Aria's POV
The threatening photograph burned in my pocket as I walked into the pack dining hall the next evening. My hands wouldn't stop shaking.
Someone was watching me. Taking pictures. Planning something worse than destroyed gardens.
I should have stayed in my room. But hiding would only make me look guilty of whatever they were planning.
"Luna Aria!" One of the omega mothers waved me over. "Come sit with us."
My heart lifted slightly. Maybe not everyone had abandoned me.
But as I approached, she whispered, "Actually, those seats are saved. Sorry."
They weren't saved. She just didn't want me there.
I found an empty chair at the far end of the main table. Away from Damien and Selene, who sat together at the head like a perfect couple.
Marcus was there too, laughing at something Selene said. His eyes met mine for a second, then looked away quickly.
Traitor. The word tasted bitter in my mind.
Dinner started with the usual announcements. Pack business. Training schedules. Border patrol reports. I tried to focus, but my thoughts kept spinning.
How could I prove what Marcus and Selene were doing? The photograph was just a threat, not evidence. I needed something concrete.
"Aria?" Lyssa appeared beside me with a plate of food. "You look terrible."
"Thanks," I muttered.
"I mean it. When did you last eat?" She set the plate in front of me. "The baby needs food even if you don't want it."
She was right. I picked up my fork and forced myself to take a bite.
Across the table, Selene stood gracefully. "I'd like to make a toast," she announced, her voice carrying through the hall.
Everyone fell silent, turning to look at her.
"I know my arrival has been... complicated." Selene's smile was sad and beautiful. "I never wanted to cause pain. But I believe in destiny, and destiny brought me to Alpha Damien."
My stomach twisted.
"However," Selene continued, "I want to honor the woman who came before me. Luna Aria has served this pack faithfully for five years. She deserves our respect and gratitude."
Applause rippled through the hall. People nodded approvingly at Selene's "kindness."
I wanted to scream. She was the one destroying me, and now she was acting like a saint?
"In fact," Selene said, "I'd like to share a cup of tea with Luna Aria. As a gesture of peace and friendship."
No. Every instinct screamed danger.
But everyone was watching. Waiting to see what I'd do.
If I refused, I'd look petty. Jealous. Everything they already thought I was.
"That's very kind," I heard myself say.
Selene gestured to a servant, who brought out a tea service. The delicate cups were filled with steaming liquid that smelled like my special herbal blend.
The one I kept in my private chambers.
The one only I had access to.
My blood ran cold.
"This is your famous calming tea, isn't it?" Selene asked sweetly. "I've heard it's wonderful."
"Yes," I whispered. "From my personal collection."
How did she get it? When did someone take it from my room?
Selene raised her cup. "To new beginnings and peaceful solutions."
I lifted mine with trembling hands. This was wrong. Everything about this felt wrong.
But I couldn't refuse. Not with three hundred pack members watching.
We both drank.
The tea tasted normal. Chamomile, lavender, a hint of mint. Nothing unusual.
Relief flooded through me. Maybe I was being paranoid like Damien said.
Selene set down her empty cup with a smile. "Delicious. You're very talented with herbs, Aria."
"Thank you."
The conversation resumed around us. I finished my tea, grateful the awkward moment was over.
Lyssa leaned close. "You okay?"
"I think so. Maybe I really am being paranoid—"
Selene gasped.
It was a small sound, but in the busy hall it cut through the noise like a knife.
"Selene?" Damien was at her side instantly. "What's wrong?"
"I don't... I feel..." Her hand went to her throat. "Can't breathe..."
Her face turned pale. Then gray.
Then she collapsed.
Chaos erupted. Pack members screamed. Damien caught Selene as she fell, cradling her body as it started convulsing.
"GET THE HEALER!" he roared.
I stood frozen, watching in horror as Selene's body jerked and twisted. Foam appeared at her mouth. Her eyes rolled back.
This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be real.
Dr. Pierce, our pack healer, ran into the hall with his medical bag. He dropped beside Selene, checking her pulse, examining her symptoms.
"Poison," he announced grimly. "Wolfsbane."
The word sent a shock wave through the room.
Wolfsbane was deadly to werewolves. Even small amounts could kill.
"How?" Damien demanded, his voice breaking. "How did she get poisoned?"
Dr. Pierce looked at the tea service. At the cup Selene had drunk from.
At the matching cup in my hand.
"The tea," he said quietly.
Three hundred pairs of eyes turned to me.
"No," I breathed. "I didn't... I would never..."
"That's Luna Aria's personal blend," someone said.
"From her private chambers," another added.
"She's the only one who uses it."
The accusations built like a wave, drowning me.
"I DIDN'T DO THIS!" My voice came out as a scream. "Someone set me up!"
"Aria." Damien's voice was ice. Pure, deadly ice. "Did you poison her?"
"NO! I drank the same tea! Look!" I held up my empty cup. "I drank it too!"
"Maybe you built up immunity," Marcus suggested quietly. "Took small doses over time so it wouldn't affect you."
I stared at him in disbelief. He was helping them. Actually helping them frame me for attempted murder.
"Search her chambers," Marcus ordered the guards. "Now."
"You can't—" I started.
"I'm Beta. I can." Marcus's face was cold. "Guards, search Luna Aria's room for wolfsbane or any other poisons."
Four warriors ran from the hall.
Damien held Selene's convulsing body, his face twisted in agony. "If she dies..." He looked at me with such hatred it burned. "If she dies, Aria, I will never forgive you."
"I didn't do this!" Tears streamed down my face. "Damien, please, you know me! I would never hurt anyone!"
"I thought I knew you." His voice cracked. "Now I don't know what to believe."
Dr. Pierce worked frantically, forcing herbs down Selene's throat, trying to counteract the poison.
The guards returned, breathing hard.
"Found these in her dresser," one said, holding up glass vials. "Hidden under her clothes."
No. No, no, no.
"What are those?" Damien demanded.
Dr. Pierce examined them, his face grave. "Pure wolfsbane extract. Enough to kill a dozen wolves."
"I'VE NEVER SEEN THOSE BEFORE!" I was screaming now, desperate. "Someone planted them! Can't you see this is a setup?"
"Why would anyone frame you?" Marcus asked, his voice dripping with false sympathy.
"Because—" I looked at him, at Selene's twitching body, at Damien's hateful stare.
Because they wanted me gone. And they'd found the perfect way to make it happen.
"She's jealous," someone whispered.
"Tried to kill the fated mate."
"An omega who couldn't handle being replaced."
The accusations swirled around me like poison worse than wolfsbane.
Lyssa pushed through the crowd. "This is insane! Aria wouldn't—"
"Stay out of this, Lyssa," Marcus warned.
"NO!" Lyssa stood beside me. "I won't watch you railroad her for something she didn't do!"
Selene let out a rattling breath. For a moment, I thought she was dying.
Then her eyes opened, just a crack, and found mine.
She smiled.
It was tiny. Barely there. But I saw it.
She smiled at me while everyone thought she was dying.
Then her eyes closed again and she went limp.
"No pulse!" Dr. Pierce shouted. "She's coding!"
He started chest compressions while Damien sobbed, holding Selene's hand.
And I realized with absolute clarity: this was the trap they'd been building.
The destroyed garden. The threatening photo. Marcus undermining me. All of it leading to this moment.
They were going to blame me for murder.
And everyone—even Damien—would believe it.
"Arrest her," Damien's voice was dead. Empty. "Lock her up until we can hold a proper trial."
"Damien, please—" I reached for him.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" He flinched away like I was poison myself. "Don't ever touch me again."
Guards grabbed my arms.
"I'm pregnant!" I sobbed. "I'm carrying your child! You can't—"
"That child will be born in a cell," Damien said coldly. "If you live long enough to deliver it."
They dragged me from the hall while I screamed my innocence.
The last thing I saw was Marcus standing over Selene's "dying" body, watching me with satisfaction.
And suddenly I understood.
This wasn't just about removing me.
This was about destroying me completely.
They wanted me dead.
And they'd just given Damien the perfect reason to kill me himself.