The cathedral still rang with Jamie’s voice when Lisa stepped forward.I barely felt my own body anymore, as though I were a ghost lingering in the hall. All I could register was the way the crowd parted for her like she was the moon itself descending among us.Lisa’s gown trailed behind her, her crimson silk whispering against the stone, trimmed with delicate silver thread that gleamed beneath the torches. Her wolf aura pressed against the room, strong and commanding. She was beautiful, yes, but it wasn’t her beauty that made my chest tighten. It was her certainty. Every step she took declared what Jamie’s words had already confirmed: she belonged here, while I did not.“My people, I present to you Lisa of Crimson fang. My fated mate and chosen luna.” he announced as the crowd erupted in charged cheers. “Silvercrest,” Lisa began, her voice calm, melodic. Not loud, but sharp enough to demand silence from the excited crowd. “It is an honor to stand among you, and to be welcomed not as a stranger, but as your Luna.”The way she said your Luna stung worse than Jamie’s rejection. She wasn’t simply his mate. She was laying claim to all of them—the elders, the warriors, the children, the legacy, the entire pack.She turned her gaze toward me, her lips curving in a soft, practiced smile. “But before I step into this role, I must acknowledge what has been done before me. Ember has kept this place warm, tended to our Alpha in his youth, and for that, she deserves her thanks.”I flinched as though she had struck me. Tended? Kept it warm? She spoke of me as if I had been nothing but a placeholder, a servant polishing the seat she would soon occupy.The pack reacted instantly. A few wolves clapped. Others hummed in agreement. The elders nodded sagely, as if Lisa’s words carried divine truth.I gripped my bouquet so tightly the stems snapped under my fingers. Heat surged in my chest, my wolf pushing against me. “Say something. Do not let her erase you. Or let me come out and attack them.”“Warm?” My voice cracked at first, but it grew steadier, louder. “I have bled for this pack. I have given my every breath to prove I was worthy of standing here today. How dare you speak to me as though I was nothing more than a caretaker?”A hush swept through the cathedral, followed quickly by disapproving murmurs.One of the elders, Elder Marrow, rose to his feet. His beard shook as he frowned at me. “Mind your tongue, girl. Show respect to your Luna.”My Luna? Pufft she was more or less my replacement.“She is not Luna yet,” I snapped, desperation clawing at my raw throat. I turned to the crowd, to see the faces I had grown up among. “I am the daughter of your late Beta! My father gave his life to keep Silvercrest standing! He fought side by side with Jamie's father. Do his sacrifices mean nothing to you?”Gasps erupted. Some wolves glanced away guiltily, but most only stiffened, waiting for Lisa’s response.Lisa tilted her head slightly, her smile never faltering. She looked at me with something almost like pity, but her eyes glittered like sharpened glass. “Your father was a brave man. His sacrifice is carved into the heart of this pack. But bravery does not pass through blood like a gift. For you to be worthy, you must earn it. We don't owe that to you just because your father was some hero.”Her words were honey, dripping with false kindness, but the venom underneath was undeniable.“That’s not true!” My voice cracked, louder now. “I did earn it. Every trial, every test, every duty given to me—I carried it. I stood beside Jamie when others turned their backs. I—Jamie tell them. How would you let this… thing speak to me that way?”“Enough!” Elder Rowan slammed his staff against the floor, the sound echoing through the cathedral. “You embarrass yourself and you embarrass this sacred ceremony with your tantrums. The Moon Goddess has spoken. She has given our Alpha his true mate and you would do well to bow your head in gratitude that you were spared from a union that was never meant to be.”Laughter rose from the crowd. Not cruel, not openly, but mocking nonetheless, a ripple of derision that stole the air from my lungs.Jamie still hadn’t looked at me. Not once since Lisa stepped forward. He stood tall, shoulders squared, chin high, drinking in the approval of his people as if it fed him.“You hear them, Ember,” Lisa said softly, her voice carrying despite her gentleness. “This is not cruelty. This is the truth. The Goddess chose me. That does not diminish what you have done. It only means that you can finally step aside, and be free of a burden too heavy for you to bear.”“Too heavy?” I whispered, staring at her. “You don’t know me. You don’t know what I’ve carried. You don’t know what it cost me to stand here today. And you never will.”Lisa’s eyes softened in a way that would have fooled anyone else. “Perhaps. But what I do know is that Jamie deserves a Luna who can match his strength, his blood, and his destiny. That is why I am here and that is why the goddess chose me for him.”The elders nodded in agreement. Warriors pounded their fists to their chests. Someone shouted, “Luna Lisa!” and the chant took root immediately.“Luna! Luna! Luna!”The sound roared through the cathedral, rattling the very walls.I clutched my father’s pendant through the fabric of my gown, my chest heaving. My wolf whimpered, shrinking further into the shadows of my soul. I wanted to scream. To fight, to tear that smug smile from Lisa’s lips. But my body would not move. My wolf recoiled, broken from the rejection.Through the blur of my tears, I saw Lisa shift closer to Jamie. She laid her hand delicately on his arm, fingers curling possessively around the sleeve of his coat. He didn’t flinch. He didn’t resist. He only angled his body toward hers, as though she had always belonged there.Her gaze locked on mine across the space between us. The smile remained, gracious and calm, but the glint in her eyes told a different story. One of cold triumph and ruthless victory.It wasn’t enough that she had him. She wanted me to know she had taken him, taken everything.Elders I had known since childhood raised their hands in blessing. “At last, the bond of destiny is fulfilled!” one declared. Another nodded, eyes shining. “Her bravery in the war proves her worth. She saved our Alpha’s life. How could anyone question the Goddess’s will?”Every word scraped across my chest like claws.Jamie stood taller beside her, proud, unyielding. He hadn’t looked at me since the rejection. His golden eyes belonged to her now.My wolf whimpered, the sound hollow, torn. I felt the bond fray inside me, threads snapping one after another. The pain was unbearable, as if my soul itself was being peeled apart.I pressed a hand to my stomach, fighting to breathe. This hall was supposed to be where I began my life as Luna. Instead, I was being erased, piece by piece, before the eyes of the very pack my father had died protecting.Lisa leaned subtly into Jamie, her hand curling possessively over his arm. She turned her head toward me once more, her smile sharpening into triumph that only I could see.It wasn’t kindness. It wasn’t even about Jamie.It was conquest.In that gaze, I knew with chilling clarity.Lisa was not simply Jamie’s fated mate. She was a rival. And she had already begun to claim everything that I had ever been promised.