The Breeder Luna Bites Back

I wake up to darkness. My heart races. The sheets feel wrong. Too smooth. Too cold. My fingers grip them tight, but I don't recognize anything. The smell of cedar. The scent of rain. My skin tingles, and I freeze.

I'm not alone.

I can hear his breathing. Slow. Calm. It makes my skin crawl. My pulse is in my throat, choking me. I turn my head, just a bit. And there he is. A stranger. His face hidden in the shadows. But a mark that catches my eye - on his spinal cord, shaped oddly like a snake's head. His scent is everywhere. It sticks to me, clings to my clothes-no, to my skin.

I have to get out. Now.

I slide out of bed, my bare feet hitting the cold floor. It's marble. The chill shoots through me, but I can't stop. I stumble, trying to be quiet. Trying not to wake him. The room spins, and my head pounds. I don't remember. Anything. How did I get here? Who is he? Why can't I remember?

The door. I see it. My hand shakes as I reach for the handle. My fingers fumble, the cold metal slipping in my grip. It clicks. I hold my breath.

Don't wake up. Don't wake up.

The door creaks open, and I slip out into a long hallway. It's empty. Silent. My breath echoes off the walls as I run. The scent of cedar fades, replaced by something sharp, metallic. Blood? No. Not blood. It's fear. My fear. It's in the air, heavy and thick.

I don't know where I'm going, but I keep moving. Left. Right. Another right. The walls close in on me. My vision blurs. Everything's wrong. My skin burns where the stranger's scent lingers. I need to wash it off. Scrub it clean. But I keep running.

Then I see it. A door at the end. It looks different. Bigger. Familiar. I push it open, and the sight makes my stomach twist. A penthouse. The pole lights are a blur outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.

No. No, no, no.

I know this place. I know who lives here. Malachi. My husband. My alpha. My mate. My heart slams against my ribs as I stagger inside. The air is too thin. I can't breathe.

And then he's there. At the top of the stairs. Malachi. Tall, broad shoulders, dark hair that's always perfectly in place. Except now, something's off. His eyes. They're not right. They flash with something unnatural. Cold. Like ice.

"So, the breeder finally awakens," he says, his voice low, a growl underneath.

I flinch. Breeder. The word stings, cuts deep. But I can't look away from his eyes. They're not the warm brown I remember. They're dark, almost black, like something is hiding behind them. I blink, and they flash blue for a second. I must be seeing things.

"Malachi, I-" My voice shakes. I don't know what to say. My throat tightens. The room spins. "I don't understand. What's happening?"

His lip curls into a sneer. "What's happening?" he echoes in a mocking tone. "You don't remember, do you?"

I shake my head, tears stinging my eyes. "No. I don't remember anything."

A laugh, sharp and cruel, cuts through the air. I turn, and there she is. Emilia. His mistress. Her sleek brunette hair, her perfect makeup. She's everything I'm not.

"Oh, darling," she coos, stepping closer. "Didn't he tell you? You were nothing but a pawn. A means to an end."

Her words are knives. They slice through me, leaving me raw, exposed. My hands shake as I try to hold on to something, anything that makes sense. But it's slipping. Everything is slipping.

"Get out," Malachi says, his voice cold, final. "What are you still doing here? Get out."

I stumble back, trying to make sense of his words, when he suddenly marches down the stairs and thrusts a stack of papers into my trembling hands. My fingers fumble with them, and I see the word **DIVORCE** in bold letters at the top. My heart sinks, the final nail in the coffin of my broken world.

"What..." I can barely form a word.

I look at him, my eyes pleading. But his are empty, dead. There's no warmth. No love. Just darkness. I see it again. A flicker of blue in his eyes, but it's gone before I can make sense of it. I stumble back, the papers falling carelessly to the floor and the world blurring around me. My legs move on their own. I don't know where I'm going, but I run.

Emilia's laughter follows me, echoing in my head. Her voice, sweet like poison. "You were nothing. Just a god-awful overbearing breeder."

My vision swims. My lungs burn. I burst out into the night, the cold air hitting me like a wall. The forest ahead looms, looking dark and endless. My feet pound against the earth, pushing me forward. But I can't escape it. I can't escape the emptiness inside me. The hole where my memories should be.

The forest closes in, the trees whispering insults and condemnations as I run through. My breath comes in ragged gasps. I can feel them. Malachi's wolves. They're close. Too close. Their snarls are in my ears, their teeth at my heels.

Why is he still pursuing me?

What does he want?

I stumble, my foot catching on something, and I go down hard. Pain shoots through my ankle, but I don't stop. I can't. I crawl, my fingers digging into the dirt. The scent of oak fills my nose, sharp and clean. It's a relief from the cedar and rain that clings to me.

Then, a voice. Deep. Commanding. "Stop!"

I freeze. The wolves stop too. Everything is still. Silent.

A figure steps out from behind the trees, tall, broad, with eyes that glow in the dark. He's an alpha, I can feel it. His presence is overwhelming, suffocating. But there's something familiar in his gaze. Something safe.

"Princess?" he says, his voice softening. "Is that really you?"

I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. The world tilts, my vision darkening at the edges. I see his eyes, piercing blue, filled with concern. But then they shift. For a moment, they're Malachi's eyes. Cold, dark, and full of that unnatural glow. And then everything goes black.