Lila's POV
I slammed my phone down so hard it cracked the screen.
"That lying, cheating bastard!"
My mother looked up from her wedding planning notes, her eyebrows raised. "Language, Lila. What's wrong now?"
"Drake is what's wrong!" I paced across our hotel room, my hands shaking with rage. "Do you know what Jessica just told me? My future husband is sleeping with some kitchen omega!"
The words tasted like poison in my mouth. I was Lila Cross, daughter of Alpha Cross, future Luna of the Moonridge Pack. I didn't get embarrassed by guys. Men loved me.
But Drake Wolfstone was making me look like a fool.
"Calm down," Mother said, but I could see the anger showing in her own eyes. "Tell me exactly what Jessica said." Jessica was my best friend from school, and she'd been visiting the Moonridge Pack for the past week. The chatter she'd just shared over the phone made my blood boil. " She said everyone's talking about it. Some little nobody named Maya Stone has been hanging around with Drake for weeks. They were even caught together in his office yesterday!"
"In his office?" Mother's voice went deadly quiet. "During pack business?"
"Yes! Right in front of the council elders!" I grabbed a pillow from the bed and threw it across the room. "How dare he humiliate me like this?"
I'd known Drake wasn't perfect. Most Alphas played around before marriage. But doing it so openly? So close to our wedding? That was rude.
"We need to handle this immediately," Mother said, standing up. "The wedding is in three days. We can't have pack members whispering about your husband's affairs before you're even married."
"What do you suggest?"
Mother's smile was cold and sharp. "We tell this omega girl exactly where she belongs. And we make sure she gets what happens to wolves who don't know their place."
An hour later, we were driving toward the Moonridge Pack area. I'd called ahead and arranged to meet with Elder Morrison. He was the kind of old-fashioned wolf who thought omegas should be seen and not heard. Perfect for what I had in mind.
"Miss Cross," Elder Morrison welcomed us at the pack house. "What an honor to have you visit early."
"Thank you." I smiled sweetly, the way I'd been trained since childhood. "I wanted to personally oversee the final wedding preparations."
"Of course. Though I must tell you, we've had some... complications with pack discipline lately."
"Oh?" I tilted my head innocently. "What kind of complications?"
Elder Morrison glanced around, then leaned closer. "Perhaps we should speak privately."
He led us to a small office where two other elders waited. I recognized them from pack meetings - Elder Davies and Elder Fletcher, both loyal to custom and pack hierarchy.
"We have a situation," Elder Morrison started. "A young omega has been causing trouble for the Alpha. Distracting him from his tasks."
"Maya Stone," I said quietly. "Yes, I've heard."
The adults looked surprised that I knew.
"This is unacceptable," Elder Davies said. "An omega seducing the Alpha so close to his wedding? It's a shame."
"What do you plan to do about it?" Mother asked.
"We were hoping to handle it quietly," Elder Fletcher replied. "Perhaps send the girl away for a while. Until after the wedding."
"No." I stood up, letting my Alpha blood show in my voice. "That's not enough."
The adults stared at me. They weren't used to being pushed, especially by a woman. But I wasn't just any woman. I was their future Luna.
"This Maya Stone needs to understand her place," I continued. "And the pack needs to see what happens when someone tries to steal what belongs to their Luna."
"What are you suggesting?" Elder Morrison asked carefully.
"Bring her to me."
"Lila," Mother warned quietly. "Remember, we need this marriage alliance."
"Don't worry, Mother. I'm not going to hurt Drake's sweet little toy. I'm just going to have a talk with her."
But even as I said it, I could feel the darkness rising in my chest. The cold anger that had been growing since Jessica's phone call. Maya Stone had embarrassed me. Made me look weak.
Nobody made me look weak.
Two hours later, there was a knock on my hotel room door. Elder Morrison stood outside with a small, dark-haired girl who looked frightened.
Maya Stone was prettier than I'd expected. Not beautiful like me, but she had that fresh, innocent look that guys seemed to love. Her big brown eyes were wide with fear, and she kept looking around like she wanted to run.
"Thank you, Elder Morrison," I said sweetly. "I'll take it from here."
He paused. "Perhaps I should stay..."
"That won't be necessary."
My tone left no room for argument. The elder bowed his head and left, closing the door behind him.
Maya stood frozen in the middle of my hotel room, her hands clasped in front of her. She looked like a scared little mouse.
"Sit down," I ordered.
She perched on the edge of a chair, still looking ready to bolt.
I walked over to the window and stared out at the pack lands for a long moment, letting the silence stretch. Fear was a powerful tool, and Maya Stone needed to be scared.
"Do you know who I am?" I asked finally, not turning around.
"Yes, Miss Cross. You're... you're Drake's fiancée."
"His fiancée." I turned to face her. "Soon to be his wife. His Luna. His everything."
Maya flinched like I'd slapped her.
"And you," I continued, walking closer, "are nothing. A kitchen omega who forgot her place."
"I never meant for anything to happen," Maya whispered. "It just... it just did."
"Oh, poor little Maya." I knelt down in front of her chair, getting close enough to see the tears forming in her eyes. "Did you really think the Alpha would choose you over me?"
She didn't answer, but I could see the truth in her face. She had thought that. The stupid little girl had actually believed Drake might love her.
"Let me explain something to you," I said softly. "Drake and I are getting married in three days. We will have children together. We will rule this pack together. And you will go back to scrubbing pots and being unseen."
"I know," Maya said, her voice barely audible.
"Do you? Because your behavior says otherwise." I stood up, looming over her. "Throwing yourself at my future husband? Making a scene in pack meetings? That doesn't sound like someone who knows her place."
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry isn't enough." I grabbed her chin, causing her to look at me. "I want you to stay away from Drake. Completely. No more late-night trips. No more secret talks. Nothing."
"Okay."
"And if I hear that you've been anywhere near him again, I will make your life very, very difficult. Do you understand me?"
Maya nodded quickly, tears running down her face now.
I should have been pleased. The little omega was properly scared, properly obedient. Mission achieved.
But then she said something that changed everything.
"I'm pregnant."
The words hit me like a physical blow. For a moment, I couldn't move.
"What did you say?"
"I'm pregnant," Maya repeated, her voice louder now. "With Drake's baby."
The room spun around me. Pregnant? This nobody omega was carrying Drake's child?
"You're lying," I whispered.
"I'm not. I found out this morning."
All my careful plans, all my threats, suddenly meant nothing. Because this changed everything.
If Maya was pregnant with Drake's child, she would always be tied to him. Always be part of his life. The pack would expect him to provide for her, to guard her.
And if the baby was a boy... An Alpha's eldest son had rights. Claim to the pack. Even if the mother was just an omega.
"Get out," I said quietly.
"What?"
"GET OUT!" I screamed, my control finally snapping.
Maya scrambled for the door, fleeing like the scared little mouse she was.
But as I watched her run, I realized something terrible.
Maya Stone wasn't just a problem anymore.
She was a threat to everything I'd worked for.
And threats had to be removed.
I picked up my phone and called a number I'd hoped never to use.
"Hello, Uncle Vincent?" I said when the voice answered. "I need a favor. A big one."
My uncle Vincent Cross was known for handling problems that normal pack justice couldn't touch. Problems that needed to disappear completely.
"I'm listening," he said.
"There's an omega who needs to have an accident. Tonight."