065
1295 Words
~ Eunice
I have always known how to wait.
People mistake patience for weakness. They think because I smile, because I speak softly, because I wear silk instead of armor, that I am harmless.
Fools.
I learned long ago that power does not always roar. Sometimes it watches. Sometimes it learns. Sometimes it waits for the exact moment to press the blade in.
And Iris Rivera?
She was never meant to matter.
She was an omega. A nobody. A girl who should have passed through my world quietly and left no mark. I noticed her only because she rejected me, because she had the audacity to look at me with defiance instead of gratitude when I offered her attention.
No one rejects me.
Then, I saw her. I saw iris f*****g my brother.
Alpha Duncan.
I still didn't know why Duncan would settle for less, And then I discovered the truth.
The bond.
The Moon-damned, cursed truth that made my blood run cold the first time I felt it click into place.
She was his.
Not Anastasia.
Not some carefully chosen Luna from a powerful bloodline.
Not a woman raised to understand pack politics, sacrifice, legacy.
Her.
I remember standing outside Duncan’s office that day, hearing the shift in the air before I even understood why. The way the space bent toward her. The way my brother’s presence sharpened when she was near.
I had felt bonds before. I had watched them form.
This one was different.
It was violent. Possessive. Immediate.
It made my stomach twist.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to tear something apart. Instead, I smiled.
Because that’s what I do.
I watched them after that.
Every glance Duncan thought no one noticed. Every time Iris stiffened under his attention, then melted despite herself. Every instinct he tried,and failed to bury.
And the worst part?
She didn’t even understand what she had.
She walked around like a ticking bomb with no idea she was holding the detonator.
I should have handled it cleanly.
One accident. One illness. One tragedy that would leave Duncan grieving and unbonded again.
So I started small.
The coffee was easy. I knew her routine. Knew which cup was hers, how she took it, how distracted she was when she studied. The venom was subtle, not enough to kill her outright, just enough to weaken her. Make her fragile. Make her manageable.
I watched from across the room as she lifted the cup.
And thenz curse him, Duncan moved.
His hand struck the cup aside before she even noticed. Liquid splashed across the floor, his eyes already on her, sharp, furious, protective.
I felt something ugly twist in my chest.
Instinct.
That damned Alpha instinct.
I excused myself before my face betrayed me.
Fine.
If poison failed, fear would do.
Rogues are easy to buy. Desperate men with no loyalty, no pack, no future. I gave them a location, a time, and a promise of silver if they frightened her enough to send her running.
They didn’t even get close.
Duncan came out of the dark like a storm given flesh. I watched from the security feed as he tore through them, rage incandescent, Iris behind him ,untouched.
Untouchable.
That was when I understood the truth fully.
As long as Duncan lived, Iris would never be vulnerable.
And as long as Iris lived…
All my effort to be Luna, all these years of patience, of manipulation, of smiling beside my brother while quietly carving my place into the future,it meant nothing the moment she appeared.
I shut off the feed slowly, my fingers trembling just slightly as the screen went dark.
Iris Rivera.
I slammed my office door shut that night and pressed my palms against it, breathing hard, fury burning behind my eyes.
I had sacrificed for this pack. I had bled for it.
I had killed for it.
And some omega girl was going to take everything from me?
No.
I built every influence, every alliance, every quiet thread I’d pulled over the years..would unravel. Duncan would soften where he once listened to me. The council would look to her.
The pack would follow her scent, her bond, her children.
I would be obsolete.
Replaced.
And I refused.
My gaze drifted to the map pinned discreetly behind a cabinet door. Borders. Trails. Old routes used during moon runs. Places where security thinned and tradition overruled caution.
There were other ways to kill a queen without touching her.
Other ways to break a bond.
Slowly, a new thought took shape,dangerous, delicious.
If I couldn’t reach Iris…
Then I would remove the shield around her.
Duncan Blackwood was powerful. Respected. Feared.
But even Alphas bled.
And every Alpha had enemies.
I picked up my phone, scrolling to a name I hadn’t contacted in months.
Cassian.
Crimson Ridge’s Alpha.
A man who smiled like a blade and never did anything without profit.
We had history. Brief. Useful.
Forgotten,until now.
I typed a single message.
We need to talk. It’s about Duncan.
I stared at the screen until the reply came.
I was wondering when you’d call.
A slow smile curved my lips.
Good.
Let Iris have her protection for now.
Let Duncan believe he was invincible.
The fall is always harder when you don’t see it coming.
And when this was over..
when the dust settled and the Moon had no choice but to look elsewhere..
There would be a Luna standing at Duncan’s side.
Just not the one fate thought it chose.
And that Luna would be me.
Yes, I know I wasnt his mate. But I'm his sister.
I closed my eyes, inhaling slowly, letting the certainty sink in. Fate was a story people told themselves to feel safe. Power was real. Strategy was real. And I had never lost a game I truly committed to.
I slipped the phone back into my pocket and crossed the room, heels clicking softly against the marble floor. The estate was quiet at this hour,too quiet. Duncan liked it that way.
Silence helped him think, helped him pretend he was still the man he used to be before grief carved him hollow and Iris Rivera slipped into the cracks.
He thought control made him untouchable.
He was wrong.
Cassian would move carefully. He always did. Crimson Ridge had been circling our borders for years, testing, probing, waiting for weakness. Duncan’s strength had kept them at bay,but strength bred complacency.
Tradition bred predictability.
The full moon runs.
The council formalities.
The rituals Duncan refused to abandon because they reminded him who he was.
I knew them all.
I paused at the window, looking out over the darkened grounds, imagining the paths the pack would take when the moon rose fat and silver. Imagining chaos blooming where order once ruled.
Iris would never see it coming.
That almost disappointed me.
She walked through life protected,by Duncan, by Alice, by the illusion that goodness was enough to survive in a world built on teeth and blood. She thought love made her safe.
It didn’t.
It made her leverage.
I thought of the way Duncan had moved during the attack,how his body had instinctively positioned itself between danger and her. How rage had burned through him like wildfire.
If I struck him directly, he’d see it. He’d prepare. He’d win.
So I wouldn’t strike him.
I would let someone else do it.
Cassian wanted territory. Power. A chance to weaken the strongest Alpha in the region. I wanted a throne.
Our interests aligned beautifully.
And Iris?
Iris was the key without knowing she was the lock.
I smiled faintly.
Soon, Duncan would have to choose between duty and instinct, between pack and mate. And no matter what he chose, he would lose something.
- Writer
