Luna vs. Alpha's Folly

The healing center felt hollow without its usual bustle of patients and staff. I sat at my desk, staring at the scattered papers before me—testimonies I'd been collecting, witness statements that painted a damning picture of Carmen's activities in the weeks leading up to my sister's death.

The soft knock on my door made me look up. Malaya stepped inside, her arms full of folders and her expression grim but determined.

"I've been busy," she said without preamble, setting the folders on my desk. "You're not the only one who wants answers."

I opened the first folder, my heart racing as I read the handwritten statement inside. "Elder Iris saw Carmen meeting with unknown wolves at the eastern border three times in the past month," I whispered, my voice barely audible.

Malaya nodded, pulling out another document. "And Marcus's youngest warrior, Jake, reported strange scents near the herb gathering areas—rogue scents that Carmen dismissed when he brought them to her attention."

My hands trembled as I flipped through page after page of evidence. Pack members who had noticed Carmen's secretive behavior, her unexplained absences, her dismissive attitude toward security concerns in areas where rogues later struck.

"Why didn't they come forward before?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.

"Because they trusted their Beta," Malaya said bitterly. "And because questioning a ranked wolf's behavior isn't something most pack members feel comfortable doing."

I pressed my palms against my eyes, feeling the weight of all this evidence crushing down on me. "Weston will say it's all circumstantial. He'll find ways to explain it away."

"Then we make sure the truth spreads before he can silence it," Malaya said firmly. "These pack members deserve to know what really happened. They deserve to know their Beta betrayed them."

But even as she spoke, I could see the doubt in her eyes. We both knew the power Weston wielded, the fear he could instill with a single Alpha command.

As if summoned by our conversation, my phone buzzed with an incoming call. The caller ID made my blood run cold: Carmen Silva.

"Don't answer it," Malaya warned, but I was already swiping to accept.

"Hello, Liana," Carmen's voice was honey-sweet, dripping with false concern. "I heard you've been having a difficult time since your loss. I wanted to check on you."

"Cut the act, Carmen. I know what you did."

A soft laugh echoed through the phone. "Oh, honey. I'm afraid grief has made you quite confused. The pack is starting to notice."

My grip tightened on the phone. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, when a Luna starts making wild accusations against loyal pack members, people begin to wonder about her mental state. It's quite sad, really. First you lose your sister, and now you're losing your grip on reality."

Rage flared in my chest, hot and consuming. "You murdering bitch—"

"Such language from our Luna," Carmen tsked. "I do hope you'll seek the help you clearly need. Perhaps some time away from pack duties would do you good."

The line went dead, leaving me staring at my phone in fury and disbelief.

"What did she say?" Malaya demanded.

Before I could answer, my phone rang again. This time it was Healer Iris, one of my most trusted colleagues.

"Liana," Iris's voice was tight with worry. "I need to warn you. Carmen's been spreading rumors. She's telling everyone that you're having a breakdown, that you're fabricating evidence against innocent pack members."

My stomach dropped. "What kind of rumors?"

"She's saying you've been hallucinating, seeing things in the security footage that aren't there. She's got half the pack convinced that you're mentally unstable from grief."

I sank into my chair, the weight of Carmen's calculated cruelty settling over me like a suffocating blanket. She wasn't just covering up her crime—she was systematically destroying my credibility, turning my own pack against me.

"There's more," Iris continued reluctantly. "She's been visiting pack members who gave you statements. Suggesting they might have been mistaken about what they saw. Some of them are already backing down, saying they don't want to get involved in 'Luna's delusions.'"

Malaya's face darkened with fury. "She's using her Beta authority to intimidate witnesses."

"And it's working," I whispered, feeling the walls closing in around me. "She's not just destroying the evidence—she's destroying me."

The healing center suddenly felt less like a sanctuary and more like a trap. Carmen was playing a game I hadn't even realized had started, and she was winning.