Chapter 2

Caius had worried his own scent might unsettle the child in my womb, so before he left he'd had the High Priest use moongrass to mask the mate scent on my body for a time.

The guards of Moonshadow Hall had also been ordered to reveal nothing of my identity.

Selena had clearly read all of this as something else entirely.

I forced down the fury churning in my chest and looked at her coldly.

"How dare you."

"I am the North's—"

Before I could finish, Selena raised her hand again.

Crack!

The second slap landed harder than the first.

I stumbled backward, the small of my back nearly striking the sharp corner of the table.

Elena caught me in time, or I would have fallen.

A tight, wrenching pain spread through my belly.

At once I curled both hands around the child, my breath turning ragged.

"Daisy Clark!"

Elena cried out my name in alarm, then whipped her head around to glare at Selena.

"You insolent— How dare you harm the Luna and—"

Selena seized a fistful of Elena's hair and dragged her away from me.

"When the mistress is speaking, since when does a low maid get to cut in?"

She shoved Elena hard to the ground and gave an order to the attendants behind her.

"Teach her the rules of Silvermoon Keep."

Several powerful serving women closed in on Elena at once.

The dull thud of fists and boots came one after another.

"Stop!"

I tried to lunge forward, only to have two others clamp down on my arms.

Before long, Elena lay sprawled on the cold stone floor.

Her forehead was gashed, blood running down her cheek, her body utterly still.

"Elena!"

Deep inside me, my wolf let out a furious snarl.

An aura that belonged to a Luna Queen surged out on instinct.

The two maids nearest me went white, their knees buckling against their will.

Selena, too, gave half a step back.

But she steadied herself quickly, the shame and anger on her face fiercer than before.

Months ago, when Caius had brought her back to Silvermoon Keep, I'd heard what she was capable of.

Her brother, Fergus Norris, was the West's most powerful general, commanding nearly a third of the North's wolf armies.

To keep the West stable, Caius had allowed her to lodge at Silvermoon Keep for a time.

She had used that privilege to bring in a whole circle of highborn friends.

They banded together into their own faction, claiming they meant to restore order on behalf of the royal house.

In only a few months, several she-wolves once trusted by Caius were framed and driven out of Silvermoon Keep.

Some had their wolf power stripped away, some were sent to the borderlands, and one young mother, unable to bear the disgrace, threw herself from a cliff on the night of the full moon.

I had heard these rumors.

Yet I'd always assumed there had to be some exaggeration in them.

This was Silvermoon Keep, after all.

No one would be foolish enough to act so brazenly inside the Alpha King's own domain.

Only now did I understand that the rumors fell far short of how cruel the truth was.

I stared at Selena and spoke each word with care.

"Assaulting a member of the royal house, harming an innocent maid, forcing your way into Moonshadow Hall—any one of these is enough to bring you before the Council of Elders."

Selena crossed her arms over her chest and laughed with contempt.

"Put me on trial?"

"Before His Majesty Caius left, he handed me the authority to govern Silvermoon Keep himself. Everything here is decided by me now."

The highborn ladies behind her chimed in at once.

"In all of Silvermoon Keep, who doesn't bow their head when they see Miss Selena?"

"A hidden little plaything like you dares threaten her with the Council of Elders?"

"Miss Selena is clearing out traitors for the Alpha King. Even when His Majesty returns, he'll only reward her."

"And Miss Selena's brother commands the Western Legion. However high your standing, could it possibly stand above hers?"

I ignored them and kept my eyes on Selena alone.

"I'll warn you one last time."

"Before you strike again, you'd best send someone to confirm exactly who I am."

Selena covered her mouth and laughed, as if she'd heard something too absurd for words.

"A she-wolf with no mate scent, kept in secret in a side hall—she's worth wasting my time to investigate?"

"You think moving into Moonshadow Hall lets you pretend to be someone important?"

She stepped closer and patted my cheek.

"The woman His Majesty Caius favors most is me."

"My brother is the West's general, and my family holds tens of thousands of wolf warriors. Whoever the man behind you is, he can't protect you."

When she finished, she let her gaze drift slowly around the silent Moonshadow Hall.

It came to rest on the silver-white drapes along the walls.

"It's too quiet in here. Too plain, too."

The corners of Selena's red lips lifted.

"I want to add a little red to it."

The women behind her understood her meaning at once.

They rushed me all together, grabbing my hair and my arms, and slammed me down hard onto the floor.

The instant my knees hit stone, agony shot straight to my skull.

Someone kicked me in the back.

Someone seized my long hair and forced my head up.

And one foot came down straight toward my belly.

"No—"

I twisted violently onto my side, both arms locked around the swell of my stomach.

My wolf slammed itself again and again against the bindings inside me.

But to keep from harming the child in my womb, the High had long ago sealed my wolf power. Right now I couldn't even complete the shift.

All I could do was curl on the floor and take their blows with my own body.

The pain in my belly grew sharper and clearer.

A warm liquid slid slowly down the side of my leg.

I lowered my head and saw a spot of glaring red bloom across the pale skirt.

Selena followed my gaze, and instead of fear, an even more excited smile spread over her face.

"Looks like this bastard whelp is even more fragile than I thought."

She raised her foot and came toward my belly once more.

I lifted my face, slick with cold sweat, shielded the child in my womb, fixed my eyes on her, and forced out each word in a fierce cry.

"Everyone, stop!"

"I am not some lover Caius cast aside."

"I am the mate who swore an open vow with him before the Moon Goddess Altar, who shares his life and his sovereignty—"

"The North's one and only Luna Queen!"

As the words fell, heavy, ordered footsteps came suddenly from outside Moonshadow Hall.

An instant later, a royal guard, drenched in blood, burst into the hall.

He dropped to his knees, his voice near breaking with terror.

"The Alpha King has ended the war in the South early."

"He's already on his way back to Silvermoon Keep!"