Chapter 4

Hazel’s POV

“She actually told you no?” I asked, keeping my voice soft, though my chest tighted with a sudden rush of heat.

The plastic phone base clicked as Julian slammed the receiver back onto the hook. The small hospital room went dead silent. The heavy, sharp scent of his Alpha energy filled the air, thick enough to make my skin prickle. It was terrifying, but a part of me loved seeing him this angry.

That stupid Omega actually refused him. She stood up to an Alpha order. She told him he could not have her heart.

It was better than anything I could have planned.

I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from smiling. It took weeks of careful planning to get to this room. I swallowed bitter, illegal herbs to mess up my own internal rhythm, making my Lycan spirit look like it was collapsing. I needed a medical emergency that only a transplant could fix. I needed to trap Penelope.

If she had said yes, I would win anyway. A low-ranking wolf giving up her life for the future Luna was only right. Even if Julian used his Alpha bond to keep her alive during the surgery, she would be broken, weak, and useless to him.

But her saying no was a gift. Now she looked cold. She looked like a traitor who cared more about her own skin than the sister of the pack's dead war hero.

Julian hated selfishness. He would never forgive her for this.

Penelope thought she could rely on her pretty face, but she did not understand how to handle a man like Julian. She did not know how to make him feel powerful, how to look at him like he was a god.

Suddenly, Julian turned his head. His dark eyes locked onto me, narrow and sharp. For a split second, I saw a flicker of doubt in his expression. He was testing me.

I did not hesitate. I let my eyelids flutter, squeezing out two fat tears that rolled down my pale cheeks. I let my breathing hitch, making it sound like every gasp took all my strength.

“Julian,” I whispered, letting my voice shake. “Is it over for me? The monitor earlier... it felt like my spirit was just fading away.”

I paused right on cue, shifting my wet eyes toward the Beta doctor standing by the heart monitor. I gave the man a tiny, sharp nod.

The doctor cleared his throat quickly. He adjusted his white coat, his face twisting into a look of deep worry as he stepped toward Julian.

“Alpha, there is something strange happening with Miss Hazel’s vitals,” the doctor said, pointing at the screen. “Just a few minutes ago, her energy levels were dropping fast. But right now... they seem to be leveling out. I am wondering if my initial reading was flawed.”

“Do not blame him, Julian,” I interrupted, my voice dropping to a gentle, sweet purr. “Doctors always look at the worst-case scenario so we take our health seriously. Please do not be angry with him.”

Julian looked down at me, the hard line between his eyebrows softening just a bit. He walked over to the side of my mattress. The absolute fury in his scent faded, replaced by a heavy, silent guilt.

I knew right then I had him. Penelope’s little rebellion was doing all my work for me, driving him straight into my hands. By the time I took her place as Luna of the Blue-Claw pack, she would realize exactly what happens when someone tries to cross me.

Julian’s POV

“How does a weak Omega just slip past my border guards?” I growled into my receiver, my knuckles turning white against the plastic.

The heavy smell of medicine and Hazel’s sweet pheromones was giving me a massive headache. My wolf, Asher, was pacing inside my mind, baring his teeth in pure rage. He did not care about Hazel’s health right now. He was furious because Penelope had openly mocked my authority and threatened to tear our mate bond apart.

She was my mate. Her body, her life, her very heart belonged to this pack because the moon chose her for me.

My thoughts kept drifting back to the doctor’s words. Hazel’s condition magically stabilized the exact minute Penelope hung up the phone? It felt wrong. Even Asher was sniffing the air, picking up the faint, greasy scent of a lie in the room.

But I shoved that thought down. It did not matter. Even if Hazel was exaggerating, Penelope’s betrayal was ten times worse.

I knew my Alpha strength. If we took her heart, my power would keep her alive. The organ would regrow over time. It would hurt, obviously, but she would survive. Giving up a few months of comfort to save the family of our pack's greatest warrior was a small price to pay.

Instead, she ran away to protect her own comfort, ignoring her duty to the pack.

“Talk to me, Ethan,” I barked into the pack’s private communication line, walking away from Hazel's bed toward the quiet hallway. “Tell me the search teams have something.”

“Alpha,” Ethan said, his voice coming through the speaker with a nervous edge. “We hit a wall. Her scent completely stops at the edge of the residential district. We checked every camera on the grid, but she never showed up on any of the feeds. It is like she walked off the map.”

“That is impossible,” I snapped, slamming my hand against the corridor wall. “She is an unranked wolf. You are telling me my entire security force cannot track one girl?”

“There is something else, sir,” Ethan muttered, clearing his throat. “We went to freeze her bank accounts like you ordered. The financial team ran a full check on her history. For the last three years, Penelope has not spent a single credit point you gave her. She did not touch the pack allowance or use our supply stores. We have no record of how she paid for food or clothes.”

My stomach dropped, a strange mix of anger and confusion tightening my throat.

She never used my money? For three whole years?

It did not make sense. What had she been doing behind my back? Who was helping her?

“Double the squads!” I roared into the line, letting my Alpha pressure flood the hallway until the lights seemed to flicker. “Call in the trackers from the northern border. I want every inch of this state searched. Find her and bring her back to me.”

She thought she could just walk away from the bond, but she was about to learn that nobody ran from me.