His Luna Wore Knockoffs

The eviction notice was taped to Margot's door when we got back from the laundromat.

I stood there holding a basket of still-warm clothes, watching Margot's face drain of color as she read the bright orange paper. Her hands shook slightly as she peeled it off the door.

"Seventy-two hours," she whispered. "Violation of pet policy."

Biscuit wagged his tail at his feet, oblivious to the fact that he'd just become the official reason for our homelessness. But we both knew this wasn't about the dog.

"Margot, I'm so sorry—"

"Don't." She crumpled the notice in her fist. "This is Kieran's work. My landlord is Gary Hutchins—he's Gamma in Kieran's pack. This is just another way to squeeze you out."

I set the laundry basket down with trembling hands. The hallway suddenly felt too small, the fluorescent lighting too harsh. "I should have known this would happen. I should have—"

"Stop." Margot's voice was fierce. "You couldn't have predicted that your ex-husband would turn into a sociopathic control freak."

But I should have. The signs had been there for months—the way Kieran had isolated me from my own friends, the subtle comments about my "limitations," the way he'd positioned himself as my protector while systematically dismantling my independence.

I pulled out my phone and opened my banking app. Three hundred and forty dollars. That was it. That was all I had left in the world.

"I can't let you lose your apartment because of me," I said quietly.

Margot's eyes flashed. "Wren, no. We'll figure this out. We'll find another place—"

"With what money? And who's going to rent to someone whose ex-Beta has put out a social media hit on them?" I picked up the laundry basket again, my movements mechanical. "I'm not dragging you down with me."

Two hours later, I was sitting in a 24-hour laundromat three miles away, my garbage bags and Biscuit my only companions. The fluorescent lights hummed overhead, casting everything in a sickly green glow. A few other night owls occupied the space—a woman folding scrubs who looked like she'd just gotten off a double shift, an elderly man reading a paperback novel while his clothes tumbled in the dryer.

I'd left Margot a note explaining that I couldn't let her sacrifice her home for me. She'd texted seventeen times in the past hour, each message more frantic than the last. I'd stopped reading them.

Biscuit pressed his warm body against my legs, sensing my distress. I scratched behind his ears, the simple gesture threatening to break what was left of my composure.

My phone battery was down to eight percent. I opened Craigslist, scrolling through weekly motel rates that made my stomach clench. The cheapest option was forty-nine dollars a night at a place called the Starlight Inn, which had reviews that used words like "bedbugs" and "police visits."

Seven nights. That's all I could afford, and then what?

I was about to close the app to save battery when my phone rang. Unknown number, but not the 912 area code from yesterday. This was local.

I almost didn't answer. But at three in the morning, in a laundromat that smelled like industrial detergent and desperation, I figured I didn't have much left to lose.

"Hello?"

"Wren."

One word. Just my name, spoken in a voice I hadn't heard in fifteen years but recognized instantly. Low, controlled, with an undertone of barely restrained power that made something deep in my chest respond like a tuning fork.

My breath caught. My wolf—the part of me that Kieran's constant criticism had beaten into near-silence—suddenly surged to life. Not with fear or submission, but with a recognition so primal it made my hands shake.

"Stellan?" My voice echoed in the empty laundromat.

"Don't hang up." There was something in his tone—not pleading, but an absolute certainty that I would obey. "Tell me where you are."

The command in his voice should have triggered my defenses. After four years with Kieran, I should have bristled at another man trying to control me. Instead, my wolf practically purred.

I gripped the phone tighter. "I... I can't do that."

Silence stretched between us. In the background of his call, I could hear what sounded like a car engine, the whisper of expensive leather seats.

"Your bond registration is real," he said finally. "I was fourteen when my family pulled me away. I didn't have the resources to contact you then. I do now."

A pause. When he spoke again, his voice carried an edge that made my spine straighten.

"I also know what Kieran Voss did to you."

The air seemed to thin around me. "How could you possibly—"

"Because Crescent Ridge territory was granted by my family in 1987. He hurt what's mine on land that belongs to me." The possessiveness in his voice should have terrified me. Instead, it sent heat spiraling through my chest. "He's going to answer for that."

I heard voices in the background—muffled, respectful tones addressing him as "sir." The sound of power, of people who moved when he spoke.

"Stellan, I don't understand what's happening—"

"I'll be there in forty-eight hours," he interrupted. "Not for the bond. That's your choice to make. But Kieran Voss owes a debt, and I collect what's owed to me."

The line went dead.

I stared at my black phone screen, my hands trembling so hard I nearly dropped it. Biscuit whined softly at my feet, picking up on my distress. The laundromat's fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, the sound suddenly deafening.

Forty-eight hours. That meant he was already on his way.

My phone screen lit up with a text from Kieran: "Heard you couldn't even make it work at Margot's. 😂 I told you not to make this uglier than it needs to be. Sign the NDA and I'll give you a month's worth of motel money."

Before I could process the rage building in my chest, another text came through. Different number, unknown contact.

"Ms. Whitfield, Mr. Lyall has arranged temporary accommodations for you. Please check your email."

I stared at the message, my heart hammering against my ribs. In the span of two minutes, my world had shifted again—but this time, I wasn't sure if I was being rescued or claimed.