"What do you want?" The words came out as barely a whisper, defeat heavy in every syllable.
Damon's smile was victorious. "I want you to be a good girl, Luna. A perfect, obedient mate."
He began pacing around her like a shark circling wounded prey. "I want you to smile and wave at every public appearance. I want you to support my candidacy with enthusiasm so convincing that even your brothers will believe you're genuinely happy. Most importantly, I want you to publicly distance yourself from them. They've become quite the thorn lately."
Luna's head snapped up, horror written across her features.
"That's right," Damon continued, savoring her anguish like fine wine. "You're going to tell the world that your brothers have been harassing you. Constant phone calls, desperate voicemails, invasive messages. You'll paint them as obsessive, controlling men who can't accept that their little sister chose her own path."
He stopped directly in front of her, his presence looming and oppressive. "You'll tearfully explain how they've been pressuring you to leave me, how their 'overprotective meddling' has become suffocating. You'll make it crystal clear that you chose this life willingly, that you're blissfully happy, and that any concerns they might voice are nothing more than the desperate delusions of brothers who refuse to let you grow up."
Each word was carefully calculated, designed to twist the knife deeper. "The pack world will see them as the villains in this story, Luna. Overbearing siblings who can't respect their sister's choices. And you're going to be the one to destroy their credibility, their reputation, their ability to interfere in our lives ever again."
Each word was a nail in her coffin, sealing her fate.
"And most importantly," his voice dropped to a whisper that somehow felt more threatening than screaming, "I want you to start taking your vitamins again. The real ones."
Luna's blood turned to ice. "What?"
"You've been skipping them." Damon's tone remained conversational, as if discussing the weather. "Dr. Maren switched them to placebos three weeks ago. Did you really think I wouldn't notice? I see everything, Luna. Every breath you take, every move you make, every pathetic attempt at rebellion."
Horror crashed over Luna. Dr. Maren. The kind pack doctor who'd shown her compassion, who'd risked everything to help her. She'd been caught, and now...
"What did you do to her?" Luna's voice was barely human.
"Nothing yet." Damon pulled a familiar pill bottle from his desk drawer, shaking it so the contents rattled like bones. "But if you don't start taking your real vitamins again, if you don't cooperate completely and convincingly, I'll have her arrested for medical malpractice. She'll lose her license, her livelihood, her freedom. Her children will grow up knowing their mother is a criminal. And it will all be your fault. So what's it going to be?" Damon held out the bottle like an offering to some dark god. "Are you going to be a good mate? Or do I need to destroy everyone you care about to secure your cooperation?"
Luna stared at the pills that had been slowly killing her wolf, at the folder containing lies about her father, at the man who held her entire world hostage. The walls seemed to be closing in, crushing her beneath the weight of impossible choices.
There was no way out. There never had been.
"I'll cooperate," she said, the words tasting like ash in her mouth.
"Good girl." Damon's smile was radiant with triumph. "Now, take your vitamin. We have several challenging weeks ahead of us, and I need you properly... manageable."
He handed her a single pill and a glass of water.
Luna stared at the small white tablet, knowing exactly what it would do. The wolfsbane would seep into her system, weakening the already fragile connection to her wolf, making her more compliant, more broken. She was literally holding her own destruction.
But what choice did she have? If she refused, he'd destroy her father's legacy, ruin Dr. Maren's life, and probably find even more creative ways to torture her into submission. At least this way, she could buy time. Time to think. Time to plan.
Even if she had nowhere to run.
She placed the pill on her tongue and swallowed it down as Damon watched with satisfaction.
"Excellent." He took the empty glass from her trembling hands. "Now go to bed. You look absolutely dreadful, and I need you presentable for tomorrow's press conference. We're announcing my candidacy, and you're going to stand beside me looking like the perfect, supportive mate."
Luna stood on legs that felt like water, each step toward the door an monumental effort.
"Oh." Damon's voice stopped her at the threshold. "Don't even think about running. I have trackers throughout the territory, allies in every neighboring pack, and enforcers who would consider hunting down a runaway mate the highlight of their careers."
His words followed her like a curse. "And even if you somehow managed to escape, which you won't, where would you go? Back to the brothers you rejected? They won't take you back, darling. You made your choice three years ago when you chose me over them. Now live with the consequences!"
Luna stumbled into the hallway, her body already responding to the poison coursing through her veins. The subtle, comforting presence of her wolf was retreating deeper into her mind, growing fainter with each passing moment as the wolfsbane took hold.
I'm sorry, she whispered to her wolf, tears finally spilling over. I'm so sorry for everything. For not listening, for letting him destroy us, for being too weak to fight back.
But her wolf didn't answer. She was too weak now, too broken, too tired of fighting a battle they could never win.
Luna could feel her slipping away, leaving her more alone than she'd ever been in her life.
She made it to her bedroom. The room she'd been given because Damon didn't want her in his bed.
She collapsed on the mattress. Through the window, she could see the moon rising over the estate, full and bright.
Once, she'd been strong. Once, her wolf had howled at that moon with joy and power. Once, she'd been Luna Ashford, Lunar Princess, daughter of kings, sister to Alphas.
Once, she'd had a family who loved her.
And she'd thrown it all away for a man who'd never loved her at all.
But I won't go quietly. The thought came as consciousness faded. I won't let him win. Somehow, someway, I'll find a way out.
Even if I die trying.
Even if I die alone.
Because the alternative, living as his prisoner, dying in Silverpine, letting him destroy my father's legacy, is a fate worse than death.