My Mate Sent Me to Die for His Mistress

The cage door hung open like a broken jaw.

I stared at it, my heart dropping into my stomach. The little wire door I always latched so carefully—open. The soft bedding I'd changed just yesterday—scattered. The water bottle—knocked over, dripping onto the floor.

Snowy was gone.

"No." The word came out strangled. I dropped to my knees, searching under the small table where I kept her cage. "Snowy? Baby, where are you?"

Nothing. Just dust and silence.

I tore through my quarters like a woman possessed. Under the bed. Behind the dresser. In the closet. My hands were shaking so badly I could barely pull open drawers. She had to be here. She had to be hiding, scared maybe, but safe.

Please, Goddess, let her be safe.

I yanked open my door and nearly collided with Marissa, one of the omega staff members.

"Have you seen Snowy?" My voice was too loud, too desperate. "My rabbit—she's white, about this big—"

"The Luna's pet?" Marissa's lip curled slightly. "No. Maybe it finally escaped all your... hovering."

She walked away before I could respond.

I spent the next hour searching. The kitchen staff barely looked up when I asked. The warriors in the training yard laughed, actually laughed, when I interrupted their drills. One of them—David, I think—made a joke about rabbit stew that made the others howl.

My wolf was whimpering, weak and anxious. She could barely sense anything anymore, not since the Wolfbane had damaged something fundamental inside us. But she felt my panic, and it fed hers, creating a horrible spiral of fear.

By the time I stumbled back to my quarters, my ribs—still healing from the cliff dive two weeks ago—were screaming. Each breath felt like broken glass.

Snowy was really gone.

The knock on my door made me jump.

"Claire." Kane didn't wait for permission. He stepped inside, his presence filling the small room instantly. "The Winter Solstice Banquet begins in three hours."

I turned to face him, hope flaring stupidly in my chest. "Kane, Snowy is missing. I've looked everywhere, and I think someone might have—"

"I need you to stay in your quarters until the main ceremony." His voice was flat, businesslike. "Your appearance lately has been... concerning to pack members."

The hope died. "My appearance?"

"You look ill. Pale. Weak." He gestured vaguely at me, not quite meeting my eyes. "It's bad for morale. Morgan has worked very hard on this celebration, and I won't have you dampening the atmosphere."

Morgan. Of course.

"Someone took my rabbit," I said quietly. "Kane, please. Just help me look for her. She's small and scared and—"

"It's a rabbit, Claire." His jaw tightened with barely concealed irritation. "The pack has more important concerns than a pet. Stay here. Someone will fetch you when it's time."

He left. Just like that.

I sank onto my bed, my broken ribs protesting, and stared at the empty cage. Snowy had been the only thing in this pack house that loved me without condition. The only creature who didn't look at me with disappointment or contempt. She would curl up in my lap when I cried, her little nose twitching against my fingers.

Now she was gone.

And Kane was arm-in-arm with Morgan somewhere, planning a party.

***

The banquet hall glittered with ice-blue decorations and silver ribbons. Candles flickered on every surface, casting dancing shadows across the assembled pack members. Everyone was dressed in their finest—furs and silks and leather that probably cost more than I'd ever owned.

I sat at the high table in a dress someone had left outside my door. It was too loose, hanging off my shoulders in a way that made me look even more skeletal than usual. My ribs still ached with every breath.

Kane sat at the center, magnificent in black and silver. Morgan was on his right, wearing a stunning gown of deep crimson. Her fur-lined cloak draped elegantly over her shoulders.

I was on his left, but I might as well have been invisible.

The feast began. Platters of roasted meat, fresh bread, winter vegetables glazed with honey. The scents should have been mouthwatering, but my stomach was twisted into knots. I pushed food around my plate, not tasting anything.

Morgan laughed at something Kane said, her hand resting on his arm. The sound carried across the table, bright and musical.

Then I saw it.

Hanging from the clasp of her cloak—a small charm. White fur, impossibly soft and pristine. Rabbit fur.

No.

My vision tunneled. The noise of the banquet faded to a distant roar.

Morgan turned her head, as if she could feel my stare. Our eyes met across Kane's broad shoulders. Slowly, deliberately, she reached up and fingered the white fur charm. Her lips moved, forming words meant only for me.

"It was so soft."

The world tilted.

I couldn't breathe. My chest was too tight, my lungs refusing to work. Snowy. That was Snowy. That was my Snowy's fur hanging from the neck of the woman who had been torturing me for seven years.

She killed her. She killed my rabbit and wore her as a trophy.

"Claire?" Kane's voice sounded far away. "What's wrong with you?"

I tried to stand, but my legs wouldn't hold me. The room was spinning, black spots dancing across my vision. My broken ribs screamed as I gasped for air that wouldn't come.

Morgan smiled at me over the rim of her wine glass.

And I realized, with horrible clarity, that she wanted me to break right here, right now, in front of everyone.

She wanted them all to see the weak, hysterical Luna fall apart over a pet.

I was going to give her exactly what she wanted.