The Betrayed Moon Heir

"Move." The perimeter guard shoved my shoulder. "Alpha wants you packed and gone by sunrise."

I stumbled down the stone corridor. "I will pack my things."

"You'll pack whatever Serena lets you take." He sneered. "She brought three rogues into the council room an hour ago. They sang quite a song about you."

"What song?"

"That you warmed rogue beds long before Caelan ever found you." The guard crossed his arms, leaning against the damp wall. "They told the elders you just needed a strong male to clean up your mess. Even hinted the boy isn't pure Ashborne."

"Caelan allowed them to speak?"

"He paid them." The guard laughed. "Easier to call you a whore than admit he's wrong."

I stared at the heavy iron torch brackets. My husband needed me to be a monster. Acknowledging my innocence meant acknowledging his own cruelty.

"Tell Caelan something for me." I kept my voice perfectly flat.

"I don't run messages for mutts."

"Tell him I remember the night before his Alpha challenge." I held his gaze. "I stayed awake until dawn grinding his sword."

"Shut up."

"Tell him I remember tearing my own winter cloak to bandage his arm when a silver blade caught him." I took a step toward the guard. "Tell him to check the inside lining of his hunting coats. I sewed a tiny moon into every single one."

"He doesn't care about your sewing."

"He cares about his pride. Ask him why his left shoulder never healed right. Ask him who sucked the silver poison out of his veins while Serena was hiding in the cellar."

The guard grabbed my collar, throwing me into my bedroom. "Pack your trash."

The door slammed shut.