Chapter 95 Sam's POV
The guards grabbed me before I could run two of them, hands like iron on my arms, dragging me back as I fought and screamed.
"Let me go! I'm a pack member! You can't do this!"
"You just attacked the Alpha's mate," One of them said coldly. "You are under arrest."
I watched as Kaden carefully opened the car door. Watched as Elara stepped out, blood running down her arms from where the glass had cut her. Her face was pale, tears streaming, one hand pressed protectively against her stomach.
She looked pathetic, weak, everything a Luna shouldn't be.
And yet Kaden was treating her like she was made of glass. Carefully checking each cut. Murmuring soft words of comfort his entire focus on her and only her.
Like I didn't even exist.
"She's fine!" I shouted at him. "It's just a few scratches! Stop acting like she's dying!"
Kaden didn't even look at me, just helped Elara back into the car through the other door and drove away.
Leaving me there with the guards.
"Take her to detention," Ethan ordered.
"And make sure she stays there until Kaden decides what to do with her."
They dragged me through the pack house. Past guests who were leaving the celebration early, their faces shocked and disgusted. Past servants who wouldn't meet my eyes, past pack members who whispered and pointed.
The humiliation burned worse than any physical pain. I had thrown a rock at Luna. At the Alpha's marked mate. In front of everyone.
What had I been thinking?
But I knew what I had been thinking. I had been watching Kaden mark her, claim her, love her right there in front of everyone.
And something inside me had snapped. The detention cell was small. Cold bare except for a thin mattress on a metal frame.
They shoved me inside and locked the door with a heavy clang.
"Someone will bring food later," One guard said. "Don't cause trouble."
Then they left me alone. I sank onto the mattress and stared at the concrete walls.
How did it come to this?
A year ago, everything had been perfect. Kaden had been mine. Not officially, not publicly, but mine in the ways that mattered.
The memories came flooding back.
Late nights in his office after everyone else had gone to sleep. His hands in my hair, his mouth on mine, making out with the desperate hunger of two people who couldn't get enough of each other.
"You're beautiful," he would whisper against my skin. "Perfect."
"Tell me again," I breathed. "Tell me I'm yours."
"You are mine, Selena only mine."
We had been careful, discreet. His father had just died and Kaden was new to being Alpha. He couldn't afford a scandal, couldn't risk showing favoritism to someone without a strong political connection.
"When things settle," he would promise one night, holding me close. "When the pack is stable, I've proven myself as Alpha. I will make you Luna. I swear it."
"You promise?"
"I promise, you will be at my side ruling beside me. It's what you deserve."
I'd believed he had given him everything. My body, my loyalty, my entire future. Had waited patiently while he dealt with pack business and border disputes and political alliances.
He smiled and nodded when he said we needed to wait a little longer.
And then everything had changed. That night, the night Kaden had gone to check on a rogue report and come back different.
Distant, distracted, guilty.
"What's wrong?" I'd asked, trying to pull him into another kiss.
"Nothing. I'm just tired."
"Let me help you relax-"
"Not tonight, Selena."
He'd been pulling away even then. Before I knew about Elara before I knew there was anyone else.
When I found out when I discovered he'd slept with some random omega and gotten her pregnant I'd been devastated.
But I'd convinced myself it didn't matter. It was one mistake. One night he had rejected her anyway the bond was broken.
I could still win, could still become Luna. Could still have everything he'd promised.
So I tried to eliminate her. First with the rogues, then with poison, then with political maneuvering.
And it had all failed.
Failed because Kaden had fallen in love with her. With that pathetic, weak, powerless omega who'd done nothing to deserve him.
Tonight I'd watched him mark her in front of everyone. Had seen him publicly claim her as his mate. Had realized that every promise he'd ever made to me was a lie.
He'd never intended to make me Luna. I'd been conveniently available. Someone to satisfy his needs while he figured out what he really wanted.
And what he wanted was her.
I collapsed onto the floor, the cold concrete against my knees. Tears came hot, angry, desperate tears.
All those nights I'd given myself to him. All those promises I'd believed. All those plans I'd made for our future together.
Gone. All of it was gone because of one pregnant omega who couldn't even control her own power.
I wept until I had no tears left until my throat was raw and my eyes were swollen. How long I sat there, maybe I didn't know.
Then I heard footsteps. Slowly measured, not the guards' heavy boots.
Someone stopped outside my cell.
I looked up through blurred vision and a man stood there. Tall dressed in dark clothes his face was shadowed, hard to see in the dim light.
"Who are you?" I asked, my voice hoarse.
"A messenger."
"I don't want any messages to go away."
"The master has eyes for you."
I stilled. "What?"
"He has been watching and sees your potential. See what you could become."
The man moved closer to the bars. "He believes you are wasted here and believes you deserve better than to rot in a cell for loving the wrong man."
"I don't understand-"
"You're needed, Selena, your skills, your intelligence. Your willingness to do what others won't."
He paused. "The master can give you everything Kaden promised and more power, status, revenge."
My heart was pounding. "Who is the master?"
The man leaned close enough that I could see his cold , sharp , and dangerous.
He whispered one word.
"Erebus.”