Lydia's POV
The wine glass shattered against the wall of my bedroom.
I watched the red liquid drip down like blood, my chest heaving with rage. Through my window, I could see the pack gathered in the clearing below, all of them staring at *her*. At Sera. At the pathetic omega who was supposed to stay broken forever.
Silver light still flickered around her hands.
"No," I whispered, my nails digging into my palms. "No, no, no!"
This couldn't be happening. I'd planned everything so carefully. Years of work, years of making sure Sera believed she was nothing. Wolfless. Weak. Unworthy of Kael's attention.
And now she was glowing like some kind of moon goddess.
My phone buzzed. I grabbed it, seeing my father's name flash across the screen.
"Did you see?" His voice was sharp with panic. "The whole pack is talking about it. They're saying she's a Lunar Heir!"
"I saw." My voice came out as a snarl.
"Lydia, if they discover the truth—if they find out what we did—"
"They won't." I cut him off, my mind already racing. "I'll fix this."
"How? That old witch said she's the prophecy! You can't just make that disappear!"
I could hear the fear in his voice, and it made me sick. My father, Beta of the Silvermoon Pack, trembling over some omega trash.
"Watch me," I said, and hung up.
My hands shook as I paced my room. Think, Lydia. Think!
I'd spent five years building my position in this pack. Five years making Kael see me as his perfect Luna. I was beautiful, strong, from a powerful family. Everything a Luna should be.
Sera was supposed to be nothing. Just a sad omega who cleaned floors and knew her place.
But I'd known. Deep down, I'd always known she was different.
That's why I'd done it. That's why I'd stolen the moonstone pendant from her room three years ago—the one her dead mother left her. The pendant that suppressed her wolf, that kept her power locked away. My witch friend had explained what it was, what it meant.
And I'd destroyed it, thinking that without it, Sera's power would simply fade away forever.
I was wrong.
A knock on my door made me jump.
"Lydia?" Kael's voice.
I quickly wiped my eyes, forced my face into a mask of concern, and opened the door. Kael stood there, his jaw tight with tension. Behind him, I could see other pack members whispering in the hallway.
"Did you see what happened?" he asked.
"It was incredible," I said, making my voice soft and awed. "Sera has power. Real power. Who knew?"
Kael's eyes narrowed slightly. "You don't seem surprised."
My heart lurched, but I kept my smile steady. "Of course I'm surprised! I just... I'm trying to process it all. A Lunar Heir? In our pack? It's like something from a fairy tale."
He studied my face for a long moment. Too long. When had Kael started looking at me like he was searching for lies?
Since Sera started changing, a cruel voice in my head answered.
"The Council is being summoned," Kael said finally. "They'll want to test her, to verify if she's really what that witch claimed."
"That's good," I said quickly. "We need to know the truth."
"Yes." His eyes locked onto mine. "We do."
He walked away, leaving me standing in my doorway with my stomach in knots.
The moment he disappeared around the corner, I pulled out my phone and typed a quick message: *Emergency. Meet me at the old mill. One hour.
The response came immediately: We've been expecting your call.
---
The old mill sat at the edge of pack territory, abandoned and forgotten. Perfect for secret meetings.
I slipped through the broken door, my wolf senses alert for any followers. The inside smelled like rot and bird droppings, but I didn't care. This was survival.
"Well, well." A woman's voice echoed through the darkness. "The perfect Luna finally shows cracks in her mask."
Three figures stepped from the shadows. Moira, the lead witch, smiled at me with too many teeth. Her sisters flanked her, their eyes gleaming in the dim light.
"I need your help," I said, hating how desperate I sounded.
"Obviously." Moira circled me like a predator. "Little Sera isn't so little anymore, is she?"
"Can you stop her?" I demanded. "Can you lock her power away again?"
Moira laughed, a sound like breaking glass. "Lock away a Lunar Heir? Child, you have no idea what you're dealing with. That girl's power is ancient. It's written in the stars and moon themselves."
"There has to be a way!" My voice cracked. "You said the moonstone pendant would keep her dormant!"
"We said it would suppress her wolf. And it did, for years." Moira's smile faded. "But you destroyed it. And without that anchor, her power exploded free. Congratulations—you created the very thing you feared."
I wanted to scream. To hit something. To make this nightmare end.
"Then kill her," I whispered.
The words hung in the air like poison.
Moira's sisters exchanged glances. Even they looked shocked.
"You want us to murder a Lunar Heir?" Moira asked slowly.
"I want you to eliminate a threat to this pack," I said, forcing strength into my voice. "If Sera truly is what they say, she's dangerous. Unpredictable. She could destroy us all."
"Or you're just scared she'll take your Alpha," one of the sisters said, smirking.
Heat flooded my face. "This isn't about Kael!"
"Isn't it?" Moira leaned close, her breath cold against my face. "You've spent years manipulating that pack, making sure you're the only woman Kael sees. And now here comes the tragic little omega, glowing with moon magic and catching his eye. Must be infuriating."
"Will you help me or not?" I snapped.
Moira was quiet for a long moment. Then she smiled again, and it was the most terrifying thing I'd ever seen.
"Killing a Lunar Heir directly would bring down curses on our entire coven," she said. "But there are other ways. Slower ways. Ways that can't be traced back to us... or you."
"What do you mean?"
"The Lunar Heir's power is tied to her emotions, her connections," Moira explained. "Break her spirit, and you break her magic. Make the pack turn against her. Make them fear her. Convince them she's dangerous."
"How?"
Moira pulled a small vial from her robes. Inside, something black and oily swirled.
"This is concentrated darkness. We'll place it in the water supply. It won't hurt anyone permanently, but it will make pack members sick. Weak. Dying, even." Her smile widened. "And we'll make sure all evidence points to Sera. To her 'gift' being a curse."
My breath caught. "That's... that's extreme."
"You wanted extreme when you asked us to kill her," Moira said coldly. "This way, the pack does your dirty work. They'll exile her, or worse. Either way, she's gone, and your hands stay clean."
I thought of Sera's face in the clearing, confused and scared. For just a second, something that felt like guilt twisted in my chest.
Then I remembered Kael looking at her with wonder in his eyes.
"Do it," I said.
Moira handed me the vial. "Pour this into the main well tomorrow night. By the next morning, pack members will start showing symptoms. Make sure you're nowhere near it when it happens."
I tucked the vial into my jacket, my heart pounding.
"One more thing," Moira said as I turned to leave. "Once you do this, there's no going back. You'll be bound to us. Forever."
"I don't care," I lied. "Just get rid of her."
I walked out of the mill into the moonlight, clutching the vial like it was my salvation.
Behind me, I heard Moira's voice one last time: "Famous last words, little Luna. Famous last words."
As I made my way back to the packhouse, I didn't see the figure watching from the trees. Didn't notice the way they pulled out their phone and started recording.
Didn't realize that my perfect lie was about to unravel in the worst way possible.