After My Mate Poisoned Me for Another Woman

The package arrived at dawn, wrapped in oilcloth and tied with courier twine.

I met Elena at the edge of the borderlands, where the Greystone territory bled into neutral ground. She handed me the dossier without a word, her eyes sharp and assessing in the grey light.

"Everything you asked for," she said. "And Nyx? Be careful with this one. She's got claws."

I took the package, feeling its weight in my hands. "I know."

Elena studied me for a moment longer, then melted back into the trees like smoke.

I waited until I was back in my lab before I opened it.

The first page was a personnel file from the Silver-Moon Pack's research facility. The photo showed a younger Kehlani—twenty-two, maybe twenty-three—wearing a janitor's uniform and a smile that didn't reach her eyes. Her employment lasted six months before termination for theft.

The date of her firing: March 15th, four years ago.

The date my parents' lab reported a break-in and missing prototype formulas: March 14th.

I turned the page.

Security stills. Grainy, timestamped, damning. Kehlani's face caught in black and white, her hand reaching into an unlocked cabinet. Another shot showed her slipping three vials into her jacket pocket. A third captured her leaving through the back entrance, glancing over her shoulder.

My Tears of Selene. My years of work. Stolen by a woman who cleaned floors and saw an opportunity.

The ember in my chest burned hot and bright.

I kept reading.

Elena had gone deeper than I'd asked. There were credit card receipts showing Kehlani's purchases after she left Silver-Moon—cheap hotels, bus tickets, a pattern of movement that suggested someone running. Then, four months later, the purchases stopped. She'd gone dark for three weeks.

When she resurfaced, she was in Greystone territory, wearing designer clothes and a scent that made Alphas turn their heads.

The last page was a transcription of a phone call Elena had intercepted. Kehlani's voice, sharp and irritated, complaining to someone about the formula degrading faster than expected. "I'm having to reapply every four hours now. The base notes are separating. I need more of the original, or this whole thing falls apart."

I set the dossier down very carefully.

My wolf stirred in my chest, restless and hungry. She wanted blood. She wanted justice. She wanted to tear Kehlani apart in front of the entire pack and make Trenton watch.

But I was better than that.

I was going to destroy her with chemistry and evidence and the cold, precise application of truth.

---

The Pack Mate Ceremony was in three days.

It was a high-profile event, the kind where Alphas from neighboring territories came to celebrate their Lunas and reinforce alliances. The pack house would be full of witnesses—Betas, Gammas, visiting dignitaries. The perfect audience.

I found Larson in the servant's hall, folding linens with the methodical precision of someone who'd done it ten thousand times.

"I need access to the audiovisual system," I said quietly. "The projector in the main hall."

He didn't look up from the sheets. "When?"

"Tonight. After midnight."

"The system is locked. Only the Beta has the access code."

"Can you get it?"

Larson's hands paused. Then he folded the last sheet, set it on the pile, and finally met my eyes. "Yes."

I handed him a USB drive. It was small, black, encrypted. "This uploads automatically once it's plugged in. It will override whatever presentation Trenton has planned and play my file instead. Can you do it without being seen?"

"Yes."

"Larson." I caught his wrist. "If this goes wrong—"

"It won't." His voice was steady, certain. "I've been waiting thirty years to see a Luna fight back. I'm not going to let you fail now."

Something tight loosened in my chest.

"Thank you," I said.

He nodded once, pocketed the drive, and left.

I stood alone in the servant's hall, surrounded by the smell of clean linen and floor polish, and felt the weight of what was coming settle over me like armor.

Three days. Three days until I stood in front of the pack and showed them exactly who their Alpha had chosen over his true mate.

Three days until Kehlani's carefully constructed tragedy crumbled into dust.

The ember in my chest pulsed once, hot and certain.

I was ready.