CALEB
She clings to life in my arms, soaked, shivering, and silent. When I pulled her from the water just moments ago, I wasn't thinking. I moved.
Instinctively. Something about her compels me…and it's not just duty. It's something deeper, something I don't yet understand. But I'm no fool. Just because I saved her doesn't mean I trust her.
Her lips are pale, but her pulse is steady. For someone barely breathing minutes ago, she recovers fast.
Too fast.
My suspicion sharpens.
A rogue doesn't usually bounce back like this. Especially not one that the Alpha himself claimed as Luna. There's something she's hiding.
I step outside, signaling one of my men. "Find everything you can about the new Luna. I want records, whispers, rumors. Now."
He bows and leaves swiftly. I don't usually interfere in Sebastian's affairs, but this isn't just any woman. This is the same female who walked into this pack with fire in her eyes and a silent man by her side. They were caught together. As rogues.
No blood, no wounds, no whimpering for help. They didn't even resist when captured.
Sebastian's men had killed the wolf hunters chasing them, then turned on the fleeing pair without hesitation. It was only after Ava was chained, her wrist bleeding from silver cuffs, that the truth became evident.
She was his mate.
She tried to reject him.
He didn't take it well.
Torture does things. It reshapes the strongest minds into obedience. And that's exactly what he did to her. Bent her will until she agreed to wear his mark, to live beside him in the Luna wing.
But something about her never broke.
And I think that terrifies him.
Moments later, the door opens behind me. It's Jareth, the scout I sent to dig.
"Sir," he starts, voice low, "I have news."
I nod.
"She escaped her original pack with her lover, Dante. They were running. Not just from laws or punishment….they were running from her father who's against them getting married."
My jaw tightens.
"Sebastian's men took them as rogues. The hunter's blood still warm when they dragged the couple into our borders. She never cried. Never begged."
"And?"
"She rejected Sebastian. Fiercely. But he broke her. Tortured her in the dungeons. She was forced into marriage."
I look away. A knot forms in my throat.
"Was Dante killed?"
Jareth shakes his head. "No. Banished."
Convenient. Get rid of the lover, keep the mate. Typical Sebastian.
I rub my temples. This woman. This Ava. I saw her before she was pushed into the river. Saw the way she moved, the way her eyes scanned her surroundings. Sharp. Controlled. Beautiful.
Dangerous.
"And the river incident?"
Jareth lowers his voice. "She received a letter. After it happened, just now. Someone instructed her to prepare for an escape."
My pulse spikes.
She's planning another escape.
"But at the river scene , I noticed someone followed her," Jareth continues
A setup?
Or betrayal?
"Follow her again," I say. "Stay close. Don't make a move unless I say so. And find out who delivered that letter."
I watch Jareth disappear into the shadows, his cloak brushing the wet grass as he vanishes. My hands clench at my sides. There's too much I don't know, and that makes her dangerous.
Ava.
The so-called Luna of this pack. The captive bride of a tyrant.
I remember the first time I saw her…just before the river. The way she moved, the grace in her steps even though she carried pain in her eyes. She wasn't like the others here. She didn't belong.
Not to this land, not to this Alpha, and maybe not even to the title she wears.
I've seen women fight for power, die for it. She doesn't crave it. She fears it. Wears the crown like a noose.
And now I know why.
She and her lover fled their pack. Not because of crime. But because her father opposed the union. They ran for freedom, not chaos. And what did they find?
Silver cuffs. Dungeons. A forced bond to a man who calls himself Alpha.
I spit on the ground.
Sebastian's kind of power is the kind I hate..rooted in pride, soaked in fear. And now he's parading around a Luna forged through torture. No wonder she keeps her spine straight…because if she bends, she'll break.
And yet…
She was going to escape again.
That letter.
Jareth said someone delivered it right after she was pulled from the river. He saw her clutch it, hide it quickly.
What worries me is not that she's trying to escape.
What worries me is *who* gave her the letter.
Because there's someone else playing this game. And I don't like being left out of the rules.
I turn toward the trail leading back to my tent near the outer guest border of this cursed pack. I don't belong here. I came for an alliance..a simple political move. But now?
I'm tangled in Sebastian's lies. In Ava's silence. In secrets older than this soil.
The moment I return to my space, I spot movement.
"Report," I bark before the figure even gets the chance to knock.
Jareth steps forward again, panting slightly, his clothes damp from the mist.
"She's back in the Luna lounge," he says. "Alone. But agitated. Talking with her maid."
"Did the maid deliver the letter?"
"No," he says, shaking his head. "But she's involved. The way Ava looks at her..it's not just servant and mistress. There's trust."
I nod once. "We need leverage."
"There's more," Jareth adds. "One of the stable boys said they saw a figure near the garden archway where Ava was walking before the fall."
My muscles tense. "Describe them."
"He couldn't. Hooded. Moved fast. But he dropped something and Sebastian saw it and picked it already"
Interesting.
Someone masked their identity and was close enough to watch…or push.
"And the letter?" I press.
"Still working on who delivered it. Whoever it was knew how to move unnoticed."
Damn it.
I pace, heart pounding. Ava's either being used… or she's the one using everyone.
But my instincts says she's either a mastermind or pawn.
"She's a survivor," I murmur
"You want me to expose her?" Jareth asks.
"No," I snap. "I want you to protect.her. Quietly. Watch the maid, watch the messengers, watch the guards closest to her door. And if someone tries to reach her again… I want names."
Jareth nods and slips back into the night.
I sit down heavily, the wooden bench creaking beneath me. My fingers rub against the small metal pendant hanging under my tunic.
A memory from long ago. A promise I once made…to never let power destroy another innocent soul if I could help it.
Sebastian broke that promise. Ava is proof.
And now, I have a decision to make.
I didn't come here to save anyone.
But something tells me I might have to.