Clara's POV
I watched Erik walk away with Marcus, his shoulders tense like a coiled spring.
Perfect. Let him think he's hiding his little secret from me. But I knew exactly what happened in that hall tonight.
The moment Erik said "mate," I felt my carefully built future crack like thin ice. Twenty-eight years of preparation, of training to be the perfect Luna, of securing my place as his wife - all threatened by one scrawny omega girl. Lyra.
Even her name made my teeth clench. I'd seen how Erik's eyes followed her across the room.
Watched his nostrils flare when he caught her smell. The mate bond was obvious to anyone who knew the signs. And I knew them all. My phone buzzed against my thigh. Mother.
Meet me in the rose yard. Now. - E Eleanor never wasted words. She also never called emergency meetings unless something big was happening. I looked around the emptying hall, then slipped out through the side door.
The rose garden sat behind the pack house, hidden from curious eyes by tall trees. Mother waited by the pond, her silver hair gleaming in the moonlight. Even at fifty-three, Eleanor drew attention wherever she went. "Well?" she asked without turning around.
"It's confirmed," I said, joining her beside the water. "Erik found his mate tonight." "The omega." It wasn't a question. "Yes. Lyra Nightshade." Mother's lips curled into a cold smile.
"How handy. And how easily solved." I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" "Oh, Clara." She finally looked at me, her blue eyes sharp as winter frost. "Did you really think I'd let some nobody ruin everything we've worked for?" A chill ran down my spine that had nothing to do with the night air.
"Mother, what did you do?" "I made some calls. Asked some favors." She ran her fingers through the fountain water.
"It's amazing what information money can buy." "What kind of information?" "The kind that could destroy little Lyra's life completely." Mother's smile widened.
"Tell me, darling, what do you know about her family?" I frowned. "She's an orphan. Both parents died when she was young. She lives with her aunt who works in the kitchens."
"Wrong." Mother pulled out a thick envelope from her bag. "Her father is very much living. He just happens to be rotting in Silver Moon Prison for murder." My heart stopped.
"What?" "Lyra's dear daddy killed three pack members fifteen years ago. Including a pregnant woman." Mother opened the envelope, showing photographs and legal documents. "He was meant to be executed, but Alpha Theron showed mercy.
Life jail instead." I stared at the papers, my mind running. "How do you know this?" "Because I'm the one who caught him."
The words hit me like a physical blow. "You... what?" Mother's face grew distant. "I was Head of Pack Security back then. Your father and I weren't mated yet.
The murders happened during a full moon gathering, just like tonight." She pointed toward the pack house. "Three innocent wolves, slaughtered by a man driven mad with bloodlust."
"But Lyra was just a child..." "Children grow up, Clara. And sometimes they become exactly like their parents."
Mother's voice turned deadly soft. "The question is: does Erik know he's mated to the daughter of a killer?" I felt pieces clicking into place like a puzzle. "That's why the rogue wolves were asking about her." "Very good." Mother looked happy.
"I may have whispered to certain... contacts... that Lyra might be developing her father's violent tendencies. Rogues are always looking for information they can sell to rival packs."
My stomach twisted. "You're using them to spy on her?" "I'm protecting our family's interests." Mother's tone grew sharp. "Do you want to be Luna or not?" Of course I did. I'd dreamed of nothing else since youth.
The power, the respect, the protection of being mated to an Alpha. But this felt different. Darker. "What exactly are you planning?" I asked. "Nothing too exciting.
A few witnesses who saw Lyra acting... unstable. Maybe some missing things from the pack house that might be found in her quarters. Small things that add up to a bigger picture." "You want to frame her."
"I want to protect the pack from a potential threat." Mother's eyes glittered dangerously. "Her father was a time bomb.
What makes you think she's any different?" I thought about Lyra's gentle nature, her quiet attitude, the way she never caused trouble for anyone. Nothing about her seemed aggressive or dangerous. But then again, nothing about her father had seemed dangerous either. Until he snapped.
"Even if Erik thinks she's unstable," I said slowly, "the mate bond won't just disappear.
He'll still feel drawn to her." "Bonds can be broken, darling. Especially if one party is thought unfit by the pack council." Mother stepped closer, her voice falling to a whisper.
"And if she were to... disappear... permanently, well, these things happen to unstable wolves." Ice filled my veins. "Mother, you can't mean—" "I mean whatever it takes." Her grip on my arm tightened. "Your wedding is in three weeks, Clara.
Erik will marry you as planned, or there will be consequences for everyone involved."
A scream echoed across the yard. We both froze, heads snapping toward the sound. It came from the direction of the omega quarters. "What was that?" I breathed.
Mother's smile returned, cold and pleased. "Phase one." Before I could ask what she meant, footsteps pounded across the grass.
Marcus burst through the hedge opening, his face pale with fear. "Clara! Thank god you're here." He looked between Mother and me desperately.
"We need help. Something's happened to Lyra." My heart hammered against my ribs. "What kind of something?"
" She fell. Started yelling about pain in her head, then just... dropped." Marcus ran his hands through his hair.
"The pack doctor is with her now, but she keeps asking for Erik." "Where is Erik?" Mother asked easily. "Interrogating the rogues. But Clara..." Marcus grabbed my hand.
"She was saying strange things before she passed out. Things about her father, about blood on her hands.
The other omegas are scared." I felt Mother's satisfied gaze on me and fought to keep my face neutral. "How terrible. Of course we'll help however we can."
"There's more," Marcus continued. "When we searched her room for medical information, we found some... concerning items."
"What kind of items?" "Kitchen knives. Hidden under her mattress. And a notebook full of angry words about the pack leadership." Marcus's voice dropped. "Clara, I think she might be planning something dangerous."
The pieces of Mother's plan clicked into perfect line. The planted proof. The convenient time. Even Lyra's sudden fall could be explained by whatever drug Mother had probably slipped into the omega's food.
"We should inform Alpha Theron immediately," I said, playing my part perfectly. "Already done. He's calling an emergency pack meeting for tomorrow morning." Marcus looked sick.
"If Lyra really is unstable like her father..." "Then Erik will have no choice but to reject the mate bond publicly," Mother finished. "For the safety of the pack."
Marcus nodded grimly. "The board won't allow him to mate with someone who might be dangerous. Not when he's about to become Alpha."
As Marcus hurried back toward the pack house, Mother put a gentle hand on my shoulder. "Well done, darling. You played that beautifully."
I stared after Marcus, my stomach churning with guilt and victory in equal measure. "Will she be alright? Lyra, I mean." "She'll recover from tonight's... episode. But her image won't." Mother's eyes gleamed with cold satisfaction.
"By tomorrow evening, everyone in the pack will believe she's received her father's madness. Erik will have no choice but to choose duty over desire."
"And if he refuses?" Mother's smile turned aggressive. "Then we move to step two. And trust me, Clara, part two won't be nearly as gentle."
A howl echoed across the land, long and mournful. It sounded like a heart breaking. "That would be Erik," Mother noticed calmly. "He must have felt Lyra's distress through their bond."
More howls joined the first, forming a chorus of anguish that made my skin crawl.
The entire pack was reacting to their future Alpha's pain. "He really loves her," I whispered, surprised by the sharp stab of jealousy in my chest. "Love is a luxury, Clara. Power is necessity." Mother turned toward the pack house.
"Come.
We have a wedding to plan and a rival to kill." As we walked back through the garden, I couldn't shake the picture of Lyra's gentle green eyes. By tomorrow, those eyes would be filled with fear and confusion.
She'd be branded as dangerous, potentially exiled, or worse. All so I could wear a crown I was no longer sure I wanted. But it was too late to turn back now. Mother's web was already closing around Lyra like a trap.
And somewhere in the darkness, Erik's howls grew more desperate by the minute. "Mother," I said as we reached the pack house door.
"What if this backfires? What if Erik finds out what we've done?" Eleanor paused, her hand on the handle. When she turned to me, her face was absolutely terrifying. "Then we'll make sure he never gets the chance to tell anyone."