Claimed by the scarred Alpha

MARGAUX

"We did check the redness on your neck for signs of DNA." He spoke slowly, carefully, like he was addressing someone who might not understand complex concepts. "But there was nothing there except you."

His pause stretched too long. I felt my stomach drop even before he continued.

"Your explanation makes it sound more..." He trailed off, searching for the right word.

"Insane?" I supplied the word he was dancing around.

"No." But his expression said otherwise. "I was at the wedding too. I know what you must have faced. How it must have affected your mental health, which is something I’m very passionate about addressing in our pack."

The implication crashed over me like ice water. My hands curled into fists against the sheets.

"I think you had a breakdown." He delivered the assessment with gentle sympathy that felt more insulting than outright accusation would have been. "That you contemplated hurting yourself. Which is what actually happened."

Horror bloomed hot and immediate in my chest. "What?"

He smiled. The expression was meant to be comforting but landed somewhere closer to condescending.

"It sounds more plausible than invisible hands holding you underwater." He shrugged one shoulder. "Perhaps if witches were a more prominent occurrence in our world, that explanation would be believable. But given the circumstances—"

"I did not try to hurt myself." The words came out sharp enough to cut. "I would never do that."

"Well." He leaned back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other in a posture of casual authority. "Between you and me, when Alpha Theo comes to ask what happened, do not make him hate you even more than he already does by lying even further."

The breath left my lungs in a rush. He kept talking, oblivious to or uncaring about the shock that must have been written across my face.

"Unlike the projecting lovesick Omegas gossiping in the halls, I happen to believe he saved you only because he didn’t want you to die yet." His smile widened, showing too many teeth. "I think he wants you to suffer more first. Dying in a bathtub would have robbed him of that satisfaction. I do not know why he is fixated on your pack. But he is and I happen to be able to read between the lines."

Something hot and fierce ignited in my chest. I sat up straighter despite the way my body protested the movement.

"Watch your tongue."

The command came out cold and absolute. Power I hadn’t known I could summon filled each syllable with weight that made the air between us feel heavy.

He blinked. Surprise flickered across his features before he could school them back into that insufferable knowing expression.

"My marriage to that man might be disgraceful." I held his gaze without flinching. "It might be a lot of things I don’t have names for yet. But I am still a Luna. You will speak to me with the respect that position demands."

The silence that followed felt thick enough to choke on. I watched emotions play across his face. Shock giving way to irritation. Irritation transforming into something darker and more calculating.

"And perhaps my new husband does hate me." I pressed forward before he could formulate a response. "Perhaps he does want me to suffer in ways I can’t begin to imagine. But surely he wants to be the one inflicting that suffering."

I let the implication settle before delivering the final blow.

"The way you, a nobody healer, are speaking to me now? There will be a pound of flesh demanded when he hears about it. I am sure. Can you read between those lines too?"

His throat worked as he swallowed. The superiority had drained from his expression, replaced by something closer to uncertainty.

"I was trying to help your cause." The words came out defensive now, stripped of their earlier condescension. "Alpha Theo requested your medical file from the attack. He wanted to see if we’d found anything from our end that might help identify your attacker."

He paused. The calculating look returned to his eyes, sharper now and edged with malice.

"I found nothing, of course." Another pause came, though this one was deliberate. "But I did run a comprehensive blood panel to determine which herbs would favor your constitution and which might cause adverse reactions. Given that this is clearly a mental health issue on your end, I thought it prudent to be prepared for treatment."

I scoffed. The sound came out harsh and ugly. "I put you in your place, and now you want to threaten me with what? My medical results? Do I happen to have an STI?"

"It’s not a threat." He said with a smile but his smile suggested otherwise. "I checked the blood ledgers after what I found in your sample and cross-referenced your lineage going back several generations."

Unease curled through my stomach. I kept my expression neutral despite the way my heart had started beating faster. Because I had no idea what he was talking about.

"Apparently, you were registered as a pure Luna." He spoke slowly, drawing out each word like he was savoring them. "Your mother is listed as a Gamma, which is the only oddity in that bloodline. But if you trace it back, as I did, you’ll see that everyone before her and everyone before them were all purebred Alphas and Lunas who didn’t inherit titles but were born into their privilege."

His eyes gleamed with something cruel.

"Must be why you have all that pride." He leaned forward again. "But tell me, Luna Margaux. Why does your blood work show dormant Omega markers?"

The question hit me like a physical blow. My mouth opened, but no sound came out. Omega recessive genes. The words echoed in my head, trying to form meaning but sliding away before I could grasp their full implication.

"What?"

"Shocked?" His smile turned vicious. "Or just horrified to discover you have dirty blood?"

The slur broke through my paralysis. My hand moved before conscious thought could catch up. The slap connected with his cheek hard enough that the crack echoed through the room. Hard enough that my palm stung and his head snapped to the side.

"How dare you?"

I was on my feet before I realized I’d moved. My legs shook beneath me, threatening to give out, but rage kept me upright. It flooded my system with adrenaline that burned away the weakness left by nearly drowning.

He touched his reddening cheek, eyes wide with genuine shock now. Whatever game he’d been playing had clearly not accounted for physical violence.

"How dare you call me a dirty blood?"