The party continued. Laughter returned. Music rose again, and whispers turned to admiration.
But Andrea stood in the center of it all, feeling like the earth had just shifted under her feet.
She wasn't just a runaway orphan anymore. She wasn't a mystery. She was a force.
The party swirled around her—dancing werewolves, clinking glasses, sweet wine, and the strange, buzzing awe of pack members now bowing their heads as she passed.
Andrea moved quietly, away from the main hall, the dress whispering at her ankles as she slipped through a side archway. She needed air. Silence. Space.
Her head was still spinning from what happened. That... surge. That light. The way it had answered the Moon, like it recognized her.
She passed through a long corridor, moonlight painting soft ribbons across the marble floor.
And that's when she heard it. Voices. Sharp. Low. Female.
She stopped.
The curtain at the end of the hallway swayed slightly, and behind it, the carved balcony doors stood open. Andrea crept closer, staying in the shadows just beyond the silk.
She knew that voice. The Queen Mother.
"I won't have this," the older woman hissed, her tone icy and trembling with restrained fury. "That girl will not be Luna. I don't care what glow poured out of her under the Moon."
Another voice answered. Smoother. Colder.
Ashley.
"She embarrassed me," she snapped. "And now half the pack is calling her gifted? Chosen? It's madness."
"She's a disruption," the Queen Mother said flatly. "An orphan. Unknown bloodline. Untamed power. We don't even know what she is."
"She's a threat," Ashley muttered. "To everything we've planned."
There was a pause.
Then the Queen Mother's voice came again, lower this time. Calculating.
"We need to separate her from the boys. Especially Lionel. If the bond strengthens too much, we'll lose all influence over them."
Andrea's breath caught. Her pulse thundered in her ears.
Ashley's tone darkened. "Then we break the bond before it seals. Or better... we remove her before it can."
"Not here," the Queen Mother warned. "Not yet. We need to be smart. Subtle. But know this, Ashley—no girl from the dirt and gutters will ever sit on the throne beside my sons."
Andrea stepped back, heart pounding, the air suddenly too tight in her lungs.
They weren't just opposed to her.They wanted her gone. And now… she knew it. Andrea backed away from the balcony, the words still echoing in her skull like thunder.
"She's a threat."
"Remove her."
"She'll never be Luna."
The soft music and laughter from the ballroom sounded far away now, like they belonged to a different world. A world that wanted her gone. That had only pretended to welcome her.
She turned, heart slamming in her chest, steps hurried and uneven. And collided straight into a wall of muscle. Strong hands caught her arms instantly. "Hey, Andrea. It's me."
She looked up, startled—and there he was.
Lionel.
Sharp suit. Stormy eyes. That unreadable expression he always wore, like the whole world was on his shoulders, but he still had room for her.
She blinked fast, panic rising like a tide. "I—I didn't see you there. Sorry, I just needed air."
Lionel studied her, his brow furrowing. "You're shaking."
"I'm fine," she lied, voice too thin.
He didn't believe her for a second.
"Talk to me."
Andrea looked away. "I don't want to ruin your perfect night." He stepped closer, voice low and gentle. "It stopped being perfect the second you looked like you wanted to run."
Her throat closed up.
She wanted to tell him. Wanted to scream the truth about what she'd just heard—but her fear kept catching the words in her throat. What if he didn't believe her? What if he thought she was trying to turn them against their own mother?
But Lionel was watching her. Not like a man watching a stranger. Like a wolf watching his mate tremble, unsure if she could trust him.
"You heard something," he said quietly. Not a question. Andrea hesitated. Then nodded. Once.
"I shouldn't have," she whispered. "But I did."
He stepped closer still. "Tell me." Andrea looked up into his eyes, silver under the moonlight. Steady. Unblinking. Safe.
She exhaled shakily. "Your mother. That girl. They were talking on the balcony. About me."
Lionel's jaw tensed, but he didn't interrupt. "They think I'm a threat," she said, voice cracking. "They want me gone. And if the bond seals, they said they'll lose their hold on you guys something like that."
Lionel's eyes darkened.
"I need to leave, all this doesn't make sense to me can you take me back?" Andrea whispered.
Silence fell.
Then—
"Where do you want to go to?" Lionel asked.
Andrea's breath hitched. "What?Back to where you found me,"
He stepped forward again, slow and deliberate. "You have no family and no home, maybe you don't understand the mate thing but we are bond for life you can't be seperated from us." His hands lifted gently to her arms. Not pulling. Just there.
"We don't care what blood runs in your veins, or what power sleeps inside you. I don't care where you came from. All I care about... is that you're mine. And I am yours."
Andrea's throat closed, emotion roaring up in her chest. She wanted to argue. To say no, I'm not yours, I don't belong to you, this is all too much, too fast. But when she looked into his eyes—
All she saw was the truth. And safety. And home.
"I don't know who I am," she whispered.
Lionel leaned in, his forehead brushing hers. "Then we'll find out together." For a moment, neither of them moved.
And then, far above, the Moon slipped from behind the clouds, silver light bathing them both. The bond pulsed, quiet but alive.
And Andrea... didn't run.