Exposing the Alpha's Lies

I waited until the pack settled into their afternoon routines before making my way to the old pack house ruins. The building had been condemned after the fire, left to decay as a reminder of that terrible night. Most pack members avoided it, claiming the place felt cursed.

Now I understood why.

*Show me everything,* I whispered to Luna as I stepped through the charred doorframe. *I need to see what really happened.*

Luna's presence strengthened, and suddenly the world shifted. The ruins faded, replaced by vivid memories I'd buried so deep I'd convinced myself they were nightmares.

I was twenty again, eager to prove myself worthy of being Thaddeus's mate. The new training equipment gleamed under the fluorescent lights, all sharp angles and humming energy. Mckenna had been so excited about the upgrade, promising it would revolutionize our combat training.

*Watch her face,* Luna urged, and I focused on Mckenna's expression as she operated the controls.

Panic. That's what I saw now, though I'd missed it then. When the machine began sparking, when the energy readings spiked beyond safe levels, Mckenna's face had gone white with terror. Not concern for my safety—fear of being caught.

I watched my younger self step into the training circle, trusting and naive. The energy hit me like a physical wall, and I saw Mckenna frantically pressing buttons, trying to shut it down. But instead of calling for help, she was destroying something—yanking cables from a monitoring device, crushing what looked like a data chip under her heel.

*She was covering her tracks even as you collapsed,* Luna snarled. *While your wolf was being ripped away from you, she was thinking about saving herself.*

The memory shifted. Hours later, I was in the pack hospital, barely conscious. Thaddeus burst through the door, his face a mask of concern that I'd found so touching at the time. But now I could see the calculation behind his eyes as he took in Mckenna's tear-streaked face, the destroyed equipment, the implications.

"We need to mark her," he'd whispered to Mckenna when he thought I was unconscious. "If she never gets her wolf back, if she starts asking questions... The mate bond will keep her loyal. Keep her quiet."

Mckenna had nodded, relief flooding her features. "And us?"

"We'll figure it out. But first, damage control."

The memory faded, leaving me gasping in the ruins. Five years. Five years of believing his mark meant love, when it had been nothing more than a muzzle.

*There's more,* Luna said grimly. *Follow me.*

That evening, I used Luna's enhanced stealth to shadow Thaddeus through the pack house. He moved with purpose toward his private office—the one I'd never been invited to enter. I slipped through the shadows, my newly awakened wolf making me silent as death.

The office door was slightly ajar, and what I saw through the crack made my heart stop.

Thaddeus had Mckenna pressed against his desk, her legs wrapped around his waist as he kissed her with a passion I'd never seen him show me. Her blouse was open, and I could see fresh bite marks along her collarbone—marks that were still healing, still tender.

"Soon," he murmured against her throat. "Once we handle the Juniper situation, we can make this official."

Mckenna's laugh was breathless, intoxicated. "Five years of waiting. I'm tired of hiding, Thaddeus. Tired of watching her play Luna when we both know I'm your real mate."

"I know, baby. But if her wolf really has awakened, we need to be careful. She might start sensing things."

"Then maybe it's time for an accident," Mckenna said, her voice turning cold. "The same kind that took her wolf the first time."

Thaddeus pulled back, studying her face. "You'd do that?"

"For us? For our future? I'd do anything."

I backed away from the door, my entire body shaking. Luna was practically vibrating with rage, her desire for vengeance so strong it took all my control to keep from shifting right there.

*We need evidence,* I told her. *If we're going to destroy them, we need proof.*

Two nights later, I waited until Mckenna left for her evening run before slipping into her quarters. Luna's enhanced senses guided me to a hidden panel behind her dresser, and inside I found a leather journal.

My hands trembled as I read entry after entry detailing her relationship with Thaddeus, their plans for the future, and most damning of all—her account of the training equipment incident.

*'The safety protocols were too restrictive. I bypassed them to impress T, but the power surge was stronger than expected. When J collapsed and her wolf went silent, I panicked. T says marking her will keep her compliant until we can figure out how to replace her permanently. She's always been weak—this just proves she was never worthy of being Luna. The equipment malfunction was unfortunate, but perhaps it was the Moon Goddess's way of clearing the path for T and me to be together. Some collateral damage is necessary for true love.'*

I photographed every page with shaking hands, Luna's fury feeding my own. They hadn't just stolen five years of my life—they'd planned to steal my future too.

*Now we plan,* Luna whispered, her voice deadly calm. *Now we make them pay.*