My Mate Accused Me of Poisoning His Heir

I wake to the sound of drawers opening and closing. My bedroom—the guest quarters I've been relegated to—is filled with the quiet, efficient movements of pack Omegas. They work with the practiced invisibility of people who have learned that being noticed is dangerous.

I sit up slowly, pressing my palms against my temples. The headache is already building behind my eyes, but I don't let it show. 'What's happening?'

'Miss Lily,' Martha appears at my bedside, her face carefully neutral. 'Alpha Jaxson has ordered your remaining belongings moved from the Luna Suite. They're... they're clearing it out for Miss Turner.'

Of course they are. I should have expected this. The Luna Suite isn't just any room—it's the symbolic heart of the pack's female leadership. It's where generations of Lunas have lived, loved, and led. It's mine by right of bond, and he's giving it to her.

'I'll get dressed,' I say, my voice steady. 'I want to see.'

Martha helps me into my wheelchair, and together we make our way down the hallway. The corridor outside the Luna Suite is bustling with activity. I recognize most of the Omegas—they're the ones who usually avoid looking at me directly. Today, they're too busy hauling my life out of the room to avoid my gaze.

I watch them carry my medical texts, the ones I've studied for years. My mother's silver hairbrush. The small wooden box where I keep the few pieces of jewelry I own. Each item is handled with the awkward care of people who know they're participating in something wrong but lack the power to stop it.

'Miss Lily,' one of the younger Omegas whispers, her eyes wide with something that might be shame or fear. 'I'm so sorry—'

'Don't be,' I tell her, because what else can I say?

Jaxson appears in the doorway of the Luna Suite, and the Omegas freeze. He's dressed in his Alpha formal wear—the kind he wears for pack business. His eyes find mine across the chaos, and there's nothing in them. Not anger. Not regret. Just... nothing.

'Is there a problem?' he asks, his voice carrying that edge of command that makes the Omegas flinch.

'No problem,' I reply. 'Just watching the pack's traditions get packed away.'

He doesn't respond. He turns back into the suite, and I hear Gia's laughter—bright, victorious, filling the space that was once mine.

They move me to the ground floor. The room is small, with a single window that looks out at the service entrance. It's where visiting servants stay. I've never seen a Luna housed here before, but I suppose I'm not really a Luna anymore.

Martha helps me settle in, arranging my few remaining possessions with the same quiet efficiency she brings to everything. When she finds my journal—the small leather-bound book where I write in the Old Tongue—she pauses.

'Is this important?' she asks.

'Yes,' I say. 'It's... private.'

She places it on the nightstand without opening it. She knows I can't read the Old Tongue, but she respects that it matters to me.

When she leaves, I open the journal. My hands are steady as I write the entry. The words flow in the ancient script of our kind—a language I learned from my grandmother, one that Jaxson and the rest of the pack have long forgotten.

'Today, I lost my sanctuary,' I write. 'Tomorrow, I will lose more. But I will not lose myself.'

A week passes. I establish my routine in the new room. I continue my work in the pack's medical wing, tending to the Omegas and lower-ranked wolves who still seek my help. I avoid the Luna Suite. I avoid Jaxson.

Until he finds me.

He storms into my room without knocking. His Alpha aura fills the space, pressing down on me like a physical weight. 'Liliana,' he says, his voice dropping into that particular tone—the Alpha Tone. The one that compels obedience.

I feel it hit me like a command. My body responds before my mind can resist. 'Yes, Alpha.'

'Gia is experiencing cramping,' he says, his jaw tight. 'You will examine her. Now.'

My heart contracts painfully, but I can't fight the command. My hands push the wheels of my chair forward. He leads me to the Luna Suite—my former home—and I see her lying on the bed. Gia Turner, her hand resting protectively over her belly.

'She's pregnant,' Jaxson says, and the words hit me like a physical blow. 'Three months. She's having... complications.'

I know what this means. I'm the pack's best Healer. I've delivered pups, treated pregnancies, saved lives. And now, my mate is commanding me to save the child of the woman who took my place.

My hands shake as I approach the bed. Gia's eyes meet mine, and there's triumph there, barely concealed beneath a mask of vulnerability.

'The Alpha says you're the best,' she says softly. 'I knew he'd send you.'