Third POV

Asher stared at his phone in stunned silence. The line had gone quiet, but he could hear Estelle’s breathing on the other end, waiting for his response.

He had never expected this from Estelle, the woman who had always been so compliant and understanding of his position.

She had never asked for anything before. Not once in all their years together had she demanded something so significant. And the timing couldn’t be worse—he wasn’t even the Alpha yet.

“I...” he started, then stopped. His mind was racing, trying to process what she was asking.

“You what?” Estelle’s voice cut through his thoughts like a blade.

Asher ran a hand through his hair, pacing across his office. “This is just... unexpected. You’ve never asked for anything like this before.”

“Maybe that was my mistake.”

Her words hit him like a physical blow. There was something different in her tone now. It was cold and calculating, and made his chest tighten with unease.

“Estelle, you have to understand my position—”

“Your position?” she interrupted. “What about mine? Do you have any idea what it’s like to walk into a room full of Alphas and have them dismiss me before I even speak? To have them question my every decision because I don’t have a title that validates my existence?”

Asher’s jaw clenched. He hated that she was making sense. Her reasoning was so logical that he almost found himself agreeing.

“The Silver Creek negotiations nearly fell through because Alpha Morrison refused to take my word as final,” Estelle continued. “He demanded to speak with you directly about the trade routes. I had to spend three hours convincing him that I wasn’t wasting his time.”

A pang of guilt shot through Asher’s chest. He knew she was right. He had been planning to eventually replace her with Hazel, but he couldn’t say that now. Especially not when she was making such a compelling argument.

“Estelle—”

“Have you seen the Blackmoon Pack article?” she asked suddenly.

Asher blinked at the shift. “What? Yes, I saw it.” He didn’t just see it. He called her because he wanted to see if Estelle really was the mysterious new woman. “What does that have to do with—”

“The Blackmoon Pack has a Luna even though no Alpha has been selected,” Estelle said matter-of-factly. “So why can’t Moonveil?”

His mouth opened, then closed.

“If the Blackmoon Pack can have a Luna selected even before they have an Alpha, then why can’t Moonveil be the same?” Estelle pressed. “After all, your coronation is coming very soon. It’s only a matter of time, but your matters with the three packs are urgent, are they not?”

Asher spluttered, trying to find his footing in the conversation. “That’s... that’s not the same thing. The position of Luna was passed down to her because of her birthright. She inherited it through bloodline succession.”

“Birthright?” Estelle’s voice was dangerously quiet. “You keep going on and on about us being family, Asher. Wouldn’t that make it my birthright as well?”

The words hit him like a truck. His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, but no sound came out.

Asher’s mind was reeling. When had Estelle become so... formidable? This wasn’t the woman he remembered. The Estelle he knew was gentle, accommodating, and eager to please. This version was sharp-tongued and demanding.

She really had changed, and that thought worried him more than he cared to admit. She wasn’t as easy to predict anymore. Estelle was now becoming difficult to guide and control.

“For years, I have dedicated my time and energy to the Moonveil Pack,” Estelle said, her voice steady and cold. “But I now see that doing so will reap no reward. Only further responsibilities and punishment.”

“That’s not true—”

“Isn’t it?” she cut him off. “I’ve been treated like a servant in my own pack. Your mother doesn’t respect my time, your sister thinks I’m a whore, and even you are dismissing me when it matters the most.”

Asher’s hands balled into fists. “I never dismissed you—”

“Your silence was dismissal enough.”

The truth in her words made his chest ache. But what frustrated him more was how she was turning everything around on him, making him the villain in her story.

Estelle sighed. “I’m tired of being taken for granted. If this is how things are going to be, then maybe I should step away from the role entirely.”

“Estelle, don’t—”

But the line went dead.

Asher stared at his phone in disbelief. She had hung up on him. Again.

“Damn it!” He hurled his phone across the room, watching it crash against the wall and clatter to the floor.

His chest was heaving with rage and frustration. How dare she hang up on him? How dare she disrespect him like that?

But beneath the anger was something else. Something that made his stomach twist with unease.

She wasn’t respecting him anymore. The subtle manipulation techniques that had worked so well in the past were failing. He couldn’t gaslight her into compliance like he used to.

Asher began pacing, his mind racing with questions and doubts. The call was supposed to help him figure out whether the mysterious Blackmoon Pack Luna was Estelle, but now he was more confused than ever. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

But now that Asher thought about it, why would Estelle want power in Moonveil if she was already Blackmoon’s Luna? It didn’t make sense. She couldn’t possibly be that woman.

Could she?

No. The thought was ridiculous. Estelle was many things, but she wasn’t capable of that level of deception.

He tried to shake the thoughts from his head, but they clung to him like shadows. Even after he had showered and slipped into bed, Asher couldn’t stop thinking about her.

He thought about the cold calculation in her voice, the way she had turned his own words against him, and about how she had hung up on him without a second thought.

Sleep eluded him completely.

He tried to comfort himself. He would just ignore Estelle for a couple of days. Usually, after a few days of his cold shoulder, she would come running back to him, begging for forgiveness.

The thought of that finally put Asher’s heart at ease.

He would eagerly wait for that day. When it happened, he would not forgive her so easily. That ought to teach her a lesson.

***

Estelle’s POV

A few days later, I was sitting in the back of a sleek black car, watching the landscape blur past the window.

Caleb was driving, his hands steady on the wheel as we made our way toward the lycans’ territory. In the eyes of the public, today was the day I would officially meet the Lycan King.

The ball was supposedly organized to help the Lycan King find his mate, which explained why so many female representatives from various packs had been invited. It was a thinly veiled mate-hunting expedition disguised as a diplomatic gathering.

I smoothed down the fabric of my dress and checked my reflection in the window. The dress that Zayne bought for me fit me perfectly. Just looking at it made me think about him. I still had not heard from him since the last time we spoke.

My phone buzzed with a notification, and I glanced down absently. When I realized what the notifications were about, my eyes went wide with surprise.

Asher had just sent me two million dollars.