The Claw's Penalty: She Survived to Rule Them All

POV: Harlow Love

Dawn broke grey and brutal. I was a statue of ice and pain.

"Get up."

Kaden stood there in a tailored suit. He looked at me with a flicker of guilt that he quickly buried under annoyance.

I tried to move. My leg was a stiff log of agony. The wound had clotted, but the skin around it was angry and red.

"We have errands," he said. "Brittaney needs a dress for the Gala."

"I can't walk," I rasped.

He grabbed my arm, hauling me up. The Mate spark zapped us both. He flinched, then gripped harder.

"You will walk. Stand."

The Command forced my legs to work against the pain.

The mall was a blur of lights and noise. I was a ghost trailing behind them, my limp pronounced, sweat slicking my back despite the air conditioning. My fever was spiking.

Brittaney bought everything she touched. She piled boxes into my arms until my muscles spasmed.

"Careful, Harlow," she smirked. "Don't drop the Italian leather."

By the time we returned to the villa, I was seeing double.

"Laundry room," Brittaney ordered, pointing to a pile of silk. "Hand wash. Now."

I stumbled down to the basement. The cold water in the basin felt like ice against my fever-hot skin. I dipped a red dress into the water. The room tilted. The concrete floor rushed up to meet me.

I woke up to the beep of monitors. The pack hospital.

"He brought you in," the nurse whispered, adjusting my IV. "You were burning up. Infection."

Before I could feel hope, the door banged open.

Kaden marched in. He wasn't holding flowers. He was holding a silver revolver.

He pressed the barrel to my forehead. The metal was cool against my feverish skin.

"What did you use?" he hissed.

"Kaden?"

"Wolfsbane! Brittaney put on the dress you washed. She's in the ICU. You poisoned her!"

"No!" I sobbed. "I didn't!"

"Liar. You're useless, and now you're a murderer."

He pulled the hammer back. Click.

POV: Harlow Love

He didn't shoot. He pistol-whipped me.

White light exploded. The next thing I knew, I was being dragged across the floor, the IV ripping from my arm.

He threw me into the dungeon. The stone floor was slick with grime.

"The cameras were off," Kaden paced, manic energy radiating off him. "Convenient. Confess, and I make it quick."

"I didn't do it!"

He nodded to the Torturer, a massive Beta holding a tray of silver needles.

"Silver burns healing factors," Kaden said coldly. "Show her."

The Torturer jammed a needle under my fingernail.

I screamed until my throat tore. It was liquid fire. My body convulsed.

"She's tough," the Beta grunted.

"She's stupid," Kaden turned away, refusing to watch the result of his order.

Five fingers. My hand was a ruin.

"Enough!"

Lily, the head maid, burst in. She shoved the Torturer aside.

"Are you insane?" she screamed at Kaden. "This is General Love's daughter! Brittaney poisoned herself! I saw her in the greenhouse!"

Kaden froze. "You're lying."

"I raised you, boy! Do I lie?"

Kaden looked at Lily, then at my mangled hand. The rage drained out of him, leaving behind a terrified realization. He had messed up. Badly.

"Clean her up," he muttered, walking out fast. He couldn't face me. He couldn't face what he had done.

I woke up in the attic. My hand was heavily bandaged.

"He whipped the Torturer," Lily said softly, wiping my brow.

"To make himself feel better," I croaked.

"You have to go to the Gala tonight," Lily whispered. "He... he needs to show the pack everything is fine. To save face."

I laughed, a dry, cracking sound. Of course. His image.

"Fine," I said. "I'll go. And I'll watch him burn."

POV: Harlow Love

I stood in the corner of the banquet hall, a ghost in long sleeves.

Kaden sat at the High Table with Brittaney. She was miraculously healed, wearing a new red dress. She raised a glass to me, smirking.

Suddenly, the lights cut. A distorted voice boomed. "A gift."

Photos rained from the ceiling.

I caught one. It was explicit. Brittaney. And the Beta of the Silver Lake Pack-our enemies.

I sniffed the paper. Vanilla and betrayal.

The hall erupted. Kaden stood up, snatching a photo. He inhaled sharply. He smelled it. I saw the recognition in his eyes. He knew.

Brittaney grabbed his arm, whispering frantically into his ear. "Think about the merger, Kaden! If I go down, the alliance with the South breaks. You need my father's money!"

Kaden stiffened. He looked at the crowd. He looked at me.

He made a choice. He chose power.

"Forgery!" he roared. "These are fakes! Planted by my jealous, barren wife to frame the future Luna!"

The betrayal hit me harder than the bullet would have. He knew the truth, and he threw me to the wolves to save his bank account.

He dragged me out of the hall before I could speak. In the limo, silence reigned.

"Why?" I whispered.

"Politics, Harlow," he said, staring out the window, his jaw tight. "You're expendable. The alliance isn't."

That was it. The final crack.

Inside me, something woke up. Not the weak Omega wolf. Something ancient. A White Wolf opened her eyes and looked at Kaden with pure, glacial indifference.

We are done.

"Okay," I said softly.

Kaden blinked, unsettled by my calm. "Okay?"

"Okay."

I wasn't waiting for the lashes. I was leaving tonight.