Chapter 3

I lasted exactly four days before the first disaster.

Four days of cold meals left outside my door. Four days of navigating the estate like a ghost, invisible to the staff, who had clearly received orders to treat me as furniture. Four days of pressing my hand against the mark on my neck every night, feeling Kade's distant heartbeat like a drumbeat I couldn't silence.

On the fifth morning, Helene appeared at my door.

"Get dressed. Something decent." Her eyes swept over Vanessa's oversized dress hanging off my frame. "The Alpha's business partners are coming for dinner. You're expected to attend as Luna."

My stomach dropped. "He wants me there?"

"He wants a Luna-shaped prop at the table. Don't confuse it with wanting you."

She left a garment bag on the bed. Inside was a black dress — my size this time — simple, elegant, clearly expensive. Someone had taken my measurements without me noticing.

By evening, the estate had transformed. The cold stone hallways blazed with warm light. Servers in crisp uniforms carried silver trays. The dining room table, usually set for one, now gleamed with crystal and candlelight for twelve.

I descended the stairs carefully, hyper-aware of every eye in the room.

Kade stood near the fireplace, drink in hand, speaking with a silver-haired man I recognized from news articles — Victor Ashworth, Alpha of the Silvercrest Pack, one of the wealthiest wolves in the country. Around him clustered other Alphas and their Lunas, all radiating power and old money.

When Kade saw me, something shifted in his expression. It was barely perceptible — a micro-tension in his jaw, a fractional widening of his eyes — before the mask slammed back into place.

He crossed the room in three strides and took my arm. To anyone watching, it looked possessive, even affectionate.

His lips brushed my ear: "Smile. Don't speak unless absolutely necessary. And if anyone asks about your family, deflect."

"Understood," I whispered back.

"Good girl."

The words sent an involuntary shiver down my spine. My wolf preened. I told her to shut up.

Dinner proceeded smoothly — until dessert.

A woman seated across from me, Luna of the Ashworth pack, had been studying me all evening with sharp, knowing eyes. She was stunning — red hair, porcelain skin, the kind of effortless beauty that made other women feel inadequate.

"So you're the famous Vanessa Ashford," she said, swirling her wine. "I must say, you look... different from your photos."

The table quieted.

I felt Kade's hand tighten on my knee under the table — a warning.

"Photos never capture the real thing," I said, keeping my smile soft.

"Hmm." She tilted her head. "It's just that I met Vanessa at a charity gala last spring. She was taller. And her voice was different." Her smile sharpened. "Deeper."

Blood roared in my ears. Across the table, Victor Ashworth watched the exchange with poorly disguised interest.

Before I could respond, Kade's arm slid around the back of my chair. His thumb traced a slow, deliberate circle on my shoulder — a gesture so intimate that every eye at the table locked onto it.

"My mate spent last month recovering from a throat infection," he said, his voice carrying that low, dangerous calm I was learning to recognize. "I'd appreciate it if no one interrogated her about it at my dinner table."

The Luna's smile faltered. "Of course. I meant no offense."

The conversation shifted. Under the table, Kade's hand remained on my knee, and I couldn't tell if it was protection or a leash.

After the guests left, I helped Helene clear the last of the glasses — a habit from years of working service jobs to pay for my brother's early treatments. Kade appeared in the doorway, tie loosened, watching me with an unreadable expression.

"You handled that well," he said.

"I just did what you told me. Smile, don't talk."

A ghost of something — not quite a smile — crossed his face. "The Ashworth woman will dig. She's known for it. If your cover breaks—"

"It won't."

He studied me for a long moment. "You're not what I expected, Lena Ashford."

Before I could respond, his phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen, and his expression hardened instantly — the brief warmth evaporating like mist.

"My men tracked Vanessa to the southern border," he said, pocketing the phone. "She crossed into Nightfall Pack territory three days ago."

My blood ran cold.

Nightfall Pack was the most dangerous territory on the continent — lawless, brutal, run by an Alpha rumored to traffic wolves for sport.

And my sister had walked straight into it.

"I'm sending a retrieval team," Kade said flatly. "When she's back, our arrangement ends."

He turned to leave.

"Kade." His name left my lips before I could stop it. He paused. "If your team finds her... she'll fight them. Vanessa doesn't come back easily."

"Then they'll drag her back." His voice was ice. "I paid for a bride, Lena. I intend to collect."

He disappeared down the corridor.

I stood in the empty dining room, the candles guttering out one by one, and felt the mark on my neck burn like a brand.

He was hunting my sister to replace me. And the cruelest part wasn't the rejection.

It was that my wolf — my traitorous, desperate wolf — still howled for him through every second of it.