The Alpha's Biggest Regret-Claiming the Fake Luna

Chapter 3

"Rayne, you don't regret feeding me. You regret not ruining me sooner."

The iron cuffs bit into my flesh as the executioners dragged me out, but I made sure he heard every word.

Rayne's footsteps faltered.

Nasha immediately buried her face in his chest, her shoulders trembling. "Alpha Rayne, I'm scared. Sister is so terrifying right now."

Rayne didn't look back again. "Take her."

The executioners yanked the chains harder. I stumbled, my knees crashing onto the hard stone steps.

The metallic shing of Cole's sword fully leaving its sheath echoed through the hall.

"Whoever drags her one more step," Cole warned, his voice lethal, "loses their hand."

Ogg gave a shrill laugh. "Beta Cole, don't forget who gave you your position. Ruining your future over a wolfless Omega isn't worth it."

Cole pressed the tip of his blade against the heavy iron chain. "My future is none of your concern."

Samuel stepped up beside him. "The Breeding Camp is under my jurisdiction. Without proper transfer documents tonight, anyone who sends her there will be executed for illegal trafficking of pack members."

Ogg's eye twitched. "Samuel, don't throw border laws at me. The fate of wolfless women has always been decided by the Council of Elders."

I forced my head up, glaring at the old wolf. "So all the wolfless girls sent to the Breeding Camp over the years... that was just your private little operation?"

Gasps rippled through the crowd.

Ogg's face darkened with fury. "Shut your mouth!"

The pain in my knees was blinding, but I didn't look away. "Are you afraid of what else I might say?"

Ogg's hand lashed out, a heavy slap connecting with my cheek.

My ears rang. The taste of copper flooded my mouth.

Before Ogg could pull his hand back, Cole's sword was pressed against his throat.

The grand hall erupted into chaos.

Rayne lunged forward, grabbing Cole's wrist. "Are you out of your mind, Cole? He's an Elder!"

Cole didn't flinch. "He just struck a wolf under the protection of the Luna's Trial."

Rayne shot me a glare, the annoyance in his eyes deepening. "Ivy, are you determined to drag everyone down with you?"

In that moment, everything crystallized. Rayne's logic had never changed. When I bled, it was my own fault for being careless. When my necklace was stolen, it was my fault for not sharing. If I was sent to the Breeding Camp, it was because I was an inconvenience.

Nasha tugged gently at his sleeve. "Alpha Rayne, don't fight with Beta Cole over sister. She just wants to tear you two apart. She's always been like this—if she can't have something, she ruins it for everyone else."

I let out a harsh laugh, my numb cheek stinging. "Nasha, doesn't it exhaust you to play this game?"

She bit her lip, the picture of a wronged victim. "Sister, I just care about Alpha Rayne."

"You care about him, so you wear my Luna dress?"

"The Elders sent it to me!"

"You care about him, so you wear my dead mother's necklace?"

"She raised me too!"

"You care about him, so you sit on his throne during my coming-of-age ceremony?"

Nasha paled under my rapid-fire questions and desperately looked at Rayne. "Alpha Rayne, why does she always back me into a corner?"

Rayne's face was a mask of ice. "Ivy. Apologize."

I stared at him. "To whom?"

"To Nasha."

"For what?"

He stepped into my space, his voice dropping low. "Because she has awakened her snow wolf, and you have nothing. Because she is fit to stand by my side, and you are nothing but a burden."

Cole's grip on his sword shifted.

I immediately raised a hand to stop him. He couldn't strike Rayne now. The trial hadn't officially begun, and Rayne was still the Alpha of Frostpine. If Cole drew blood, Ogg would execute him for treason.

I swallowed the blood pooling in my mouth and turned to Nasha. "Fine. I apologize."

A glimmer of triumph flashed in Nasha's eyes, though she kept her voice sugary sweet. "Sister, as long as you truly repent, I'll beg the Elders to put you in one of the better sectors of the Breeding Camp."

I couldn't physically kneel. My knees were scraped raw and bleeding.

Rayne casually kicked the back of my leg. "Say it on your knees."

"Rayne!" Cole roared.

Rayne didn't even glance at him. "This is between her and me. She eats my food, uses my resources, and survives under the protection of my bloodline. If I tell her to kneel, she kneels."

I half-collapsed onto the floor, Cole's cloak slipping off one shoulder.

The weight of a thousand stares pressed down on me. Nasha stood above me in my dress, wearing my necklace, waiting for me to break.

When I spoke, my voice was raw. "Nasha, I'm sorry."

Her eyes lit up. "Sister, you finally admit you were wrong?"

I looked up, meeting her gaze dead-on. "I'm sorry I treated you like a real sister, only to realize you wouldn't hesitate to steal from the dead."

Nasha's smugness vanished.

Rayne raised his hand to strike me again.

This time, Samuel caught his wrist mid-air. "Alpha. That's enough."

Rayne glared at him. "Let go."

Samuel's grip was like iron. "She's already on her knees."

Rayne ground his teeth. "She's insulting your future Luna."

"Future Luna?" Eli's voice suddenly cut through the tension.

Everyone turned to the Healer.

Eli was holding a silver needle. The tip was stained with a tiny drop of blood from the neckline of Nasha's dress.

"The Luna dress recognizes its true master," Eli said evenly. "If an imposter wears it, the fabric triggers a branding reaction. That mark on Lady Nasha's chest... it only just appeared, didn't it?"

Nasha went deathly pale and instinctively clutched her chest.

Ogg shoved his way forward. "Eli, a Healer has no right to inspect the sacred Luna mark!"

Eli held up the needle. "It's not a sacred mark. It's a fake, created by an Extraction Spell."

Rayne froze. "What did you just say?"

Ogg's face morphed into something ugly. "Seize him!"