From Broken Luna to Queen

"Where is she?" Tanner's voice cut through the small room like a blade.

Palmer pressed closer against my back, his small hands clutching at my shirt. I could feel his heart racing, matching the frantic rhythm of my own.

"Where is who?" I kept my voice steady, even as my wolf cowered deeper into the recesses of my mind.

"Don't play games with me, Anya." Tanner stepped closer, his Alpha aura pressing down on us like a physical weight. "Esme. She's been missing for hours. The last person who saw her said she was coming to talk to you."

"I haven't seen Esme since yesterday." The truth fell from my lips, but I could see in his eyes that he didn't believe me. He never believed me anymore.

"Liar." The word was a growl, and Palmer whimpered behind me. "You're jealous. You can't stand that she's everything you never were—beautiful, worthy, capable of giving me strong pups."

Each word was a dagger, but I'd grown numb to his cruelty. What did it matter now? I was dying anyway.

"I don't know where she is," I repeated, standing slowly. Palmer's arms wrapped around my leg, his face buried against my hip.

"Then you're going to help me find her." Tanner's eyes glowed with his wolf's fury. "Both of you. Now."

"Palmer stays here. He's just a child—"

"He's MY pup, and he'll do as I command." Tanner's Alpha voice slammed into us, and I felt Palmer's small body tremble. "Move. We're going to search the borders where the rogues have been spotted. If Esme wandered too far..."

The borders. My blood turned to ice. No one went to the borders alone, especially not with a child. The rogues there were feral, desperate, and utterly without mercy.

"Tanner, please. Let me leave Palmer with the omegas. The borders aren't safe—"

"NOW!" His Alpha command hit me like a physical blow, and my weakened wolf had no choice but to submit. My legs moved without my permission, Palmer's hand clutched in mine as we followed Tanner out into the bitter winter night.

The snow crunched under our feet as we made our way through the forest. The moon was hidden behind thick clouds, casting everything in an ominous gray light. Palmer stumbled beside me, his little legs struggling to keep up with Tanner's aggressive pace.

"Daddy, I'm cold," Palmer whispered, but Tanner didn't slow down.

We reached the border markers—ancient stones that separated our territory from the lawless lands beyond. The scent of rogues hung heavy in the air, wild and dangerous. My wolf whined, what little remained of her instincts screaming danger.

"This is madness," I breathed, pulling Palmer closer. "Tanner, we need to go back. Call a proper search party—"

"Shut up." He grabbed Palmer's arm, yanking him away from me. My son cried out in pain, and something primal roared to life in my chest.

"Don't touch him!"

"You want me to let him go?" Tanner's voice was deadly calm as he lifted Palmer, dangling him over the border line. My four-year-old son hung in the air, his little feet kicking frantically. "Tell me where Esme is, or I'll drop him right into rogue territory."

"I don't know!" The words tore from my throat as Palmer began to cry, reaching for me with desperate hands. "Please, Tanner, I'm begging you—I don't know where she is!"

"Mama!" Palmer's terrified scream echoed through the forest.

Something inside me shattered. I dropped to my knees in the snow, baring my neck in complete submission—the ultimate surrender of a wolf to her Alpha. "Please," I sobbed, "please don't hurt him. I'll do anything. I'll leave the pack, I'll disappear forever, just please don't hurt my baby."

Tanner's grip loosened slightly, surprise flickering across his face. He'd never seen me submit so completely.

That's when the bushes rustled.

I smelled them before I saw them—the rank, unwashed scent of rogues who had been living wild for too long. Tanner's head snapped up, his nostrils flaring, but his arrogance had made him slow. Too slow.

They exploded from the undergrowth like demons from hell—three massive wolves, ribs showing through matted fur, eyes wild with starvation. Tanner tried to shift, his body beginning to blur and change, but he was still holding Palmer, still caught between human and wolf form.

The largest rogue leaped.

"NO!" My scream shattered the night as Palmer was ripped from Tanner's grip. I lunged forward, but I was too far away, too weak, too late.

The sound Palmer made—I'll hear it for the rest of my life. Short and sharp and then... nothing.

Tanner finally completed his shift, his massive black wolf tearing into the rogues with savage fury. But it was too late. Too late.

I crawled through the bloody snow to where my son lay broken and still, his green eyes staring sightlessly at the dark sky. His little hand was still reaching for me.

"Palmer," I whispered, gathering his small body against my chest. "Palmer, baby, wake up. Please wake up."

But he was gone. My beautiful, innocent little boy was gone, and it was all because of the monster I'd once called mate.

Something inside me died in that moment. Not just my wolf—something deeper, more fundamental. The mate bond that had bound me to Tanner for five years simply... ceased. Like a rope cut clean through.

I looked up at Tanner as he shifted back to human form, blood covering his naked body. Our eyes met across the snow, and where there had once been love, obligation, even hatred—now there was nothing. Just empty, echoing silence.

"This is your fault," he snarled, breathing hard. "Your weakness, your delay—if you'd just told me where Esme was—"

I said nothing. There was nothing left to say.

He grabbed my arm, hauling me to my feet. Palmer's lifeless body slipped from my numb fingers back into the bloody snow.

"We're going back. And you're going to tell everyone this was a rogue attack. Nothing more."

I let him drag me back through the forest, my feet moving automatically while my mind stayed frozen in that moment of horror. Palmer's scream. The wet sound of tearing. The way his hand had reached for me.

The pack house loomed ahead, warm light spilling from the windows. As Tanner hauled me through the front door, I saw her.

Esme sat on the main sofa in the great room, delicately sipping tea from the Luna's china set. Her blonde hair was perfectly styled, her makeup flawless. She looked up as we entered, her blue eyes widening with practiced concern.

"Oh my goodness, what happened? You both look terrible!" She set down her teacup with a gentle clink. "I just got back from shopping in the human town. I'm so sorry I was gone so long—I completely lost track of time."

Tanner released my blood-soaked arm and rushed to her side, pulling her into his arms. "Thank the goddess you're safe. I was so worried when you disappeared."

"Disappeared?" Esme's laugh was like silver bells. "Silly, I left a note saying I'd be back by evening. Didn't you see it?"

I stood in the doorway, Palmer's blood drying on my clothes, watching my mate comfort the woman who had stolen my life while our son's body lay cooling in the snow.

And I felt absolutely nothing at all.