Chapter 5
I couldn't avoid the exam. Refusing would trigger suspicion instantly—the obedient Sera they knew would never defy a direct order from her Alpha.
So I'd pass it. On my terms.
The pack physician was Dr. Elaine Cho—a beta wolf in her fifties, efficient and professional. In my past life, she'd signed the medical declaration that labeled me "wolfless and barren" without question. I'd thought she was complicit.
Now, I wasn't sure.
I found her in the clinic at midnight, catching up on paperwork alone.
"Luna Sera?" Surprise flickered across her face. "It's late. Are you unwell?"
I closed the door. Locked it.
"Dr. Cho. I need to ask you something, and I need the truth. Did you know what was in the tea?"
Her pen stopped. The color left her face in stages—first white, then an ashen grey. Her scent spiked with fear, guilt, and something unexpected: relief.
"I suspected," she whispered. "After the second year, your bloodwork showed anomalies that didn't match natural wolf dormancy. I raised it with Alpha Kane. He told me to adjust the baseline readings and stop asking questions." Her hands trembled. "I'm sorry. I was afraid. He threatened my daughter's placement in the pack—"
"I'm not here for an apology." I stepped closer. "I'm here for an alliance."
She blinked. "What do you—"
"The exam. In five days. You will run it. You will report exactly what Kane expects to see: a wolfless, failing Luna. Whatever your instruments actually show, you will bury. Can you do that?"
"If he finds out—"
"He won't. Because in five days, Alpha Kane won't be in a position to punish anyone ever again."
The certainty in my voice was a physical thing. Dr. Cho stared at me, reading something in my eyes that her medical training couldn't explain. The weak, wilting Luna she'd documented for years was gone.
"Yes," she said quietly. "Yes, I can do that."
"One more thing. The file on Vivienne's prenatal bloodwork. I need the original—the one before Kane ordered it amended."
Her throat bobbed. "How did you know about—"
"Does it matter?"
A pause. Then she rose, unlocked a cabinet with a key from her pocket, and handed me a sealed envelope. "I kept a copy. I always keep copies. Call it... professional insurance."
I took the envelope. "Thank you, Dr. Cho. When this is over, I'll remember who helped me and who watched."
She nodded, her eyes wet. "Be careful, Luna."
"I'm done being careful. Now I'm being precise."
Three days before the ceremony, I felt her fully for the first time.
Not a pulse. Not a stirring. A complete, thundering presence that filled every corner of my consciousness.
My wolf.
She was enormous. She was ancient. She was *furious.*
And at 3 AM, alone in my bathroom with towels stuffed under the door, I shifted.
The transformation should have been excruciating after three years of forced dormancy. It was—but the pain was drowned in a flood of power so overwhelming I nearly blacked out.
My bones cracked and reformed. My skin split and knitted. My spine elongated, muscles exploding outward in a cascade of white-silver fur that shimmered with those impossible luminescent markings.
I filled the bathroom. My head nearly touched the ceiling. My paws cracked the tile.
In the fogged mirror, silver eyes—not gold, not amber, *silver*—stared back at me from a wolf's face the size of a car hood.
The Primal Wolf. Undeniable. Unprecedented.
I shifted back, collapsing against the tub, naked and shaking, a laugh building in my chest that was half-sob, half-war-cry.
They had tried to erase me. They had tried to kill the most powerful thing I contained.
And they had failed.
I texted Cain from the burner: *She's awake.*
His reply was instant: *So is my army. Give the word.*
*Three days.*
*We'll be there at dawn.*
The morning of the medical exam, I presented myself to Dr. Cho with the docile compliance of a lamb being led to documentation.
She drew blood. She ran scans. Her face was perfectly neutral, but I caught the slight widening of her eyes as the readouts populated her screen.
"Everything appears... consistent with prior evaluations," she announced, her voice carrying to the nurse in the corner. "No change in status."
The nurse noted it dutifully. The file was sealed and sent to Kane's desk.
I left the clinic and allowed myself three seconds of closed-eyed relief in the hallway.
Two days.
That evening, Vivienne cornered me in the kitchen. Her circle of three omega followers flanked her like decorative predators.
"Enjoying your last nights as Luna?" she purred, selecting an apple from the fruit bowl with theatrical delicacy.
I took a slow breath. Held my wolf back from the surface. "I'm at peace with whatever the ceremony brings."
"Peace." She bit into the apple, juice running down her chin. "That's sweet. Truly. I almost feel sorry for you, Sera. Almost."
She leaned close, dropping her voice to a whisper only I could hear. "After the ceremony, Kane's giving me your mother's necklace. The sapphire one? I've always thought it looked better on darker skin."
My mother's necklace. The one piece of jewelry my dead mother had left me—the mother Vivienne's own mother had replaced.
My vision went white at the edges. My wolf surged forward so hard my eyes flickered silver for a fraction of a second.
Vivienne blinked. "Did your eyes just—"
"The light," I said flatly. "It does strange things this time of evening."
She stared at me for a long beat. Then shrugged, taking another bite. "Weird."
She walked away, hips swaying with the confidence of a woman who believed she'd already won.
*Two more days,* I told my wolf, my fists trembling at my sides. *Then she's ours.*
So I'd pass it. On my terms.
The pack physician was Dr. Elaine Cho—a beta wolf in her fifties, efficient and professional. In my past life, she'd signed the medical declaration that labeled me "wolfless and barren" without question. I'd thought she was complicit.
Now, I wasn't sure.
I found her in the clinic at midnight, catching up on paperwork alone.
"Luna Sera?" Surprise flickered across her face. "It's late. Are you unwell?"
I closed the door. Locked it.
"Dr. Cho. I need to ask you something, and I need the truth. Did you know what was in the tea?"
Her pen stopped. The color left her face in stages—first white, then an ashen grey. Her scent spiked with fear, guilt, and something unexpected: relief.
"I suspected," she whispered. "After the second year, your bloodwork showed anomalies that didn't match natural wolf dormancy. I raised it with Alpha Kane. He told me to adjust the baseline readings and stop asking questions." Her hands trembled. "I'm sorry. I was afraid. He threatened my daughter's placement in the pack—"
"I'm not here for an apology." I stepped closer. "I'm here for an alliance."
She blinked. "What do you—"
"The exam. In five days. You will run it. You will report exactly what Kane expects to see: a wolfless, failing Luna. Whatever your instruments actually show, you will bury. Can you do that?"
"If he finds out—"
"He won't. Because in five days, Alpha Kane won't be in a position to punish anyone ever again."
The certainty in my voice was a physical thing. Dr. Cho stared at me, reading something in my eyes that her medical training couldn't explain. The weak, wilting Luna she'd documented for years was gone.
"Yes," she said quietly. "Yes, I can do that."
"One more thing. The file on Vivienne's prenatal bloodwork. I need the original—the one before Kane ordered it amended."
Her throat bobbed. "How did you know about—"
"Does it matter?"
A pause. Then she rose, unlocked a cabinet with a key from her pocket, and handed me a sealed envelope. "I kept a copy. I always keep copies. Call it... professional insurance."
I took the envelope. "Thank you, Dr. Cho. When this is over, I'll remember who helped me and who watched."
She nodded, her eyes wet. "Be careful, Luna."
"I'm done being careful. Now I'm being precise."
Three days before the ceremony, I felt her fully for the first time.
Not a pulse. Not a stirring. A complete, thundering presence that filled every corner of my consciousness.
My wolf.
She was enormous. She was ancient. She was *furious.*
And at 3 AM, alone in my bathroom with towels stuffed under the door, I shifted.
The transformation should have been excruciating after three years of forced dormancy. It was—but the pain was drowned in a flood of power so overwhelming I nearly blacked out.
My bones cracked and reformed. My skin split and knitted. My spine elongated, muscles exploding outward in a cascade of white-silver fur that shimmered with those impossible luminescent markings.
I filled the bathroom. My head nearly touched the ceiling. My paws cracked the tile.
In the fogged mirror, silver eyes—not gold, not amber, *silver*—stared back at me from a wolf's face the size of a car hood.
The Primal Wolf. Undeniable. Unprecedented.
I shifted back, collapsing against the tub, naked and shaking, a laugh building in my chest that was half-sob, half-war-cry.
They had tried to erase me. They had tried to kill the most powerful thing I contained.
And they had failed.
I texted Cain from the burner: *She's awake.*
His reply was instant: *So is my army. Give the word.*
*Three days.*
*We'll be there at dawn.*
The morning of the medical exam, I presented myself to Dr. Cho with the docile compliance of a lamb being led to documentation.
She drew blood. She ran scans. Her face was perfectly neutral, but I caught the slight widening of her eyes as the readouts populated her screen.
"Everything appears... consistent with prior evaluations," she announced, her voice carrying to the nurse in the corner. "No change in status."
The nurse noted it dutifully. The file was sealed and sent to Kane's desk.
I left the clinic and allowed myself three seconds of closed-eyed relief in the hallway.
Two days.
That evening, Vivienne cornered me in the kitchen. Her circle of three omega followers flanked her like decorative predators.
"Enjoying your last nights as Luna?" she purred, selecting an apple from the fruit bowl with theatrical delicacy.
I took a slow breath. Held my wolf back from the surface. "I'm at peace with whatever the ceremony brings."
"Peace." She bit into the apple, juice running down her chin. "That's sweet. Truly. I almost feel sorry for you, Sera. Almost."
She leaned close, dropping her voice to a whisper only I could hear. "After the ceremony, Kane's giving me your mother's necklace. The sapphire one? I've always thought it looked better on darker skin."
My mother's necklace. The one piece of jewelry my dead mother had left me—the mother Vivienne's own mother had replaced.
My vision went white at the edges. My wolf surged forward so hard my eyes flickered silver for a fraction of a second.
Vivienne blinked. "Did your eyes just—"
"The light," I said flatly. "It does strange things this time of evening."
She stared at me for a long beat. Then shrugged, taking another bite. "Weird."
She walked away, hips swaying with the confidence of a woman who believed she'd already won.
*Two more days,* I told my wolf, my fists trembling at my sides. *Then she's ours.*