AUBREY

I pace across my chamber like a caged wolf, my bare feet silent on the polished wooden floor. The burgundy velvet gown I wore to dinner lies crumpled in a corner where I threw it after returning from that disastrous proposal. My hair hangs loose around my shoulders, still tangled from Knox carrying me over his shoulder like some barbarian claiming his prize.

What have I done?

The memory of Knox's face when I laughed at his proposal makes my stomach twist with guilt. The hurt that flashed across his features, the way his shoulders sagged when I rejected him—it haunts me. But how could I have said yes? How could I betray everything Jax has done for me, everything he's sacrificed to give me purpose?

The cool night air drifts through my open window, carrying the scent of roses from the garden below. Those damned roses. Even their perfume mocks me now, reminding me of the bouquet Knox scattered across the moss when I crushed his hopes.

You're being dramatic, I tell myself, wrapping my arms around my waist. It was a political arrangement, nothing more. He said so himself—it's about the ceremony, not romance.

But that doesn't explain the devastation in his green eyes, or the way his hands shook as he gathered the fallen petals. That wasn't political calculation—that was raw pain, the kind that comes from having your heart ripped out and stomped on.

A sharp caw from outside makes me freeze mid-step. My blood turns to ice as I turn toward the window, already knowing what I'll find. A massive raven perches on the stone sill, its obsidian feathers gleaming in the moonlight. Those intelligent black eyes bore into mine with an intensity that makes my skin crawl.

My heart sinks like a stone dropped in deep water. Jax knows. Somehow, he already knows about the proposal and my rejection. The raven tilts its head, studying me with predatory focus, and I want to slam the window shut and pretend this isn't happening.

But I can't. I've never been able to hide from Jax, never been able to escape the reach of his influence. The man who saved me, who gave meaning to my shattered existence—he sees everything.

"Well, well, well." Jax's voice slithers into my mind like ice water through my veins, cold and sharp with disappointment. The familiar cadence that once brought comfort now carries an edge that makes me flinch. "My dear Aubrey, it seems you've been making some very poor decisions tonight."

I want to defend myself, to explain the impossible position he's put me in, but the words die in my throat. The raven's black eyes seem to see straight through to my soul, cataloging every doubt, every moment of hesitation.

"I had my reasons—" I start, but he cuts me off before I can finish the thought.

"Reasons?" His mental voice rises with barely contained fury. "You had the Crown Prince of the realm on his knees, offering you everything—a crown, unlimited access to royal secrets, the position I've spent years maneuvering you toward—and you laughed in his face?"

The accusation hits like a physical blow. I sink onto the edge of my bed, my legs suddenly unable to support me. "I couldn't just—"

"You couldn't just what? Use the brain I thought I'd trained better?" The disappointment in his voice is worse than anger. "Do you have any idea what you've just thrown away? What you've cost us?"

Tears prick at my eyes, hot and unwelcome. "Jax, please, let me explain—"

"Explain what? That you've forgotten why you're there? That you've let sentiment cloud your judgment? That you're thinking with your heart instead of your head?"

Each word is a dagger between my ribs. I clutch the silk bedsheets until my knuckles turn white, trying to anchor myself against the storm of his displeasure. This is worse than I imagined—worse than anything I prepared myself for.

"I haven't forgotten," I whisper through our mental link, my voice small and broken. "I remember everything you've done for me. I remember my purpose."

"Do you? Because from where I'm sitting, it looks like you've been seduced by pretty dresses and royal attention. Tell me, Aubrey—are you still the girl I saved as her pack was massacred, or have you become just another simpering noblewoman?"

The question cuts deeper than any blade. I'm still that broken thirteen-year-old girl covered in her family's blood, still the lost soul he found wandering the aftermath of carnage. But I'm also the woman who's spent weeks training alongside Knox's warriors, who's felt the warmth of Iris's friendship, who's seen genuine kindness in Queen Grace's eyes.

Before I can sort through the chaos in my mind, agony explodes through my skull like lightning splitting the sky. I collapse to my knees, hands flying to my temples as pain beyond description tears through every nerve ending. It feels like someone's driving red-hot nails into my brain, like my skull is being slowly crushed in a vice.

I try to scream, but no sound emerges. My throat constricts, cutting off even the most basic relief of crying out. The pain is everywhere—coursing through my veins like liquid fire, making my skin feel like it's being flayed from my bones. Even Aria whimpers deep in my consciousness, retreating from the torment.

This is punishment. The realization hits me even through the haze of agony. This is what happens when I disappoint him.

The torture seems to last forever, though it's probably only seconds. When it finally stops, I'm gasping on the floor, my body convulsing with aftershocks. Sweat soaks through my nightgown, and I can taste copper—I must have bitten my tongue.

"I hope that helps clarify your priorities," Jax's voice is calm now, almost gentle, as if he hasn't just put me through hell. "You seem to have forgotten that everything you are, everything you have, exists because of my generosity. Your skills, your training, your very life—all gifts from me."

I force myself to sit up, though my vision swims and my hands shake uncontrollably. The raven watches with those pitiless black eyes, its head tilted as if enjoying the show.

"I'm sorry," I manage, the words tasting like ash. "I lost sight of what matters. It won't happen again."

"No, it won't. Because you're going to fix this, Aubrey. You're going to bind yourself to Knox, become his Luna, and give us access to everything we need to tear down this rotting kingdom."

My heart clenches at the casual way he speaks about destroying the lives I've come to care about. Iris's laughter, Queen Grace's patient instruction, the warriors who've accepted me as one of their own—all of it meaningless to him.

"Becoming Luna will give you unprecedented access to royal councils, private family discussions, military strategies," he continues, his voice taking on the tone of a teacher explaining to a slow student. "You'll have Knox's complete trust, his deepest secrets. Everything we need to expose their weaknesses and bring them down."

The plan is brilliant in its simplicity and horrifying in its scope. I would be the perfect spy, the loving wife who betrays every confidence, every moment of vulnerability. The thought makes me sick.

"I understand," I whisper, because what else can I say? He holds all the power here—over my past, my present, my very existence.

"Good. And Aubrey?" His mental voice drops to something silky and dangerous. "You'll seduce him tonight. No more delays, no more excuses. Use that body the Moon Goddess gave you and make him forget every other woman he's ever looked at."

The words hit me like a slap across the face. Heat floods my cheeks as shame and anger war in my chest. He's asking me to weaponize the most intimate parts of myself, to turn something sacred into just another tool for manipulation.

"Tonight," I agree, though the word tastes like poison on my tongue.

"That's my girl." The approval in his voice should warm me, but it only makes me feel colder. "Remember, Aubrey—everything you do, you do for me. For us. Don't let anyone else make you forget where your loyalties lie."

The mental connection severs abruptly, leaving me alone with the raven and the echoes of his commands. The bird gives one final, mocking caw before spreading its wings and disappearing into the night, taking with it the last of my illusions about having choices in this game.

I remain on the floor, trembling, as the full weight of what I've agreed to settles over me. Tonight, I'll go to Knox. Tonight, I'll use his desire for me against him, turn our mate bond into a weapon of betrayal.

The pain lingers in my skull like echoes of thunder, and something inside me breaks under the weight of it all. Without warning, my body begins to shift, bones cracking and reforming as my wolf takes control. The transformation ripples through me in waves of silver light, and suddenly I'm on four paws instead of two feet, my nightgown shredded around me.

"Why?" Aria's voice explodes in my mind, raw with fury and pain. "Why do you let him do this to us? Why do you still love someone who hurts us like this?"

I curl into a ball on the cold floor, my wolf form trembling with the aftershocks of Jax's punishment. The physical pain is nothing compared to the ache in my chest—the realization that the man I've devoted my life to sees me as nothing more than a tool to be used.

"He saved us," I whisper back, clinging to the only truth that makes sense anymore. "When we had nothing, when we were broken and bleeding, he gave us purpose."

"This isn't salvation—this is slavery!" Aria snarls, her anger bleeding into my consciousness like acid. "He's turned you into his weapon, his puppet, and you thank him for it! When will you see what he really is?"

But I can't let her words take root, can't let doubt poison the one relationship that's defined my existence since that terrible night. Instead, I force myself to remember—really remember—the good times. The moments that made me fall in love with my savior in the first place.

The memory surfaces unbidden—Jax carrying me home after I'd scraped my knees running through the forest. I couldn't have been more than fifteen, still learning to navigate the world he'd pulled me into. His strong arms around me, his voice gentle as he promised to always protect me. The way his eyes crinkled when he smiled, how safe I felt in his presence.

"You're mine to protect, little one," he'd whispered against my hair. "I'll never let anything hurt you again."

That's why I do this, I remind myself, clinging to the warmth of that memory like a lifeline. For him. For everything he's given me. For the love he showed me when no one else would.

"You're going to destroy yourself for someone who sees you as expendable," she says, her voice heavy with resignation. "And there's nothing I can do to stop you."

I push her voice away, just as I push away the doubt gnawing at my heart. I can't afford uncertainty now. Not when everything depends on my ability to seduce the man I rejected just hours ago.