My eyes followed Lira as she stood up and walked onto the platform with grace. The crowd was cheering for her—and I had enough!

I stood up from my seat, knocking the chair down to the floor. I ran—not just with my feet, but with fury pounding in my chest and betrayal blazing in my blood. My heels clashed against the marble steps of the ceremonial platform where Kade stood tall at the center, dressed in his royal alpha robes, and Lira was now beside him.

“What are you doing, Kade?” I screamed, my eyes blurry with rage and disbelief. “I am your mate! You PROMISED me!”

My voice cracked, but I didn’t care. He had to explain what was going on. The crowd turned to stare, gasping at the chaos I was dragging onto this damned platform.

Once I reached his side, I gripped his arm, shaking him like maybe—just maybe—if I shook hard enough, I could shake his senses back into him.

“You said you’d make me Luna,” I cried, my poor heart beating fast and hard. “You told me every day that you’re mine and I’m yours. What are you doing now, Kade? Are you having a fever? Look, look at me—it’s me, Zoe!” I grabbed his face with my trembling hands.

Kade didn’t flinch. Instead, he laughed. A cold and cruel laughter, loud enough for everyone to hear.

“I did because I thought you would be my forever,” he said with a smirk. “But now I found my real fated mate.”

The word *real* hit me harder than any slap. I froze. It was as if the air had been knocked out of me. My eyes searched his, pleading silently, hoping it was a twisted joke.

“You love me...” I whispered. “We’ve been together for years, Kade. YEARS filled with promises, love, and golden moments. You slept in my bed just LAST NIGHT, Kade—you were with me. I gave you my all. You told me you would never love any other!”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I thought I’d be mate less. You were just something to take the fear away.”

I was just *something* to Kade? Not someone. Not Zoe. Not his mate.

My breath hitched so sharp my chest seized. *This is not happening. This has to be a dream.*

Tears threatened, but I clenched my fists, trying to keep my dignity together.

“You took my virginity, Kade…” I whispered, my voice barely alive. “You kissed me—everything. Even last night, like I was your world…”

“Not like I forced or asked you,” he replied coldly. “You gave yourself to me, Zoe.”

And that was it.

Blood rushed to my head. I raised my hands toward Kade’s face and struck both cheeks at once. *Phat!*

The sound traveled around the now quiet hall. His head whipped upward and the sound echoed over and over again. Gasps rang through the crowd like a chorus of shock and silence. The moment hung frozen in the air.

Then a huge roar of murmurs resumed.

Lira, the perfect new Luna in her flowing white gown, snarled like a wildcat and lunged at me.

“How dare you touch him!” she screeched, clawing at me.

But I was done being silent and gentle. First she stole my man, my position, and my happiness—now she wanted to attack me.

Like a madwoman on the loose, I rushed to her, grabbed her hair, and yanked it—hard enough to make her stumble. She raised her hand to slap my face but I caught it, twisted her wrist, and struck her jaw. She whimpered, holding her face.

The crowd exploded in murmurs again. Then Kade’s voice thundered:

“Guards! Take her away. Punish her for this disgrace.”

I froze. My heart sank straight to my belly.

“What?” My blood drained. “W-what? You… you want me punished?” I asked, but he wouldn’t reply.

Four guards surged forward, storming in with cold eyes and steel armor. Fear gripped me. I turned to Kade, hoping he would do something, but not even a flicker of mercy was in his expression.

“No…” I backed away, eyes wide. “Kade… you can’t let them take me. You won’t. You love me. Please, Kade…” I wailed.

“Take her to the dark dungeon,” he commanded.

Gasps flew among the audience. My face turned pale.

The guards grabbed my arms roughly, and the crowd parted as they dragged me away from the platform. And he was watching me—the man who once said he loved me, the man who made me feel safe, the man who promised me the earth and the moon.

They led me through the east gates, past the wall, past the gardens where we used to sit under the stars.

To the dark dungeon.

The one whispered about in bedtime horror stories. The one where traitors and rogues were punished. The one I never thought I’d see from the inside.

The door creaked open with a heavy groan. The damp, stinking air clawed at my throat. The stone walls were stained with dried blood, the floors wet and chilling, and chains dangled like ghosts waiting for me. The sight sent cold shivers down my spine.

“Please,” I sobbed. “Don’t do this… He lied to me. I’m innocent… he told me he would make me Luna!”

I kept crying, but they said nothing.

I was stripped of my shoes and shoved forward. One of the guards pulled down a chain from the ceiling, another yanked my arms above me, and in the blink of an eye, they tied me—tight—upside down above a drum filled with dirty water.

My heart slammed against my ribs. Then they dunked me.

The chain was released a bit and my upper body was plunged into the chilling water.

The icy flood swallowed me whole, wrapping me in darkness. I kicked, choked, thrashed as my mind screamed. I opened my mouth in fear and water gushed into my throat. I tried so hard to stop myself, but my lungs were tired. I inhaled the water so hard.

They left me there for minutes, and I knew I was going to die. *Is this real? Is this how it’s going to end? My first and only man will be the reason behind my death?*

Just when I thought I was gone, they pulled me up. I gasped and screamed—but they dipped me again.

I cried. Not just tears—I cried from my soul.

“Kade… Kade…” I whispered his name like maybe it would save me.

But it didn’t.

He was never coming. He was never going to open the door and tell them to stop. He was never going to say he still loved me.

This was real. The punishment. The betrayal.

“Kade did this to me…” I sobbed. “Am I dreaming? Is this happening?”

The guards didn’t stop. Their faces were like stone, their movements brutal.

My wrists burned from the rope, my lungs begged for air, and my heart begged for him.

But all I got were memories.

His hands in my hair. His lips brushing mine. His promises of forever.

He told me he would make me Luna. He told me no one else mattered. He told me I was the one.

Just last night, he held me in his bed. I traced his scars from the war and whispered love. He kissed me and took me slowly, with his eyes filled with tenderness.

And now?

Now, he threw me here—with cold strangers, with chains, with water cold enough to drown my hope.

I cried louder. Screams mixed with sobs. I wanted someone—anyone—to save me.

But the only person who ever promised to protect me… was the same one who betrayed me.

My body felt weak, so light like a feather, especially my head, burning with all the blood rushing there. Slowly, the pain dulled, my cries weakened, and my vision blurred as everything spun.

His face was the last thing I saw in my mind. Smiling. Cruel. Un-bothered.

I passed out there, in the hands of the guards still punishing me.

And the darkness took me.