The key to the pack house felt foreign in my hand as I slipped inside. Three days at the hotel had given me courage I didn't know I possessed. My wolf paced restlessly within me, urging caution but also strength.

"Just grab what you need," I whispered to her. "We're not staying long."

The hallways were mercifully empty. Most pack members would be at lunch or training. I moved quietly toward our quarters—no, Calvin's quarters now. Mine no longer.

I had just reached the door when a familiar scent hit me—jasmine and steel, Calvin's mother's signature fragrance.

"Going somewhere, Mallory?"

I turned slowly to face her. She stood blocking the corridor, arms crossed over her chest, her Luna aura already beginning to pulse around her like a living thing.

"I'm just collecting some things," I said, keeping my voice steady.

"Things?" She stepped closer, her aura expanding until it pressed against me like a physical weight. "You mean your belongings? The ones my son provided for you?"

My wolf bristled at her tone. "They're still my things."

"Are they?" Her smile was cold. "Nothing in this pack house belongs to you unless my son allows it."

I felt the familiar pressure of her Luna aura—the same force that had crushed me into submission countless times before. My knees threatened to buckle.

"You will return to your duties," she continued, her voice hardening with command. "You will apologize to your Alpha for your disgraceful behavior."

I tried to move past her, but her aura intensified, pushing me back.

"If you don't," she hissed, leaning closer, "I'll have you declared mentally unfit. The pack council will confine you to the house for your own protection. Isn't that right, dear daughter?"

The threat hung in the air between us. She'd do it—I knew she would. And with Calvin's support, no one would question it.

"Submit," she commanded, her Luna voice vibrating through my bones.

But something unexpected happened.

My wolf surged forward with a strength I'd never felt before. Instead of crushing me, the Luna aura seemed to bounce off something inside me—a shield of my own making.

"What—" Calvin's mother stepped back, her eyes widening.

"I said no." My voice was steady, stronger than I'd ever heard it. "I will not submit. Not to you, not to him."

She recovered quickly, her aura flaring brighter. "You ungrateful little—"

"I'm leaving," I cut her off, moving toward our quarters. "And you can't stop me."

As I walked past her, I felt her shock like a physical wave. For eight years, I'd never resisted her Luna aura. Now, I was walking through it as if it were nothing more than a gentle breeze.

"I will no longer be controlled by your family," I said, turning to face her one last time. "Tell Calvin that."

I gathered my essentials quickly—clothes, toiletries, a few precious photos of my parents. As I left the pack house, my wolf howled in triumph inside me.

Two hours later, I sat on a fallen log in the forest that bordered Silvercrest territory. Westin had texted me to meet him here.

"You're glowing," he said as he approached, his tall figure moving gracefully through the trees.

"I feel different," I admitted. "Stronger."

He sat beside me, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from him. "What happened?"

I told him about facing Calvin's mother, about my wolf's unexpected strength.

Westin listened intently, his eyes never leaving my face. When I finished, he was quiet for a moment.

"There's something I need to tell you," he finally said, his voice low and serious. "Something I should have told you years ago."

My heart quickened. "What is it?"

"My wolf..." He paused, seeming to choose his words carefully. "He's always been drawn to your scent."

I stared at him, not understanding. "What do you mean?"

"From the first time we met as children," Westin continued, "my wolf recognized something in you. But you were too young, and then you found your mate..."

"You mean Calvin," I whispered.

Westin nodded, his eyes holding mine. "I respected the mate bond. I would never interfere with that."

"But now?"

"Now we're planning revenge," he said with a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "And after that..."

He didn't finish the sentence, but something unspoken passed between us—a possibility that made my wolf stir with interest.

"What's the next step?" I asked, trying to focus on our plan rather than the sudden warmth spreading through my chest.

"Calvin's desperate," Westin said, his expression hardening. "And desperate wolves make mistakes."

As we sat there planning our next move against the man who had betrayed me, I couldn't help but wonder what other surprises awaited us—and what secrets might be hidden in the growing connection between Westin and me.