Anabel.

The plan had been flawless. Absolutely flawless.

Drug Noah. Let him lose consciousness. Let him wake up confused, disoriented, unable to remember what truly happened. Then make him take responsibility for taking my virginity, whether it had actually happened or not. In this pack, in this world, responsibility mattered more than truth. Once the word virginity was spoken aloud, once doubt was planted, there would be no escape for him.

He would be forced to choose me.

Forced to marry me.

Forced to make me his Luna.

Everything had been calculated down to the smallest detail.

And now, this bitch has ruined everything.

Maria.

Just her presence alone was enough to derail months of careful planning. My nails dug into my palms as fury churned inside me. I had even paid a few desperate rogues to help, promised them protection, food, favors, anything to make sure they led people straight to this room at the right time. They were supposed to be the witnesses. The noise. The chaos. The pressure.

Noah wouldn’t remember anything once he regained consciousness. The drug was strong enough for that. Confusion would do the rest.

"Fire! It’s over here!"

The shouts were getting closer. Too close.

My heartbeat thundered in my ears as panic finally seeped in. I ran through every possible explanation in my head, every excuse, every lie, but none of them worked without implicating myself. There was no way to explain why Noah was unconscious on the floor with the door locked from inside.

Unless...

A decision formed in my mind in a split second.

I flung the door open wide.

Maria stumbled in, caught off guard, her eyes sweeping the room in confusion. I didn’t give her time to react. I quickly tugged my clothes into place, smoothing imaginary wrinkles, fixing my hair, arranging myself to look distressed but proper. Then I dropped to my knees beside Noah, clutching at him as if my life depended on it.

I forced the tears.

They came slowly at first, then faster as I squeezed my eyes shut and let my shoulders shake.

"Why did you do this?" I cried out, my voice breaking as I turned accusing eyes toward Maria. "Do you plan on killing him?"

Maria froze.

Perfect.

She stood there, stiff and pale, her lips parting in shock as my words hit her like a slap. I could almost see her mind scrambling to understand what was happening. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Footsteps poured into the hallway. Voices. Gasps. Curious murmurs. People gathered at the doorway, peering inside, their eyes darting from Noah’s unconscious body to me kneeling beside him... and then to Maria standing there like a criminal caught at the scene.

"I don’t know what game you’re playing, Maria," I continued, my voice trembling as I gently shook Noah’s shoulder, as if trying to wake him. "But you could have spared Noah out of it."

The murmurs grew louder.

"What is she talking about?"

"Why is Alpha Noah on the floor?"

"What happened here?"

Maria finally found her voice. "What are you talking about?" she asked, her tone confused, almost desperate. Her eyes darted around the room, taking in the crowd, the tension, the accusations hanging thick in the air.

I lifted my face slowly, just enough for everyone to see the tears streaking down my cheeks.

Inside, I smiled.

A slow, sly smirk curled in my mind, even as I kept my face twisted in grief.

"Everyone," I said, turning slightly so my voice would carry, "please judge this yourselves." I gestured toward Noah, then pointed directly at Maria. "I don’t know what Maria did to my fiancé, but he was fine before she came here."

Gasps erupted.

"Fiancé?"

"She was alone with him?"

My finger trembled as I pointed at her, the shake deliberate, measured, convincing. I made sure they could see it, the fear, the accusation, the pain wrapped neatly together. My lips parted, breath hitching at just the right moment. "You better pray he’s okay," I said, my voice cracking, splintering as though I were barely holding myself together, as though one more breath might shatter me completely.

Then I turned and buried my face against Noah’s chest, pressing myself into him as if he were the only thing keeping me upright. My fingers twisted into his shirt, clutching hard, knuckles whitening as I sobbed, soft at first, then louder, broken enough to sound real. Just enough to sell the image. Just enough to make them believe.

To them, I was the devastated woman shielding her mate, clinging to him in terror and grief. To them, I was loyalty and heartbreak wrapped in trembling flesh. And to them, Maria was nothing more than a rogue, standing there, silent and exposed, looming over the body of an unconscious Alpha.

Exactly how I wanted it.

The crowd pressed closer, their presence suffocating, their judgment thick in the air. I could feel their eyes on her, sharp and condemning, and could almost taste the shift as suspicion turned against her. Whispers rippled through them like a living thing.

I cried harder then, calling Noah’s name again and again, my voice raw, desperate, unraveling for all to hear. And beneath the tears, beneath the act, certainty settled deep in my chest, cold and unshakable.

Even if this wasn’t how I planned it to end, I would not lose.

Not to Maria.

Never.

Murmurs erupted from the crowd like a swarm of angry bees, growing louder by the second, sharper, crueler. They no longer whispered, no, they spat their words freely now, emboldened by numbers, by spectacle, by the sight of Maria standing alone at the center of it all.

"How could she do such a thing?"

The question sliced through the air, heavy with disbelief and judgment.

"She is so shameless!"

Another voice followed, dripping with disgust, and that was all it took. The accusations multiplied, overlapping, stacking on top of one another until they became impossible to separate.

"She just tried to seduce Alpha Aidan not too long ago, and now she’s here with Alpha Noah!"

Heads turned sharply toward Maria, eyes narrowing as memories were dragged out and twisted to fit the narrative forming so conveniently before them.

"What exactly is her plan?"

"Yes, what is she trying to do?"

"I don’t think the remaining two Alphas in the competition will be safe."

That one made several people gasp. Fear flickered through the crowd, quick and contagious. Suspicion settled in their eyes as they looked at Maria again, no longer as a person, but as a threat.

"She probably wants a specific person to win so she can be with him!"

"Is that why she would want to kill one Alpha just to be with another?"

The words kill and Alpha did their job perfectly. Panic stirred. Judgment hardened.

"How pathetic."

That last voice came out cold, final, like a verdict.

The echoes of their accusations bounced around the hallway, filling every corner, pressing in from all sides. It was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Each insult, each cruel assumption, each whispered theory fed something deep inside me. I felt it bloom, warm, intoxicating, satisfying.

Joy.

A joy I hadn’t felt in years. Not since before everything became complicated. Not since before Maria existed to ruin things.

I stayed kneeling beside Noah, my hands trembling just enough to sell the image, my tears still falling at the perfect pace. Inside, though, I was celebrating. Every word spoken against her was a small victory, every hateful glance another step closer to what I wanted.

Maria stood frozen, her face pale, her lips parted as if she wanted to speak but didn’t know how. She looked small now. Powerless. The same way she had always made me feel, except now, the roles were reversed.

Good.

I watched her from the corner of my eyes, carefully, as the crowd continued tearing her apart without her ever being touched. This was better than any slap. Better than any punishment I could have given her myself.

I was still savoring it, still letting the triumph settle deep into my bones, when I heard it.

Footsteps.

Heavy. Purposeful. Approaching fast.

My heart skipped, but not from fear.

Anticipation.

The crowd stirred again, parting instinctively as the footsteps grew closer, more commanding. A hush slowly fell, whispers dying out one by one as everyone turned toward the sound.

And then they appeared.

My brothers.

Perfect.

Absolutely perfect timing.

They rounded the corner with expressions carved from stone, their presence alone enough to shift the atmosphere. Authority radiated from them naturally, effortlessly. Conversations stopped. Backs straightened. Even the boldest tongues fell silent.

I couldn’t help it, I smiled.

Not wide. Not obvious. Just a small, sheepish smile that I quickly masked by lowering my head again, clutching Noah a little tighter as if seeking comfort. To anyone watching, I must have looked fragile. Devastated. In need of protection.

Inside, my thoughts raced.

This wasn’t exactly how I planned it. It wasn’t as clean, as controlled. But sometimes chaos worked better than order. Sometimes, the unexpected opened doors you didn’t even know existed.

And now, with my brothers here, witnessing everything, seeing Maria surrounded by judgment, seeing Noah unconscious at my feet, the game had truly begun.