Polly's POV

I thought fate's cruelest blow was giving me three months left to live.

I was wrong.

It was making me watch my husband announce another woman as his Luna.

I stood at the back of the grand hall, the betrayal ripped through what remained of my fractured bond, and my wolf, Ashley, keened in anguish.

The velvet box slipped from my fingers—our anniversary gift, platinum cufflinks engraved with our initials—and skidded across the floor, landing at the feet of the couple standing in the center of the hall.

Murphy Walker. My husband. My mate. Father to my children.

Beside him stood Elowen Pembroke, her curves poured into crimson silk. Dark hair spilled over bare shoulders as she tucked a strand behind her ear.

The light caught the diamond on her finger.

The ring he had just placed there himself.

Silence swept through the hall. Every head turned. Their gazes landed on me like touch—curious, amused. Not a single sympathetic face in the pack I'd called home for years.

To them, I was nothing. A worthless omega. Murphy's charity case. The wife he should have rejected from the start.

Elowen glanced down at the cufflinks, then at me. Her lips curved into a smile.

She lifted one stiletto heel and crushed the cufflinks.

The sound of bending metal filled my ears as she twisted her ankle, grinding my anniversary gift—my marriage—into the floor.

‘Bitch!’ Ashley snarled, lunging forward in my mind, desperate to tear the woman's throat out. But my broken body couldn't keep up. Not since the birth that nearly killed me eight years ago. Not since the pack physician told me I had three months left to live.

When Murphy summoned me to the great hall this morning, I'd let myself hope.

It was our anniversary. Perhaps our last one together. Perhaps he'd finally remembered the bond between us. Perhaps he regretted the years of neglect, the slow cruelty, and wanted to salvage some warmth before the end.

Instead, he gave me this. Another public humiliation.

“Murphy.” His name scraped past the knot in my throat. “Did it have to be today? Our anniversary?”

My husband looked at me like I was frost on a windowpane.

“Was it?” A pause. “I forgot.”

Laughter rippled through the crowd.

“You forgot?” My legs trembled as I took a step forward. “You forgot your wife?”

“Wife?”

Elowen's voice sliced through mine. She slid her arm through Murphy's, the engagement ring catching light.

“Oh, Polly. You poor thing.” She tilted her head. “You were never really his wife, were you? Shadow wife. Isn't that the term?”

Shadow Wife.

The name Murphy's parents had given me. The title that fit like a cage.

To them, I was nothing but an omega unworthy of their son. They'd only agreed to the marriage because a fated mate bond amplified an Alpha's power. Even after nine years. Even after I'd given them twins. Even now, with barely three months left of my life.

I was never his Luna. Never his equal.

Just his shadow.

Our bond screamed in my chest—a raw, jagged sound. Like barbed wire wrapped around my heart and pulled taut.

“I'm still his mate,” I hissed.

“For now.” Elowen plucked a champagne flute from a passing servant's tray. “But everyone knows you're dying. How long did the pack physician give you? Three months?”

My nails bit into my palms.

“What do you think those three pathetic months can give him?” Her voice was silk over steel. “Surely you don't believe the twins erase the curse you've dragged through this pack for eight years?”

“I wasn't born—”

She lifted a finger.

Guards seized me. One palm clamped over my mouth, as if my very words carried plague. I strained against their grip, my gaze finding Murphy across the hall.

He stood motionless. Face carved from stone. Bored.

Ashley whimpered inside me. ‘He's not supposed to be like this. He's our mate. He's supposed to protect us.’

She reached for his wolf.

Something slammed shut.

Ashley curled into herself, wounded and silent.

Elowen approached. Her heels clicked against marble. The crowd parted like she was already their Luna.

“Look at you.” She stopped inches from me, voice dropping to a murmur. “So pathetic.”

“A nobody omega like you was never meant to be anyone's Luna.”

“Know your place.”

Then she tilted the glass.

The cold liquid soaked through my hair, streaked down my face, staining my dress. Champagne and humiliation, tangled together as the pack cheered.

I stood frozen. Droplets fell from my chin. My husband's mistress had just debased me in front of our entire pack—and Murphy was laughing.

"Guards," he said, casually. "Remove her. She's making a scene."

Hands seized my arms before I could protest—brutal, bruising grips that made me gasp. A palm clamped over my mouth, silencing me harder.

They dragged me backward. I struggled, but my body was too weak, too worn. I was exactly what they thought I was—a worthless, dying omega. I always had been.

The great hall doors slammed shut behind us, muffling the celebration.

My anniversary party had become Elowen's coronation.

“Let's hear what the cursed Luna has to say now,” Alfred growled, releasing my mouth.

“I am still your Luna,” I choked out, voice frayed.

"You're nothing." Leo's grip tightened until I whimpered. "Just a dying piece of shitty omega."

They dragged me deeper into the darkened corridors, away from the light and laughter. Fear cut through my shock.

"Where are you taking me?"

“Alpha ordered you removed from the hall.”* Alfred's smile turned cold. *“Didn't specify where to.”

My back hit the wall. Leo pinned my arm. Alfred stepped closer, gaze raking down my body.

“Since Alpha Murphy's done with you,” he murmured, trailing a finger down my cheek, “someone should remind you what it feels like to be a woman.”

His hand dropped to my breast, squeezing roughly, and I screamed.

“Let go of me!”

They laughed. Tears spilled hot down my face—helpless, furious.

“Beg,” Alfred breathed against my ear. “I like it when they beg.”

Leo's free hand slid to my waist. Lower. I thrashed, but their strength was absolute. I was too weak. Too small.

'Murphy!' I screamed through the mate bond. 'Murphy, please—help me—'

He blocked me.

Severed the connection that should have pulled him toward my terror.

“Mom!”

Eight-year-old Mjay's voice echoed down the corridor. He stood at the edge of the shadows, small frame trembling, but his eyes blazed with protective rage far beyond his years.

“Get away from her!” He launched himself at Alfred.

“Mjay, no—” But he was already between them and me.

The guards laughed.

"The little pup wants to play hero," Alfred grinned. "Everyone knows you're in the Alpha's bad graces, boy."

"Leave my mother alone."

"Or what?" Leo sneered. “What's a runt like you going to do?”

They released me. Rolled their shoulders. Turned toward my son.

I didn't wait to see what came next.

Alfred swung. I threw myself between them. His open palm caught my cheek, snapped my head sideways. Copper flooded my mouth.

It didn't matter. Mjay was behind me. Safe.

“Mom!” His small fingers clutched my dress, voice breaking.

I was weak. I was dying. But I would not—could not—let anyone hurt my child.

“Touching,” Alfred muttered, fisting my hair and yanking my head back. Leo reached for Mjay. “Let's see how—”

“Enough.”

Murphy's voice cut through the dark.

The guards dropped me instantly, bowing their heads. “Alpha.”

I slumped against the wall.

Murphy stood at the end of the corridor, with Elowen at one side. And on the other— My heart shattered.

Esme clung to Elowen's hand, her small face twisted in disgust. Looking at me. Her mother. The woman who sacrificed everything to save her life.

She looked at me like I was garbage.

Murphy surveyed the scene with cold eyes. "What's going on here?"

“Alpha, the bitch was causing trouble—” Alfred started.

Murphy moved at Alpha speed. His fist connected with Alfred's ribs, sending him crashing into the wall, spitting blood. A kick snapped Leo's leg beneath him.

Hope flickered stupidly in my chest. He heard my plea. He came—

“The Lycan King arrives tomorrow,” Murphy snarled. “I will not have him witness this pack tearing itself apart. Whatever you do to her—do it quietly. Understood?”

Hope died.

He didn't care that they'd hurt me. He cared about appearances.

“Yes, Alpha.” The guards knelt, clutching their injuries in unison.

Murphy's gaze finally found me. I searched his face for any trace of the man who had loved me, who had held me through our children's birth, who was my mate.

There was nothing. Just cold irritation.

Elowen glided forward, concern painted across her features. She reached for my bruised cheek. I flinched before I could stop myself.

"Ungrateful omega," Murphy said flatly. "And Elowen wasted her kindness pleading for you."

“Pleading?” The bitter laugh escaped before I could cage it. When had a wife ever needed her husband's mistress to plead for her?

“Don't look so surprised, Polly.” Elowen's voice dripped honey. “Your curse has the entire pack calling for your exile. But Murphy and I are to be wed soon, and I don't want it to be unsightly.”

I stared at Murphy. “Exile?”

“You embarrass me, Polly.” Each word landed like a blade. “A constant reminder of how badly I misjudged. If Elowen weren't so soft-hearted, you'd already be exiled.”

I closed my eyes against the pain.

Behind my lids, the memories unspooled. Murphy on the battlefield, pulling me from certain death. Murphy on one knee, asking me to be his. Murphy spinning me in circles when I told him I was pregnant. Murphy gripping my hand through the agony of childbirth.

Then Esme, struggling to breathe. My prayer, my plea, my sacrifice. My body, withering by degrees. Murphy's gaze, cooling day by day. Elowen's arrival. His smile—returning, but no longer for me.

Frame by frame, my heart was carved away.

When I opened my eyes, I forced myself to look at my husband.

There was nothing there. No love. No feeling. Not even the barest trace of humanity.

“I want a divorce.”

The words fell into the silence like stones into still water.

“Murphy Walker. I reject you as my mate.”