My Alpha Punished Me for His Luna’s Lies

The rain turns to sleet somewhere around midnight.

I'm on my knees in the mud, hands raw and bleeding as I scrub the training ground stones. My fingers are numb. The burn on my arm screams with every movement, the blistered skin splitting open in the cold. No coat. No gloves. Just me and the storm and the punishment that never seems to end.

Then I feel it.

A presence in my mind. Not the pack link—that's been silent for years, ever since Stefan's wolf went dormant and stopped recognizing me. This is different. Foreign. Warm.

*Maya.*

I freeze, my hands hovering over the stone.

*It's Jamison. Don't speak. Just listen.*

Alpha Jamison White. My childhood friend. The wolf who used to chase me through the woods before fate decided Stefan was mine. Before everything fell apart.

*I know what happened today. The hall. The child. The burn on your arm.*

How does he—

*I'm at the border. My warriors are ready. Say the word and we breach the treaty. We'll have you out in ten minutes.*

My heart lurches. War. He's offering me war.

The sleet stings my face as I shake my head, even though he can't see me. My thoughts tumble out in a desperate rush. *No. Please. Innocent wolves will die. The pack members who've been kind to me—they don't deserve to be caught in this. And Stefan... his wolf is still in there somewhere. I can feel it. If you attack, it might push him further away.*

*Maya—*

*Please, Jamison. Just wait. A little longer. I can't be responsible for bloodshed. Not yet.*

The silence stretches. Then: *You're too good for this world. But I'll wait. For now. But Maya—if he hurts you again, treaty be damned.*

The presence fades, leaving me alone in the storm.

I press my forehead against the cold stone and let myself cry. Just for a moment. Just until the sleet washes the tears away.

---

I don't know that while I'm freezing in the rain, Harlow is warm and dry in the woods.

I don't know she's meeting with Elara Vance, the rogue witch who's been supplying her scent-mimicking potions for years.

I don't know that Harlow's hands are shaking as she clutches a velvet pouch of gold coins.

"It's not working anymore," Harlow hisses, her perfect composure cracking. "His wolf is stirring. He looks at her and I see something in his eyes—recognition. Memory. I need something stronger."

Elara's smile is sharp in the moonlight. "Stronger comes with risks. The new batch is more volatile. If you use too much, he'll know it's artificial."

"I don't care. I need him bound to me. Permanently."

The witch produces two vials from her cloak. One is amber, swirling with an oily sheen. The other is clear as water but somehow darker, like liquid shadow.

"The amber is your new scent. Use it sparingly." Elara holds up the clear vial. "This is concentrated Wolfsbane. Liquid form. One drop can kill a wolf's connection to their inner beast. A full vial..." She trails off meaningfully. "It eliminates threats. Permanently."

Harlow takes both vials with trembling fingers. "How much?"

"Double your usual payment. And Harlow?" Elara's eyes glitter. "If this traces back to me, I'll make sure everyone knows who's been buying."

Harlow's jaw tightens. She drops the pouch and disappears into the trees.

The witch counts her coins and smiles.

---

The next morning, Stefan summons me to the master bedroom.

I'm still damp from the storm, my uniform clinging to my skin, the burn on my arm wrapped in a crude bandage I made from kitchen cloth. Every step up the stairs sends pain shooting through my knees.

Stefan is standing by the window when I enter. He doesn't turn around.

"The Luna Suite needs to be prepared," he says flatly. "Harlow wants it converted into a nursery. You'll handle the renovation."

The Luna Suite. The room at the end of the hall with the bay windows and the morning light. The room where Stefan first kissed me, years ago, when his wolf was whole and his eyes were warm.

The room that should have been ours.

"Understood, Alpha," I whisper.

"Paint the walls cream. Assemble the crib. Harlow has specific requirements—she'll provide a list." He finally turns to face me, and I see the dark circles under his eyes. The tension in his jaw. "I want it perfect. The future Alpha heir deserves perfection."

I nod and turn to leave.

"Maya."

I stop.

"Don't touch anything that isn't on the list. That room is sacred now."

Sacred. The word is a knife between my ribs.

---

I spend the afternoon in the Luna Suite, painting walls that used to echo with laughter. The cream color covers the soft blue we—I—chose years ago. Each brushstroke feels like erasing myself.

The crib arrives in pieces. I'm on the floor assembling it when Stefan appears in the doorway.

I don't look up. Just keep working, my burned arm protesting with every twist of the screwdriver.

He's silent for a long moment. Then he makes a sound—sharp, pained. I glance up and see him gripping the doorframe, his face twisted.

"Alpha?"

"Shut up." But his voice is strained. He presses his palm against his temple, and I see his hand shaking.

A migraine. He's been getting them more frequently.

Then his eyes go distant. Unfocused. Like he's seeing something that isn't there.

His lips move. "You were laughing. In this room. You were—"

He cuts himself off, and when his gaze snaps back to me, it's pure fury.

"You're pathetic," he snarls. "Kneeling on the floor like the Omega you are. You think you belong here? You think you ever belonged in this room?"

I keep my eyes down. "No, Alpha."

"You're nothing. A wolfless waste of space who can't even give me an heir. Harlow is everything you're not—fertile, strong, worthy."

Each word lands like a physical blow, but I don't flinch. Can't flinch.

"Get out when you're done," he says. "And don't come back unless you're summoned."

He leaves, and I'm alone with the half-assembled crib and the ghost of who we used to be.

I finish the work in silence.

But something has shifted. In the way Stefan looked at me. In the memory that flickered across his face before the cruelty returned.

His wolf is waking up.

And Harlow knows it.