ALPHA CORVIN

I stood at the window of my chambers staring out at nothing in particular when I heard the door open behind me.

Even without turning I knew it was Zoya from the familiar sound of her footsteps, the subtle scent of jasmine that always clung to her skin, the particular way she moved through space like she owned every room she entered.

She had blue eyes like winter ice and black hair that fell in waves down her back, the same coloring our twin sons had inherited from her. She was in her early forties but carried herself like a woman a decade younger, her skin still smooth and her figure still commanding attention whenever she walked into a room.

The years had been kind to her in ways they had not been kind to me.

But today something was different about her presence.

When I finally glanced at her reflection in the window glass I saw she was scowling, her perfectly composed expression cracked and showing the fury simmering underneath. For a Luna who always looked so well put together, so carefully arranged and coordinated, she was practically vibrating with barely contained rage.

Her hair was slightly disheveled and her dress was wrinkled in a way she would normally never allow.

"I heard you detained Victor," she said, trying to keep her tone low but failing spectacularly.

I kept staring out the window even though I knew ignoring her would only make this confrontation worse. The familiar grounds of Gravemoon stretched out below me and I focused on counting trees instead of dealing with whatever was about to happen.

"Corvin," her voice sharpened with frustration when I did not respond. "I am talking to you. Why did you detain Victor?"

I finally turned to look at her properly, taking in the tight line of her mouth and the way her hands were clenched into fists at her sides. Her knuckles were white from the pressure.

"Zoya, I am trying to think," I stated flatly. "Can you let me be?"

For the first time in our twenty-five years of marriage, she did not do what she was told.

She took a step closer instead of backing away, her chin lifting in defiance. "You said you were going to reject her. Yet you have not done it. And now you have Victor locked up in the dungeons like a common criminal. What is going on Corvin?"

I turned back to the window because looking at her made guilt crawl up my throat and threaten to choke me. "Zoya, do you think this is easy for me?"

My hands gripped the windowsill hard enough that my knuckles went white, hard enough that the wood creaked under the pressure. "Victor is not just a pack member. He is my friend, my brother in everything but blood. But he challenged me in front of the entire pack so I had to lock him up."

"She called off their engagement because of you," Zoya’s voice rose slightly, losing some of that careful control she always maintained. "Why would he not be angry about that? If you would just reject Freya like you promised me you would, Victor will come back begging for forgiveness and they will get back together and everything will return to normal."

I stayed silent because there was nothing I could say that would satisfy her, no explanation that would make this situation better or more palatable.

The truth was I did not want to reject Freya and we both knew it.

"Are you in love with her?" Zoya asked, and her voice had dropped to that lower register I had known for decades, the one she used when she was truly hurt instead of just angry.

How do I respond to that question without breaking the heart of the woman who had dedicated her life to me.

"Have you slept with her?" she added when I did not answer the first question.

I did not respond and I gazed at her reflection in the window glass, the tears starting to fall down her face even though she tried desperately to blink them away.

Her hands were trembling now.

"Answer me Corvin!" She yelled at me for the first time in twenty-five years, her voice breaking on my name and echoing off the stone walls. "Have you fucked that witch?" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

I closed my eyes and lowered my gaze because I could not look at her while admitting this truth or watch her face as I destroyed her. "Yes."

Before I could finish the sentence or offer any explanation or justification, her hand connected with my face in a slap that echoed through the room like a gunshot.

The sting spread across my cheek and radiated down to my jaw but I did not move, did not raise my hand to the burning spot, just stood there and took it because I deserved it and so much worse.

"How dare you," she breathed, her voice shaking with the force of her emotions.

"After all I did for you. I gave you two sons, two perfect heirs. I put up with you constantly choosing this pack over me for twenty-five years. I stood by your side through every challenge and crisis. All I did was be a good wife, dress appropriately, play the role of dedicated Luna that everyone expected."

Her hands were trembling violently now. "And how do you repay me? By sleeping with her? By betraying everything we built together?"

"I am sorry," I managed to say, the words feeling inadequate and hollow in my mouth. "It was the bond. I could not control—"

"Fuck the bond," Zoya cut me off, her eyes blazing with a fury I had never seen before. "Why did you not reject her immediately like you promised? You wanted her, Corvin. You chose to pursue this. And you still want her even now, I can see it written all over your face."

"It is hard," I admitted, my voice coming out strained and raw. "It is like I am not in control of myself anymore when I am around her."

Zoya walked up to me then and closed the distance between us until we were inches apart, until I could see every tear track on her face and every bit of pain I had caused reflected in her eyes.

Her voice has turned cold and deadly serious. "If you do not reject her, I will sink this pack to the ground and take you down with it. I do not care if the twins have no inheritance left when I am done. But you will not disgrace me after everything I have sacrificed for you."

She paused and her next words came out with absolute conviction that sent chills down my spine. "I would rather see you dead and buried than watch you end up with that woman."

Just like that, the memory dissolved like smoke.

I was back in the present, seated in my study, trying desperately to distract myself from the sinking feeling in my chest. Because that day, that threat started everything.

That was why she ended up dead and buried