After He Stripped Me of Luna Duties, I Took His Power

I followed Lorenzo through the sterile corridors of the pack hospital, my stained dress leaving crimson footprints behind me. Diana's blood had dried on my hands, cracking as I clenched my fists. The ICU loomed ahead—where my father lay helpless, where Lorenzo would feel most powerful.

"Justice!" I screamed, my voice echoing off the tiled walls. "She murdered your mother in cold blood! You saw it happen!"

Lorenzo didn't even flinch. He strode through the automatic doors of the ICU with the confidence of a man who knew he'd already won.

"Lower your voice," he snapped, turning to face me. "This is a place of healing."

"Healing?" I spat the word back at him. "Your mother is dead!"

Something flickered in his eyes—grief, perhaps, or guilt—but it vanished so quickly I might have imagined it. He gripped my arm, his fingers digging painfully into my flesh as he dragged me toward my father's room.

"You need to calm down," he hissed, shoving me through the doorway.

My father lay still on the bed, his chest rising and falling with mechanical precision. The steady beep of monitors and the soft hiss of oxygen were the only sounds in the room. I'd spent countless hours here, reading to him, holding his hand, praying for any sign of recovery.

Lorenzo released my arm and leaned against the doorframe, studying me with cold calculation.

"Let me be perfectly clear," he said, his voice dangerously soft. "If you pursue this Blood Tribunal nonsense, I will personally review all 'unnecessary' uses of pack resources."

My blood turned to ice as his meaning became clear.

"Your father has been on life support for three years," he continued, gesturing to the machines keeping my father alive. "Three years of expensive treatments, round-the-clock care, special medications... all for a Gamma who will likely never wake up."

"You wouldn't," I whispered, though I knew he would.

"I'm the Alpha," he replied simply. "I decide what's best for the pack. And right now, what's best is Lexi's return, not some vendetta over an unfortunate accident."

"It wasn't an accident!" I screamed, lunging toward him only to stop short when he stepped closer to my father's bed.

"Choose wisely, Valentina," he said, his hand hovering near the life support machines. "Justice for Diana... or life for your father."

I stared at him in horror, realizing the trap had been set long ago. My father's sacrifice for Lorenzo had become my chain.

"Submit," he commanded, his Alpha tone pressing down on me like a physical weight.

My knees buckled. The mate bond I'd fought to honor for three years now became the instrument of my torture. I felt my wolf whimper inside me, the pain of rejection fresh and raw.

"Submit!" Lorenzo roared, his Alpha command crashing over me.

I collapsed to the floor, my forehead touching the cold tiles beside my father's bed. Tears streamed down my face as I fought against the command.

"I submit," I choked out, the words burning my throat.

Lorenzo crouched beside me, gripping my chin and forcing me to look at him. "Good girl. Now, you will release a statement. Diana's death was a tragic accident caused by a rogue intruder."

"A lie," I whispered.

"The truth," he corrected coldly. "Unless you'd prefer to explain to the pack why we're terminating your father's care."

I closed my eyes, feeling something inside me break. "I'll do it."

---

The pack buzzed with whispers as I walked through the main hall later that day. My statement had spread quickly—the official lie that would protect Lexi and condemn an imaginary rogue.

"Luna?" A hesitant voice called from behind me.

I turned to find Beta Marcus Reid approaching cautiously, his eyes darting around to ensure we were alone.

"I saw the blood on her," he said quietly, his voice barely audible. "On Lexi. After the... incident."

My heart raced. An ally? Someone who believed me?

"The pack is restless," he continued. "We know something isn't right. But without your testimony against the Alpha..."

I swallowed hard, feeling the weight of my father's life on my shoulders.

"Stay away from me," I said flatly.

Marcus blinked in surprise. "Luna?"

"You heard me." I turned away, forcing myself to walk steadily despite the trembling in my limbs. "Stay away."

As I walked away from Marcus, I felt the isolation closing in around me. The pack's unrest was growing—I could feel it in the way they watched me, in the whispers that followed me through the halls.

But my father's life hung by a thread that Lorenzo controlled. And as long as that remained true, I would remain alone in my fight for justice.

Behind me, I could hear Marcus calling my name, his voice growing more desperate as I continued walking away.