-Ember-
Callie and I are about halfway through our breakfast when the dining hall doors EXPLODE open with a bang that reverberates through the entire space like a gunshot. Laura storms back in, and honestly, she looks like she's been put through a psychological meat grinder and spat back out.
Her once-perfect hair is now a wild, disheveled mess, mascara streaked down her cheeks in black rivulets like war paint, and her carefully pressed outfit is wrinkled beyond salvation. But it's her hands that really catch my attention—they're actually SHAKING with rage, trembling so violently she can barely control them.
Whatever conversation she just had clearly didn't just go badly—it obliterated her entire world.
"Oh goody, the crazy train has returned to the station," Ivy mutters sarcastically. "And it looks like it derailed, caught fire, and took out half the countryside on the way."
Laura's wild, bloodshot eyes lock onto mine with the unhinged intensity of a woman who's lost her last marble and is now hunting for someone to blame. She marches across the dining hall like she's leading a one-woman war against reality itself. Pack members turn to watch, conversations dying mid-sentence as the atmosphere turns electric with tension.
"YOU!" Laura shrieks, pointing a perfectly manicured finger directly in my face with such force I'm surprised it doesn't shoot off like a missile. "This is ALL your fault!"
I set down my coffee cup with deliberate calm, though my heart rate has spiked like I just ran a marathon in heels. The entire dining hall has gone dead silent—you could hear a pin drop in the sudden vacuum of sound.
"Hello again, Laura," I say, keeping my voice level despite the genuine concern creeping up my spine. "Care to tell me exactly what I have done in the past hour that has caused you such... distress?"
"Besides existing and having the audacity to be mated to her precious daughter's intended target?" Ivy snorts. "We should probably duck. She looks like she might actually explode."
"FIFTEEN YEARS!" Laura explodes, her voice cracking with hysteria that echoes off the vaulted ceiling. Actual spittle flies from her lips as she gesticulates wildly. "I've BLED for this pack for fifteen years while you were some pup orphan reject! I BUILT this place! I EARNED my position! And you think you can destroy everything I've sacrificed for in A FEW FUCKING DAYS?"
The collective gasp from the dining hall is audible. Pack members lean back in their seats like Laura's rage might be contagious.
Her eyes are completely wild now, pupils dilated with the kind of manic energy that comes from a complete psychological break. "You're nothing but damaged goods! A pathetic excuse for a wolf who couldn't even keep her own mate interested! I know EVERYTHING—how you disgusted him, how you were so broken and worthless he couldn't stand to touch you!"
The words hit me like ice water, but it's not the cruelty that stops my breath—it's the specificity. The intimate knowledge of my private humiliation.
"Wait, what the actual fuck?" Ivy's voice sharpens with alarm. "How does this crazy bitch know about our private business with Tanner?"
My blood turns to winter in my veins. "How do you know about Tanner?"
The question comes out quietly, but it cuts through Laura's hysteria like a blade. She freezes for just a split second—long enough for me to catch the flash of pure panic that crosses her face before she tries to mask it with more manufactured rage.
"Everyone knows what a failure you were as a mate!" she spits, but there's something forced about it now, something rehearsed. "It's obvious just looking at you!"
"That's bullshit and we all know it," Ivy snarls. "The only way she could know those details is if she's been talking to that piece of shit directly."
But that's not true, and we both know it. I never told anyone here about the intimate details of our failed bond—not even Adrian knows most of it. The only way Laura could know that Tanner found me disgusting, that he couldn't stand to touch me, is if they've been in contact. If they've been... talking about me.
"My pack?" I ask, latching onto her earlier slip with growing suspicion.
Laura's face contorts into something that barely resembles human emotion anymore. "MY pack! As the Beta female, this is MY territory!"
"Beta female? Has this woman been living in an alternate reality where Asher doesn't exist?" Ivy questions incredulously.
Callie, bless her brave little heart, clears her throat nervously. "With all due respect, Ms. Laura... Asher is Beta. You don't technically hold any position here anymore."
Laura whirls around on Callie with the fury of a woman who's completely snapped, lifting her hand to deliver what's clearly intended to be a face-rearranging slap. "You little bit—"
"Don't you fucking touch her," I snap, standing and catching Laura's wrist before she can strike Callie. My grip is firm enough to leave bruises, and I'm not even remotely sorry about it.
The entire dining hall has gone silent now—every pack member frozen with their forks halfway to their mouths, watching this spectacle unfold like it's premium entertainment with a side of genuine fear.
"Look at us, being all badass and protective," Ivy preens, though her attention is still focused on the Laura mystery. "But seriously, we need to figure out how the hell she knows about our private trauma."
Laura yanks her wrist from my grasp with surprising force, her breathing ragged and desperate. "How DARE you touch me! Who do you think you are?"
I rise to my full height and channel every ounce of authority I possess. "I am Adrian's TRUE mate, therefore making me LUNA of Dark Pine."
"My daughter should be Luna!" Laura shrieks, her voice breaking into something that sounds almost inhuman. "Jasmine has been preparing for this role since she was fourteen! She knows this pack, its members, understands our ways and traditions. She's EARNED this through blood and sacrifice and devotion! ADRIAN WAS SUPPOSED TO BE HERS!"
Her chest heaves like she's run a marathon, and I can see the genuine desperation beneath the rage—the terror of a woman whose entire identity has just been ripped away.
I let out a long, deliberately bored sigh. "Laura, I'm going to explain this once, very slowly, so maybe it can sink through that thick skull of yours." I sit back down, adopting a posture of supreme disinterest. "Adrian is my TRUE mate. Not my fated mate, not my chosen mate, not my convenient mate—TRUE MATE." I look at Callie with condescending sweetness. "Please share with the class what that means, Callie."
Callie, clearly struggling to hold back nervous laughter, puts on her most innocent voice. "Yes, Luna Ember. A true mate is when the two halves of one soul are reunited and blessed by the Moon Goddess herself."
"Good girl," Ivy chuckles, though she's still processing Laura's suspicious knowledge. "She's got the perfect 'teacher's pet' voice down."
"That doesn't matter!" Laura screams, her voice cracking with desperation. "Jasmine LOVES him! She has devoted her entire life to becoming the perfect Luna! She's been faithful and loyal while you were spreading your legs for anyone who'd have you!"
The accusation hits the air like a physical slap, and this time I catch it—another detail she shouldn't know. Another intimate assumption about my personal life.
"There it is again," Ivy hisses. "She's fishing for reactions to things she shouldn't know about. This bitch has definitely been getting intel from somewhere."
"And I'm sure that's very sad for Jasmine," I reply coolly, adding a fake shiver for dramatic effect. "But that wasn't a very wise life choice on your part. Maybe you should have taught her to develop some actual personality instead of just grooming her to be someone's accessory."
Callie giggles but tries to disguise it as coughs, her hand pressed firmly over her mouth.
Laura's laugh is bitter and unhinged, like broken glass scraping against stone. "You're all too naive to understand what's really happening here. You think this is about love? About fate?" Her eyes take on a manic gleam. "You've had him BEWITCHED!"
I blink, certain I've misheard. "Bewitched?"
"You've used dark magic from whatever cursed bloodline spawned you!" she declares, waving her hands like she's casting spells herself. "No TRUE mate bond could be stronger than years of devotion and preparation! You're going to DESTROY this pack with your unnatural hold over him!"
"Did she just... did she seriously just suggest we're a witch?" Ivy is practically howling with disbelief. "Like we cast some sort of love spell? With what? Our sparkling personality and devastating good looks?"
I've officially had enough of this unhinged woman and her mysterious knowledge of my private business. "I think you think too highly of the slut you call a daughter."
The dining hall collectively gasps like I just announced the apocalypse.
Laura's face turns purple with rage. "You're some reject from a small nothing pack! A BROKEN wolf who couldn't even satisfy her first mate! Jasmine is a Beta female with training and connections while you have NOTHING to bring to this pack!"
Several pack members gasp audibly at her words, and I notice quite a few angry murmurs starting up around the room. But all I can focus on is how Laura keeps hitting on details about my relationship with Tanner that she has no business knowing.
"She's definitely getting information from someone," Ivy concludes grimly. "And there's only one person who knows those intimate details about our humiliation."
"You know what, Laura?" I say, standing again with renewed purpose. "You're absolutely right. I am from a small nothing pack. I don't have Jasmine's ranking or her training. I was never groomed from childhood to be someone's property." My voice drops dangerously low. "But unlike your daughter, I don't have to threaten to kill people to try to keep a man who doesn't want me."
"How dare you—" Laura starts, raising her hand to slap me.
"You touch her, and I'll slit your throat."
The voice cuts through the air like a blade—dark, dangerous, and utterly familiar. Before I can even process what's happening, someone yanks Laura away from me, sending her sprawling across the floor like a rag doll.
The woman standing over Laura's fallen form has wild red hair and eyes that promise creative violence. "If you EVER try to lay a hand on my friend again, I'll end your entire bloodline."
Laura's face visibly pales as she stares up at the newcomer, and I swear I see actual fear in her eyes for the first time today.
My brain finally catches up, and I shriek with pure excitement. "STELLA?!"
Stella turns around, flipping her gorgeous red hair over her shoulder with a move that would make supermodels weep with envy. Her grin is pure mischief and mayhem. "Hey, babe. Miss me?"
I launch myself at her without hesitation, wrapping my arms around her in a hug so tight it probably qualifies as assault. She feels warm and solid and absolutely perfect—like a piece of home I didn't realize I was missing.
"Our backup has arrived," Ivy purrs with satisfaction. "And just in time to witness Laura's complete psychological breakdown."
"More than you could possibly know," I mumble into her hair, relief flooding through me. Having Stella here makes everything feel less overwhelming, less scary. But more importantly, she might be able to help me figure out exactly how Laura knows so much about my private business with Tanner.
Because something tells me we're going to need all the help we can get.