* Eleanors POV*

The crowd's whispers explode into open condemnation the moment Luke finishes speaking.

"Disgraceful!"

"How could she do this to Alpha Luke?"

"Sleeping with a roguethe shame!"

"Poor Alpha, married to such a whore!"

Each word hits me like a physical blow. Faces that once showed me respect now twist with disgust and betrayal. These are my pack memberspeople I've known for years, people I've helped, people who once called me Luna with pride.

Now they look at me like something dirty they want to scrape off their shoes.

"She never deserved to be Luna anyway," someone shouts from the back. "Barren bitch couldn't even give the Alpha an heir!"

Laughter ripples through parts of the crowd. Cruel, vindictive laughter that tears at my soul.

I try to speak, to defend myself, but what's the point? The evidence is stacked against me. The witnesses have lied under oath. Even my own uncle has disowned me.

My voice comes out as a broken whisper. "I'm innocent."

But my words are lost in the roar of condemnation.

"Take her away!"

"She doesn't deserve to breathe the same air as Alpha Luke!"

"Exile her! Execute her!"

The silver cuffs burn against my wrists as I stand there, wrapped in nothing but a rough blanket, watching my life crumble to pieces. My heart feels like it's being torn apart with each cruel word, each disgusted look.

'I'm going to die,' I realize with crystalline clarity. 'They're going to kill me for something I didn't do.'

Luke raises his hand, and the crowd falls silent. His green eyes are cold as winter when they meet mine.

"Eleanor Blake," he says formally, "you will be imprisoned until your execution can be arranged."

The words hit me like a death sentence. Because that's exactly what they are.

"Luke, please" I start, but he's already turning away.

"Guards, take her to the cells."

*****

As Beta Marcus and two warriors drag me toward the dungeons, a voice cuts through the crowd.

"Stop!"

Everyone turns to see Ashley pushing through the mass of people, her face flushed and tears streaming down her cheeks. My heart breaks a little more seeing my attendant's anguishthe woman who's been like a mother to me since my own mother died.

"Ashley, no," I whisper. "Don't"

"This is wrong!" Ashley shouts, her voice shaking but determined. "Luna Eleanor would never do this! I've served her for yearsshe's loyal, she's good"

"The evidence speaks for itself," Beta Marcus says coldly, not stopping his march toward the dungeons.

But Ashley isn't deterred. She runs ahead, blocking our path with her small frame. "The Eleanor I know would die before betraying the pack! Before betraying Alpha Luke! There has to be another explanation!"

"Move aside, omega," Marcus growls with obvious disdain. "Know your place."

"No!" Ashley's voice cracks with emotion. "You're making a mistake! Luna Eleanor is innocent!"

Several pack members laugh mockingly. "Listen to the omega defending her mistress," someone sneers.

"Pathetic," another voice adds. "Of course the servant would lie for her."

Luke steps forward, his face hard with irritation. "Ashley, you're making a fool of yourself. The evidence is overwhelming."

"The evidence is wrong!" Ashley spins to face him, her eyes blazing despite her lowly rank. "Alpha Luke, you know Luna Eleanor! You've lived with her, shared a bed with herdoes this sound like something she would do?"

Luke's green eyes flicker with somethingdoubt? regret?but his voice remains steady. "Sometimes we don't know people as well as we think."

Vivienne appears beside Luke, her hand sliding possessively along his arm. "Poor little omega," she says with false sympathy. "I understand you want to support your mistress. But facts are facts."

"Facts?" Ashley laughs bitterly. "What facts? A rogue's word? Some stolen jewelry?"

"Ashley, stop," I beg, seeing the dangerous glint in Luke's eyes. "Please, just stop."

But Ashley has served my family for yearsshe's never known when to back down when someone she loves is threatened. "This whole thing stinks! How convenient that Luna Eleanor was found right after you brought your mistress home!"

The crowd gasps. Luke's face darkens with rage.

"You will not speak about Vivienne that way," he snarls, his Alpha authority pressing down on Ashley like a crushing weight.

But Ashley is an omegalow enough in rank that his command affects her differently, making her stumble but not forcing complete submission.

"I'll speak the truth!" she shouts back, fighting against his power. "Everyone can see what's really happening here!"

"That's enough!" Vivienne steps forward, her beautiful face twisted with fury. "How dare you make accusations! I'm carrying Luke's childthe future heir of Icefang Packand you dare call me names?"

My world tilts. Luke's child. The words hit me like a physical blow, each one driving the knife deeper into my heart.

'She's pregnant. With his baby. While I... while I remain barren.'

Ashley's face goes white, but she doesn't back down. "That doesn't change what you did to Luna Eleanor!"

Luke grabs Ashley's arm roughly, his fingers digging into her flesh. "You will apologize to Vivienne. Now."

"Let go of me!" Ashley tries to pull away, but Luke's grip tightens. I can see her wincing in pain.

"Luke, stop!" I lunge forward, but the silver cuffs weaken me and Marcus yanks me back. "Don't hurt her!"

"She needs to learn respect," Luke says coldly, his fingers pressing harder into Ashley's arm. "Omegas who forget their place need to be reminded."

"Please don't hurt her!" Ashley gasps, tears streaming down her face. "I was just trying to help!"

Vivienne watches with satisfaction. "Perhaps she should be charged with disrupting pack justice."

"No!" The word tears from my throat. "Leave her alone! This is between us!"

But Luke's eyes have turned cold and calculating. "Spreading lies about pack leadership is a serious offense."

Ashley's face is pale with pain, but she lifts her chin with as much dignity as she can muster. "I won't apologize for defending someone I love."

"Then you'll learn the consequences," Luke says quietly.

The threat in his voice makes my blood freeze. I know that tone. I've started hearing it more and more latelycold, ruthless, willing to hurt anyone who gets in his way.

"Please," I whisper, all my pride crumbling. "Please don't hurt her. I'll confess. I'll say whatever you want. Just don't hurt Ashley."

Luke's grip loosens slightly, considering.

"No, Luna Eleanor!" Ashley shouts. "Don't you dare! Don't let them win!"

But I can't watch the woman who raised me suffer for my sinsreal or imagined. I can't let her pay the price for defending me.

"I did it," I say loudly, the words like poison in my mouth. "I betrayed Luke. I conspired with the rogue. Ashley doesn't know anythingshe's just a loyal servant who couldn't see the truth."

Ashley's face crumples. "Luna Eleanor, no..."

"Take me to the cells," I tell Marcus. "I confess."

Luke releases Ashley with a satisfied smile. Vivienne practically glows with victory.

And my heart shatters completely as I watch hope die in Ashley's eyes.

The crowd disperses quickly after that, no longer interested now that the drama is over. No one pays attention to Ashley as she collapses to her knees, sobbing. She's just an omega, after all. Her pain doesn't matter to anyone.

Except me. And now I can't even comfort her.

*****

The dungeons smell of damp stone and despair. The silver-lined cell they throw me into burns my skin wherever I touch the walls. I collapse onto the narrow cot, my body finally giving in to the trauma.

Everything hurts. My head where I was struck. My wrists where the cuffs burn. My chest where my heart keeps breaking into smaller and smaller pieces.

'I confessed,' I think numbly. 'I actually confessed to something I didn't do.'

But what choice did I have? Luke would have hurt Ashleymaybe even killed her for "disrupting pack justice." At least this way, she's safe.

The emotional trauma finally overwhelms my body. Black spots dance at the edges of my vision, and I feel myself falling into unconsciousness, my mind unable to bear any more pain.

*****

I wake to gentle hands checking my pulse. Dr. Simmons sits beside my cot, his weathered face creased with concern.

"Eleanor," he says quietly, "I need to examine you. You fainted during the transport."

I don't protest as he checks me over with gentle hands. Blood pressure, pulse, a physical exam. His touch is clinical but kindone of the few mercies I have left.

"Everything appears normal," he says finally, making notes on his chart. "No signs of physical trauma beyond the head injury. Your vital signs are stable."

Normal. The word tastes bitter. Nothing about this is normal.

After he leaves, I lie on the cot staring at the damp ceiling. Something about his examination feels wrong. He was too quick, too dismissive. And the way he avoided my eyes when he said "everything is normal"...

He was lying.

The realization hits me like a cold wave. Dr. Simmons, who delivered me, who's known my family for decadeshe's been compromised. Bought. Or threatened.

I press my hand to my stomach, and the truth I've been trying to ignore crashes over me. The constant nausea that started weeks ago. The bone-deep exhaustion that no amount of sleep can cure. The way my breasts feel tender and swollen. The strange, almost metallic taste in my mouth.

My body knows what my mind refuses to accept.

I'm pregnant.

'But that's impossible.' Luke and I haven't... we haven't been intimate in months. Not since he started pulling away, started finding excuses to avoid our bed.

But then I remember. Three weeks ago. The night he came home drunk and angry after a council meeting. The night he took me roughly, without tenderness, almost like he was trying to prove something to himself.

The night he called me Vivienne's name in the darkness.

My hand trembles against my stomach. 'I'm carrying his child.'

The child he's always wanted. The heir he's been desperate for. And he doesn't know. WorseDr. Simmons knows but isn't telling him. Or me.

'Why would he hide this?'

Unless... unless someone told him to. Someone who benefits from me being seen as the barren Luna who could never give Luke what he needed.

And now Vivienne claims to be pregnant with Luke's child too. How convenient. How perfectly timed.

The pieces click together with horrifying clarity. If I'm pregnantif there's proof that I can bear Luke's heirthen my execution becomes more complicated. A pregnant Luna can't be killed without trial by the Moon Council. There are laws, ancient protections.

But if no one knows...

'They're going to kill me and my baby.'

I'm so lost in my spiraling thoughts that I don't notice the approaching footsteps until my cell door opens again.

Vivienne stands in the doorway, beautiful and radiant, her hand resting on her still-flat stomach. She's changed into a flowing dress that emphasizes her ethereal beauty.

"Hello, Eleanor," she says sweetly. "I thought we should have a little chat."

The way she smiles makes my blood run cold.

This isn't a social visit.

This is a predator coming to gloat over her kill.