After My Alpha Denied The Antidote, I Fought Back

I knelt beside my mother's body, her skin already growing cold beneath my fingertips. The wolfsbane had turned her veins a sickly purple, visible beneath her ashen skin. My tears fell onto her face as I smoothed her hair back, the way she used to do for me when I was a child.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, my voice breaking. "I should have tried harder. I should have made him listen."

Something stirred within me—a presence I'd barely felt for years. My wolf, Luna, who had grown so quiet during my decade with Gabriel that I sometimes wondered if she was still there.

Now she growled, the sound reverberating through my chest. Not a whimper of submission or pain, but a deep, furious growl that made my hands shake.

*He did this. He let her die.*

The voice in my head was so clear it startled me. Luna had never spoken to me so distinctly before.

*Ten years we've endured. Ten years of his coldness. Ten years of watching him parade that she-wolf around our territory. But this—*

"This is unforgivable," I finished aloud, my fingers curling into fists.

The door to the infirmary opened, and one of the pack elders entered, his expression solemn.

"It's time, Aria," he said gently. "The funeral pyre is prepared."

I nodded, rising on unsteady legs. Four warriors entered behind him to carry my mother's body. I wanted to snarl at them not to touch her, but I restrained myself. This was tradition. The last honor for a fallen pack member.

Twilight had fallen by the time we gathered at the ceremonial clearing. The pack formed a circle around the wooden pyre where they had placed my mother's body, wrapped in white linen sprinkled with wolfsbane flowers—a bitter irony that wasn't lost on me.

Gabriel stood opposite me across the pyre, his face impassive. He hadn't even changed out of the suit he'd worn to the Summit. Beside him stood Isabella, and the sight of her made Luna surge forward so violently I nearly stumbled.

She wore Gabriel's Alpha medallion around her neck—a silver disk engraved with the Shadowmoon Pack symbol. It was meant to be worn by the Alpha or his Luna. Never by an unmarked female, especially not at a funeral.

Isabella broke from Gabriel's side and approached me, her eyes gleaming with false sympathy.

"My deepest condolences, Aria," she said, loud enough for nearby pack members to hear. "If only someone stronger had been there to protect her. Perhaps if you'd been a proper Luna instead of just a... healer."

The medallion glinted in the firelight as she leaned closer. "Some wolves simply aren't strong enough to survive in our world. Like mother, like daughter, I suppose."

Luna's growl built in my chest, so powerful I had to clench my teeth to keep it contained. My fingernails lengthened slightly, the beginning of a shift I hadn't experienced in years.

*Let me out,* Luna demanded. *Let me tear her throat out.*

"You'll get your turn soon enough," Isabella whispered, misinterpreting my silence for fear. She turned and sauntered back to Gabriel's side, her hand possessively sliding around his waist.

The pack elder handed me the torch. With shaking hands, I approached the pyre.

"May the Moon Goddess welcome you home, Mother," I said, my voice stronger than I expected. "May she grant you the peace you deserved in life."

I touched the torch to the kindling, and flames leapt up, hungrily consuming the dry wood. As the fire grew, I felt a presence beside me—not Gabriel, who remained unmoved across the clearing, but someone else. A familiar scent of pine and rain washed over me.

A warm hand settled on my shoulder, strong and steady. I didn't need to look to know who it was.

"Alpha Sterling," I whispered.

"Lucas," he corrected softly. "I felt your pain through the pack mind-link. Luna's pain."

I glanced up at him then, surprised. No one had sensed my wolf in years, not even Gabriel, who should have felt her through our mate bond.

Lucas's eyes reflected the funeral flames, but there was something else there—a recognition, an understanding that made my wolf suddenly still her furious pacing.

"When you're ready," he said quietly, "there's a place for you in Ironwolf territory."

Before I could respond, his hand squeezed my shoulder once, and then he was gone, moving back to stand with his Beta at the edge of the clearing.

Across the flames, Gabriel's eyes narrowed, his gaze fixed on the spot where Lucas's hand had touched me. For the first time in years, I felt something flicker through our mate bond—not love or concern, but possessiveness. Cold, selfish possession.

Luna growled again, louder this time. And this time, I didn't try to silence her.