Chapter 7

• Elroy paused, several emotions flitting across his face in quick succession. I didn’t have the emotional bandwidth to decipher them all, though, not with everything I’d been through in the last few hours—let alone the last two weeks.
• I put my hand over my baby as I tried to come up with the ghost of a new plan. I was banished, and that meant that I—and my baby—could be attacked if I so much as saw someone from Moonshadow in the grocery store. It was too dangerous to stay in Lunaris.
• It was a three-day journey to the nearest city, and I had no money to pay someone to escort me through the Rogues safely. Besides, I was basically stained now. No wolf would take me, no matter what pack they were from.
• That just left humans, and there was only one human company that traded with nearby cities. I’d have to go to them and hope they’d let me unload their trucks in exchange for a ride. Yeah, that could work.
• I’d have to restart my life from nothing, with no one in my corner, but me and my child would be safe.
• It still felt like defeat, but it was the best I was going to get.
• With my immediate path decided, I took a fortifying breath and opened the car door. I turned to thank Elroy for his help but was stopped by a firm hand on my upper arm and a heated glare. My skin prickled with the sense of danger.
• “That’s it?” Elroy asked through gritted teeth. “You’re just going to tell me you’re pregnant and then walk out without another word?” I frowned at him, not appreciating his tone.
• “I was just about to thank you for your help in there,” I responded.
• “And then leave,” Elroy growled. I pursed my lips. I felt bad for him, having to watch me walk away with his unborn child, but surely he understood it was the safest option for the baby?
• “I’m banished,” I reminded him pointedly.
• “So you’re just going to give up?” he asked. “You’re really going to walk away from the pack you’ve worked so hard for?”
• Rage surged inside of me, and I tried to pull my arm out of his grasp. I wanted to hiss and ask how he could dare say something like that to me, but his grip tightened enough to bruise. I was reminded quite starkly that this man was a stranger.
• “Let go of me,” I demanded, feeling my eyes well up again. This was all just too much.
• “Where would you even go?” he asked, completely ignoring me. “Every wolf needs a pack. Or do you intend to go insane with my heir still in your belly?”
• “What are you trying to say, then?” I spat. “What is your plan then, oh great and venerable Alpha?”
• “To bring you with me, obviously!” Elroy shouted, baring his teeth at me. “I’m a pack Alpha, for fuck’s sake, I can induct you into Eclipse, and my pack won’t say a damn thing about it because you’re having my child!”
• Elroy saw me flinch back from the volume, because he took a deep breath and lowered his voice. He didn’t let go of my arm, though.
• “Listen, I have a deal for you,” he said. “Be my Luna, have my child, and in return I will help you reclaim your pack.”
• “Or?” I asked, nervous.
• “Or,” Elroy said, voice smooth and cold, “be my prisoner. I will chain you up in the goddamn dungeon, but you are not taking my child from me. Well? Which will it be?”
• This wasn’t the call boy I’d assumed I’d met; this was the Alpha of the Eclipse pack, who was rumored to have killed his father in cold blood to gain the title. They said he ran his pack under a rigid hierarchy, throwing anyone who displeased him into the dungeon without a second glance. He toyed with Omega women’s hearts, winning their love only to gift them to his subordinates when he grew tired of them.
• Rumors could be just that—rumors—but looking at him in that moment I believed he would do those horrible things. But the threat in his words were all too real, and just like with Greg’s ultimatum, the only option was the one that kept my child safe.
• “…Fine,” I said, glaring at him. “Now let go of me. I’m not going to run.”
• Elroy searched in my eyes for a moment before apparently deciding I was telling the truth (or maybe just figuring he would be able to catch me if I tried anything). He leaned back slowly, releasing my arm, and I kept my eyes on his as I closed the car door. Elroy looked pleased.
• “Good,” he said, turning his attention out the windshield as he started the car. The vibration of the engine made me want to be sick.
• Neither of us spoke again for the whole drive.
• The Eclipse pack had a manor. An actual, legitimate manor, but looking at it I thought the word castle would be a better fit. The use of the word ‘dungeon’ suddenly made a lot more sense.
• Elroy rolled the car to a gentle stop as my stomach churned. Now what? Was he going to Mark me right away, introduce me to Eclipse’s council? I doubted they’d appreciate their Alpha bringing home Moonshadow’s almost-heiress.
• I breathed out shakily, trying to prepare myself for the feeling of Elroy’s sharp teeth breaking into my neck. He seemed like he’d want to secure my obedience as soon as possible, after all, and the moment that Mark was made I would be trapped forever. My hands shook in my lap.
• I took Elroy’s hand to get out of the car, entirely too aware of my appearance as I stood. Elroy handed his keys off to the person I assumed was the valet (a valet at his own house? Really?) before pressing his hand into the curve of my back.
• It felt nice, but I didn’t necessarily want it to.
• “Keep your head up,” Elroy murmured to me, probably seeing the way I ducked from the valet’s curious gaze. “You’re their Luna, none of them have the right to look down at you.”
• Right, because I cut such a striking figure stepping out of their Alpha’s car in a dirty wedding dress. I was fucked.
• “Welcome back, Alpha Elroy,” a man at the door said, managing to bow respectfully while still eyeing me over. “Shall we prepare accommodations for your guest?”
• “Yes,” Elroy said dismissively. “Give her the Pearl Room.”
• The man looked up, stunned. “The…Pearl Room, Alpha?”
• “Yes,” Elroy said, brooking no argument. “I believe it has been kept clean?”
• “Of course, sir!” the man said, nodding his head rapidly and looking back at me with more gravitas. “Please allow me to fetch someone to attend you, my lady. Welcome to Alleghany Manor.”
• And then the man (butler? Servant?) was gone, leaving me staring at the empty space he’d previously occupied. Elroy chuckled, and I wanted to stomp on his foot.
• “The Pearl Room has housed Eclipse pack’s Luna for generations,” he informed me. “Now everyone will know who you are and where you stand before they even set eyes on you.” He smirked at me, proud of himself.
• “Welcome to Alleghany Manor, Luna,” a portly woman said as she hurried towards me, the butler close on her heels. “My name is Ellie, and I am the head housemaid. Please allow me to get you settled.”
• I blinked, looked uncertainly at Elroy, then squared my shoulders. “Please do, Ellie,” I said with authority. Guess I was stepping into my role already.
• Ellie left me in the beautiful cream and gold room, saying she’d come back with a change of clothes, and I decided a warm shower was exactly what I needed while I was waiting. I sighed as I walked into the bathroom, too ready to get out of this damned dress—the same dress I’d dreamed of wearing for years. Now it just made my skin crawl.
• As it slid off of me, I caught sight of the dark Mate mark on the nape of my neck. I was so used to seeing it I almost didn’t think of it, until I realized that it shouldn’t still be there. I had rejected the bond, why was I still marked?!
• Oh, shit. Damian never acknowledged my rejection.
• I cursed, glaring at the crescent moon mark in the mirror. I had to sever the bond for good! I sawed at it mentally, but without my wolf to help, there was just no way for me to cut the cord. Shit!
• Then the absolute worst thing that could have happened did. Damian reached out through the unbroken Bond.
• “Oh, you want to break the Bond?” his voice echoed smugly in my skull. “Let’s negotiate terms.”