Chapter 3- Elena -

The headlights came out of nowhere.

One moment I was driving through the mountain pass toward the airport, tears blurring my vision. The next, a black SUV slammed into my little car, sending me spinning off the road.

My car flipped twice before crashing into a tree. Pain exploded through my body. Blood ran down my face. My hands went to my stomach.

"No, no, no," I whispered. "Please, not my baby."

The SUV's door opened. A man stepped out, walking slowly toward my destroyed car. He had a gun.

This wasn't an accident.

"Sorry, lady," the man said, not sounding sorry at all. "Orders are orders."

He pointed the gun at my head through the broken window. I closed my eyes, waiting for the end.

The shot never came.

Instead, I heard a roar that shook the mountains. Not a normal wolf's roar, something deeper, more dangerous. Something that made my soul tremble.

I opened my eyes to see the gunman flying through the air. He hit a tree fifty feet away with a sickening crack.

A massive wolf stood where the man had been. But this wasn't just any wolf. His fur was pure black with silver streaks like lightning. His eyes glowed red in the darkness. He was twice the size of any Alpha wolf I'd ever seen.

Even without a wolf of my own, I knew what I was looking at. An Ancient Alpha. The kind that only existed in legends.

The wolf shifted, and my breath caught.

The man standing there was beautiful in a dangerous way. Tall, muscled, with midnight black hair and those same glowing red eyes. Power rolled off him in waves that made the air hard to breathe.

"Don't move," he commanded, his voice deep like thunder.

He ripped my car door off like it was paper. His hands were gentle as he pulled me out, careful of my injuries.

"Please," I gasped. "My baby..."

His eyes flashed to my stomach. His hand hovered over it, and warmth spread through me. The pain eased.

"The child lives," he said. "But you're dying."

I could feel it. Cold spreading through my body. Too much blood lost.

"Who wanted you dead?"

"It doesn't matter," I whispered. "Just... please save my baby. Take it out of me before I die. Find someone who will love..."

"Quiet." He bit his wrist, blood welling up. "Drink."

"I'm wolfless. It won't work..."

"Drink." His voice held so much command that my body obeyed without my permission.

His blood hit my tongue like liquid fire. It burned going down, but suddenly I could breathe again. The pain faded. My wounds started closing.

"Impossible," I gasped. "Wolfless can't heal from Alpha blood."

"They can from mine." He studied me with those unsettling eyes. "What's your name?"

"Elena."

"Elena what?"

"Just Elena. I don't have a last name anymore."

Something shifted in his expression. "The divorced Luna of Shadow Creek. Raven Nightshade's hidden wife."

My blood turned cold. "How did you..."

"I know everything that happens in these mountains." He pulled out his phone. "Send a cleanup crew."

He hung up and looked back at me. "You're coming with me."

"No, I have a flight-"

"The only place you're going is my pack." He lifted me like I weighed nothing. "Someone wants you dead, Elena. They hired a professional. That man? He's killed twelve wolves for hire. Someone paid good money to make sure you disappeared."

Another car pulled up. A massive black truck with windows so dark I couldn't see inside.

"Please," I begged. "I just want to leave. I won't tell anyone about the marriage. I signed the papers. I'll disappear-"

"Too late for that." He placed me in the truck's back seat. "Whoever wants you dead won't stop. They'll follow you. They'll find you anywhere you run. And I will not abandon a woman in distress."

"Who are you?" I whispered.

"Damien Blackstone. Alpha of the Iron Mountain Pack." He got in beside me. "And apparently, your new protector."

"I don't need protection. I just need to leave."

"With Raven's child growing inside you?" His eyes flashed to my stomach again. "That baby is pack royalty. Someone wants it dead along with you. I'm curious why."

The truck started moving. I was too weak to fight, too tired to argue.

"Rest," Damien commanded. "We have an hour drive to my territory."

I wanted to stay awake, but his Alpha command was too strong. Even without a wolf, I felt it pulling me under.

The last thing I heard was him on the phone: "Double the border patrol. Someone just tried to assassinate a pregnant Luna on neutral ground. Find out who ordered the hit."

- Scarlett -

My phone buzzed at exactly 5 AM.

"It's done," Jake's rough voice said. "Car went off the cliff. She's fish food."

"You're certain she's dead?"

"No one survives a drop like that. Car exploded at the bottom. Nothing left but ash."

I smiled, stretching in Raven's bed. He was still asleep beside me, exhausted from our celebration last night.

"Good. Come to the Moonrise Motel. Room 237. I have your payment."

"Be there in twenty."

I slipped out of bed, careful not to wake Raven. He'd be upset if he knew what I'd done. But some things an Alpha didn't need to know. That's what a true Luna did, protected her mate from difficult decisions.

Elena and her bastard child were a threat. What if she came back later? What if the child survived and tried to claim inheritance? No, it was better this way. Clean. Final.

I drove to the motel in my red Ferrari, parking behind the building. Jake was already there, leaning against his dirty pickup truck. He was exactly what I'd expected, rough, scarred, dangerous. The kind of man who killed for money and didn't ask questions.

"Inside," I said.

The motel room was cheap and smelled like cigarettes. Perfect for this kind of business.

"My money?" Jake asked.

"First, tell me exactly what happened."

He grinned. "Ran her off the mountain road just like you wanted. Made it look like an accident. Car flipped three times before going over. No way she survived."

"Did she say anything?"

"Didn't give her a chance to. Quick and clean, just like you ordered."

I pulled out the briefcase. Fifty thousand in cash. "Here's your payment."

His eyes traveled down my body. I was wearing a short red dress, no underwear. I'd planned for this part too.

"Actually," I said, moving closer to him. "I think we need extra insurance that you'll keep quiet about this."

"What kind of insurance?"

I dropped to my knees in front of him. "The kind that makes sure we both have something to lose if anyone finds out."

His hands tangled in my hair. "Smart girl."

I took him in my mouth, using every trick I knew. Men were so easy to control this way. Give them what they wanted, and they'd keep your secrets forever.

When he finished, I stood and straightened my dress. "Remember, Jake. This never happened. Elena Winters died in a tragic accident. Nothing more."

"Whatever you say, Luna." He zipped his pants. "Pleasure doing business with you."

After he left, I drove back to the pack house. Raven was just waking up when I slipped back into bed.

"Where were you?" he asked sleepily.

"Just went for a morning run, my love." I kissed him deeply. "Today's going to be perfect. No more ghosts from your past. Just us."

And I meant it. Elena Winters was dead at the bottom of a cliff, her secrets buried with her.

No one would ever know about the baby.

No one would ever know what I'd done.

I was the true Luna of Shadow Creek, and nothing would threaten my position.

Nothing and no one.