I don't come back to my Alpha again

The brass doorknob turned. A pack guard pushed the door open, his large frame filling the threshold.

"Alpha Marcus wants you in the master suite," he grunted.

"Why?" I asked.

"He didn't say. Move."

"My arm is bleeding. I need bandages."

"I said move."

I didn't argue. I stood up from the bare floorboards. I needed my mother's Moon Necklace. It was the only reason I hadn't burned this house down yet.

I walked past the guard and headed down the long, carpeted hallway. The master suite sat at the very end. The heavy oak door was cracked open.

"Fuck, Marcus, yes," Rebecca moaned loudly.

Her voice echoed into the hall. I pushed the door open.

They were on the massive four-poster bed. Rebecca's legs were wrapped tight around his waist, her bare breasts bouncing as Marcus thrust into her wet cunt.

"Shove your fucking cock deeper, Marcus," Rebecca begged, her nails digging into his sweaty back. "Fuck me again. Don't stop."

"You like that, Rebecca?" Marcus grunted, his hips snapping forward.

"Give me your knot, Marcus," she cried out. "Fill me up."

I stood in the doorway. My pulse didn't spike. My hands stayed perfectly still at my sides.

Marcus caught my scent. He froze. He pulled his dick out of her with a wet slap and turned his head. His chest heaved.

"You didn't knock," Marcus said.

"You left the door open," I replied.

He stared at me. He waited for the explosion. Five years ago, I would have shifted. I would have torn the silk sheets to shreds and painted the walls with their blood.

I just looked at a crack in the floorboards.

"Put some pants on," I said. "I want my mother's necklace."

Marcus frowned. His jaw hardened, then slowly relaxed as he grabbed a pair of gray sweatpants from the floor. He pulled them over his narrow hips.

"Is that all you have to say?" Marcus asked, stepping toward me.

"Yes."

He stopped three feet away. Disappointment flashed in his dark eyes. He wanted the crazy, jealous mate. He wanted me to scream so he could justify locking me away in the dark for half a decade.

"Look at her," Rebecca sneered.

She sat up and pulled a white sheet over her chest. "Standing there like a stray dog. You smell like mud and rot, Bella."

Marcus didn't defend me. He crossed his muscular arms, watching my face closely.

"Five years in the dark really ruined you," Rebecca continued.

"It did," I agreed.

Marcus flinched. "Why are you acting like this?"

"Like what?" I asked.

"Like you don't care," he snapped. "You walked in on me fucking another woman. You used to tear this house apart if I even looked at someone else."

"I was younger then."

"You are my mate, Bella. Act like it."

"I am your prisoner," I corrected him, my voice completely flat. "I want the Moon Necklace."

Rebecca slid off the mattress. She slipped into a silk robe and tied it around her waist. She walked over to her vanity mirror and picked up a small velvet box.

"You have no rights here," Rebecca said, snapping the box open. "You are nothing."

"I know."

"You look like a corpse," she insulted, pulling the silver chain from the velvet.

"I feel like one."

Rebecca frowned. My lack of fight annoyed her. She dangled the silver chain from her index finger. A teardrop moonstone caught the bedroom light.

My chest tightened. I shoved the emotion down.

"You want this?" Rebecca asked.

"Give it to me."

"Why should I?" Rebecca teased. "It's pretty. Maybe I'll wear it to the upcoming Pack Gala."

"It's a Beta's necklace," I said. "You're the Luna now. It's beneath you."

Rebecca's eyes narrowed. "Are you mocking me?"

"I'm stating a fact."

"You always thought you were smarter than me," Rebecca hissed. "Even when we were kids. You always thought you were better."

"I don't think that anymore."

"Prove it."

"How?"

"Admit it," Rebecca smiled, stepping closer. "Say it out loud."

"Say what?"

"Say that I am the only Luna of the Red Moon Pack," she demanded. "Say that you are nothing but a rogue piece of trash."

Marcus shifted his weight. "Rebecca, just give her the necklace."

"No," Rebecca insisted, her eyes locked on mine. "I want to hear her say it. I want her to know her place."

I stared at the moonstone. Five years in the forbidden zone had taught me a lot of things. I learned how to eat raw rats to survive the winters. I learned how to sleep in freezing mud without shivering. I learned that pride and dignity were useless concepts that got you killed.

I didn't fear humiliation anymore. I felt nothing at all.

"You are the only Luna of the Red Moon Pack," I said clearly. "I am a rogue piece of trash."

Rebecca blinked. Her smug smile vanished, her lips pressing into a thin line. She didn't expect me to cave so easily.

"Say it again," she demanded, her voice rising.

"You are the only Luna. I am trash. Now hand over the necklace."

Marcus stepped forward, his expression dark. "Stop this, Bella. You're being pathetic."

"I'm following orders," I said, extending my open palm toward Rebecca. "The necklace."

Rebecca scowled. She hated that she couldn't break me. She raised her hand to drop the silver chain into my palm.

"Don't give it to her!" a voice yelled.

Kevin stomped into the room from the hallway. He pushed past me, his shoulder slamming hard into my injured bicep. Pain flared up my arm, but I kept my teeth clamped shut.

Before Rebecca could drop the jewelry, Kevin snatched the silver chain from her fingers.

"Kevin, what are you doing?" Marcus asked.

"She doesn't deserve this," Kevin spat, glaring at me with absolute hatred.

"It belonged to my mother," I said softly.

"Your mother was a traitor," Kevin yelled. "And you are a murderer!"

He raised his fist and hurled the necklace onto the hardwood floor.

Then he lifted his heavy shoe and stomped down.

"Crack."

The silver shattered. The moonstone exploded into a dozen jagged pieces.

I stared at the broken shards on the floor.

"Clean it up," Kevin ordered.

A sharp piece of moonstone reflected the bedroom light.

Deep inside my chest, my wolf scratched against my ribs.