Chapter 1
At four in the morning, the Silver Claw Pack’s land split open with a wolf’s howl, sharp as moonlit frost. My comm on the nightstand erupted like it had lost its mind.
The name Calix pulsed across the screen, pounding with each flash. I answered. His voice was still rough, edged with the rasp of shifting back into human form.
“Get to the headquarters garage now. The border patrol route was logged wrong—we must fix it before sunrise.”
My knuckles whitened around the comm. Click. The sound of bone grinding. “Logged wrong? Was it Mordred?”
“Yeah.” His tone was feather-light, like he was talking about cloud shapes. “She said she wanted to save the Pack’s supplies.”
A roar filled my head. The memory slammed back—three months ago, Beta Leo missed a single patrol notice. Calix punished him with a full month of duty in the Forbidden Forest. Rogues tore him bloody; he crawled back with mud under his nails and scars down his body.
And now? Calix dismissed an Omega’s mistake with a shrug?
“Save supplies?” I threw the blanket aside, silver robe trailing across the floor like wind. “The Council just passed a new quarter’s budget. Emergency route funds alone could cover three flights at dawn. Who’s she saving it for—the black market?”
A pause. Then a teary voice broke in. Mordred.
“Luna, I’m so sorry… I didn’t mean to; it was my first-time filing routes. I got flustered and typed the wrong date—”
I cut her off before she could spin that “innocent” tale.
“Patrol routes require three levels of verification. You typed it wrong; the Beta missed it? Or did you just skip the system entirely, thinking an Omega could do whatever she wanted?”
Her sobs grew louder. Calix’s voice dropped, shards of ice slamming into my ear.
“Freya, stop harping on this. She’s an Omega. She doesn’t have the experience.”
“No experience justifies leaving our borders blind for two hours.” I strode to the window. The garage lights in the distance burned like a false sun. “And when Leo lacked experience, did you call it ‘normal’? Did you let him stay cozy in headquarters while you covered patrol yourself?”
“Leo’s a Beta. Mordred is different!” Calix roared. The sound rattled my skull. I could picture the scar tugging tight above his brow—the scar he earned protecting me from Rogues last year, gasping blood, whispering: ‘No one touches my Luna or my laws.’
I slammed the comm down, yanked on a coat, and bolted for the garage.
The hall lights blinked awake one by one at my passing, then died behind me like funeral bells.
When I burst outside, Mordred was already standing by Calix’s patrol car. A silver wolf brooch glimmered at her throat.
My brooch. The Luna’s insignia Calix had commissioned for me from the Pack’s oldest craftsman—wolf eyes set with diamonds that caught light even in darkness. No one dared to copy it. It was a direct challenge to Luna authority.
“Mordred.” I stepped to her, tapped the metal, let its chill sting my skin. “Who gave you permission to wear this?”
Her face drained of blood. She stumbled back—straight into Calix’s arms.
He pulled her behind him, claws sliding free, black tips gleaming. That stance—an Alpha defending his territory. But he was shielding her, not me.
“I told her to wear it.” His eyes were steel. “It’s only a brooch. Must you be so vicious?”
“Yes.” My gaze locked on his, deep wolf eyes that once reflected only me, now tainted with another. “Because it marks the Luna. It’s the Pack’s law. Today you let her wear my brooch. Tomorrow, will you give her my seat? My bed?”
“Freya!” He surged forward, Alpha dominance rolling over me, reaching for my wrist. I twisted away, like dodging a brand from the fire.
Beta Ethan tore in on his bike, helmet still on, voice muffled by the wind:
“Calix! Border report—Rouge sighting in the eastern woods. You need to move, now!”
Calix flicked between Ethan and me. His tone softened a hair.
“I’ll handle the patrol. We’ll talk later.”
“No need.” I yanked the moonstone pendant from my neck. Warm from my skin, it cooled instantly in the air. Elder Elena had bound it to us during the bonding, our wolf-souls braided within.
I clenched it in my fist. “If you walk away now, don’t touch this again. In Pack law, no one insults the Alpha’s mate. I’ll hold you to that.”
Ink-black fury bled across his face. Mordred whispered behind him, “Alpha Calix, don’t miss patrol…”
He climbed into the car.
As the engine roared, Ethan leaned close, voice low through his helmet.
“Freya, the law he broke tonight—others will follow.”
I watched the patrol car’s tail lights vanish into the dawn fog. The moonstone in my palm bit cold into my veins, freezing its way straight to my heart.
The Silver Claw Pack’s laws were carved by Calix himself, his claws etched deep into the wood.
Now, he was the first to shatter them.
All for an Omega who played weak.
Like driving a blade straight through me.
