POV Blake
I stood beside Matthias at the pack border, Luna mask firmly in place, watching the convoy approach like a funeral procession for my sanity.
The first car door opened, and out stepped my personal nightmare in Armani.
My father, Alpha Lucas Bishop looked exactly the same—cold eyes, perfect suit, and an aura that screamed 'I emotionally abuse my children for sport.'
Mother followed, her smile sharp enough to perform surgery.
Then Kai emerged from the second car, and my wolf went from anxious to homicidal in seconds.
That absolute fucking walnut had the audacity to wink at me.
In front of my husband, my mate. At a diplomatic meeting.
Matthias's growl could've stripped paint. His arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me against him in a display of possession that would've been hot if I wasn't busy having a small cardiac event.
"Hands off what's mine, pup," Matthias said, voice deceptively calm for someone whose wolf was probably planning ten different ways to use Kai's intestines as party streamers.
"Easy there, Alpha." Kai raised his hands in mock surrender, still grinning like this was all some fantastic joke. "Just greeting an old friend."
"We're not friends," I said flatly. "We've literally never been friends. You once put gum in my hair and called it a bonding experience."
Mother's laugh tinkled like breaking glass. "Children, please. We're here for diplomacy, not... whatever this is."
Lunch was torture disguised as small talk.
I played perfect daughter while my wolf paced and snarled, demanding we either fight or flee. Every compliment from Mother felt like swallowing glass. Every calculating look from Father made my skin crawl.
"Amelia has been an exceptional Luna," Matthias said at one point, pride evident in his voice. "The pack has flourished under her guidance."
"Has she now?" Father's tone suggested he found this about as believable as unicorns. "How... unexpected."
"Not really," Matthias countered smoothly. "Excellence tends to shine when given the proper environment."
The subtle dig at my parents' treatment wasn't lost on anyone.
Mother's smile tightened fractionally while Father's eyes narrowed. Kai just looked constipated, probably trying to process emotions more complex than 'hungry' or 'horny.'
When Father suggested he and Matthias discuss the merger privately, my stomach dropped somewhere around my ankles.
Mother's immediate suggestion of a "mother-daughter walk" felt less like bonding and more like being selected for ritual sacrifice.
"Go ahead, darling," Matthias said, pressing a kiss to my temple. "I'll see you soon."
Mother waited until we were well beyond pack hearing before dropping her maternal act like a hot potato.
"You've done exceptionally well, Blake." The words I'd waited twenty years to hear now tasted like ash. "Better than we expected. Better, even, than Amelia might have managed."
"Thanks?" I managed, throat tight. "That's... wow. Actual approval. Should I check for flying pigs?"
Her laugh was genuine for once, which made it worse. "You gathered valuable intelligence, integrated seamlessly into their power structure, and even secured the Alpha's complete trust. I'm almost proud."
"Almost?"
Of course there was an almost.
There's always a fucking almost with her.
"You still haven't manifested your wolf, have you?" She studied me with those calculating eyes. "Still our little defective daughter, just playing dress-up in wolf's clothing."
My wolf snarled, demanding I show her exactly how 'defective' we were. But twenty years of conditioning won.
I dropped my gaze, shrugging. "Can't have everything, right?"
"No matter." She waved dismissively. "You've served your purpose beautifully. The information you provided about their patrol routes, their alliances, their weaknesses—invaluable."
Wait. What?
"For the merger negotiations," I said slowly, testing. "To ensure peaceful integration of the packs."
Mother's smile could've frozen hell. "Oh, Blake. Still so naive. There won't be a merger—there'll be a reclamation."
The world tilted. "What?"
"The Bloodmoon pack sits on territory that rightfully belongs to us. Territory they stole through politics and careful maneuvering over generations." Her voice carried the weight of old grudges. "While they trust in their new alliance, we take it back. Along with everything else they've stolen."
"That's…" Insane. Suicidal. Not what I signed up for. "Matthias will never—"
"Matthias will be dead." She said it like commenting on the weather. "Along with his entire inner circle. The pack will fold without leadership, and you'll return home where you belong."
"This is my home." The words ripped out before I could stop them. "These are my people. My pack. My mate—"
The slap came fast and sharp, snapping my head to the side. Classic Mother—violence wrapped in manicured nails.
"Your mate?" She laughed, cruel and cutting. "You think that boy's infatuation means anything? You're a tool, Blake. A very useful tool who's about to be retired."
My wolf howled in rage and grief. Everything—every moment of happiness, every scrap of belonging—built on intelligence I'd gathered for what I thought was peace.
Instead, I'd handed them the keys to massacre the only people who'd ever truly accepted me.
"I won't—"
"You will." Mother's voice brooked no argument. "You'll smile, play your part, and when the signal comes, you'll return to us."
I stood frozen, watching her walk away, my world crumbling around me.
My wolf keened with the need to run—to Matthias, to safety, to anywhere but here. But where could we go? I was trapped between the family who'd made me a weapon and the pack I'd been aimed at.
The mate bond pulsed with Matthias's contentment, completely unaware his wife had just signed his death warrant.
My choices had narrowed to brutal simplicity: betray my mate or betray my blood.