My Mate Poisoned Me to Steal My Birthright

Kane's office smelled like him. Pine and dark amber and lies.

I stood in front of his desk at two in the morning, the house silent except for the hum of his computer booting up. My hands were steady now. The wolfsbane had finally worked its way out of my system, leaving behind only a dull ache in my bones and a clarity so sharp it felt like glass.

Wren was outside the door, keeping watch. We had fifteen minutes before the patrol rotation brought warriors past this corridor.

The password screen glowed blue in the darkness. I typed without hesitation—our mating anniversary, because Kane was nothing if not predictable in his arrogance. The system unlocked.

Files upon files. Pack budgets. Territory contracts. And there, buried three folders deep under a label marked "Border Security," the encrypted accounts.

I knew encryption. My father had taught me before he died, back when he still believed I'd need to protect our family's holdings from threats outside our pack. He never imagined the threat would come from within.

The first transfer made my breath catch. Fifty thousand dollars to something called Nightshade Holdings LLC. The date matched the rogue attack on our eastern border last spring—the one that had killed two Deltas and justified Kane's request for expanded patrol territory.

I scrolled further. Another transfer. Then another. Each one corresponding perfectly with a rogue incident. Each one buying violence that Kane could then use to justify his land grabs.

My wolf snarled, and I had to press my fist against my mouth to keep the sound from escaping.

The USB drive slid into the port with a soft click. I started the download, watching the progress bar crawl across the screen. Twelve percent. Twenty-five percent.

Footsteps in the hallway.

I froze. Wren's voice, casual and loud: "I'm telling you, I heard something from the kitchens. Probably just mice, but we should check."

Another voice. Male. One of the night guards. "Fine. But make it quick."

Their footsteps faded toward the stairs.

Seventy percent. Eighty-five percent.

I exhaled slowly, watching the files copy themselves onto the drive. Evidence of treason. Evidence of murder-for-hire. Evidence that would strip Kane of everything.

One hundred percent.

I pulled the drive free, shut down the computer, and slipped out of the office like smoke.

---

The next morning, I staged my escape during breakfast.

"I need air," I said, standing abruptly from the table. My chair scraped against the floor, too loud, too sharp. Several pack members looked up. "I can't—I can't breathe in here."

Kane reached for my hand. "Athena, wait—"

I pulled away, stumbling backward. Let my eyes go wide. Let my breathing turn ragged. "Don't touch me. Don't—I need to go."

I ran.

Behind me, I heard Kane's voice, calm and concerned: "Let her go. She needs space. Just... someone keep an eye on her."

But Wren was already moving, positioning herself between me and the Delta who started to follow. I heard her say something about giving the Luna privacy, about how crowding me would only make it worse.

I hit the tree line at a full sprint.

The perimeter alarms should have triggered. Should have brought every warrior running. But Wren had sixty seconds, and she'd promised me she could do it.

Silence.

I crossed the boundary and kept running, my human form burning through the forest, branches catching at my clothes, my lungs screaming. The wolfsbane had left me weaker than I wanted to admit, but I pushed through it, driven by something fiercer than physical strength.

The neutral zone was a strip of unclaimed land between Dark Moon and Silverclaw territory. A buffer zone, supposedly. In reality, a place where packs could meet without declaring war.

Alpha Damon was waiting in the clearing, exactly where I'd asked him to be.

He was taller than Kane, broader through the shoulders, with silver threading through his dark hair that caught the morning light. His eyes tracked my approach with the assessment of a predator, but he didn't move. Didn't speak. Just waited.

I stopped ten feet away, breathing hard.

"You smell like wolfsbane," he said finally. His voice was deeper than I remembered, rougher. "And desperation."

"I smell like survival." I pulled the USB drive from my pocket, held it up. "Your borders have been hit by rogues. Seven times in the last year."

"I'm aware."

"My mate is paying them." I threw the drive. He caught it one-handed, his reflexes sharp. "That has the financial records. Every transfer. Every attack. He's been staging incidents to justify territorial expansion."

Damon's expression didn't change, but something flickered in his eyes. Interest. And anger.

"Why bring this to me?"

"Because tomorrow night at the Summit, he's going to try to destroy me in front of the Council. And I need someone powerful enough to stand witness when I destroy him first." I stepped closer, letting him see the steel in my spine despite the trembling in my hands. "I'm offering you the contested valley. The full deed. In exchange for your protection at the Summit."

"That valley is worth millions."

"My freedom is worth more."

Silence stretched between us. Damon studied me with an intensity that should have made me uncomfortable, but instead felt like being seen for the first time in years.

"Your mate is a fool," he said quietly. "To betray someone like you."

Something in my chest cracked open. Not the mate bond—that was still there, thin and poisoned. Something else. Something that had been locked away so long I'd forgotten it existed.

Hope.

"Do we have a deal?"

Damon smiled. It was sharp and dangerous and absolutely genuine. "We have a deal, Luna Athena. And tomorrow night, your mate is going to learn what it means to underestimate a queen."

I ran back through the forest with his promise echoing in my ears and the sun rising at my back.

By the time I stumbled back onto Dark Moon territory, there were warriors waiting. Kane was there too, his face perfectly arranged into concern.

"Athena!" He caught me as I collapsed—deliberately, theatrically—into his arms. "Where did you go? We were so worried."

"I don't know," I whispered against his chest, letting my voice break. "I don't remember. I just... I woke up in the forest."

His arms tightened around me. Possessive. Triumphant.

"It's okay," he murmured. "We'll get you help. I promise."

Over his shoulder, I caught Wren's eye. She gave me the smallest nod.

Everything was in place.

Tomorrow night, at the Summit, Kane Montgomery would finally get exactly what he deserved.