high despite the crushing weight of humiliation. But as I reached the threshold, I heard Ainara's soft laughter behind me, followed by Clayton's murmured words that made my blood freeze:
"Don't worry. She'll learn her place eventually."
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