Chapter 3

Juliet's POV

I cracked eggs into the pan and watched them sizzle.

I'd barely slept, but somewhere around 4 AM I'd figured it out. Kael lied to me for three years? Fine. I could lie right back.

"Smells good." His voice behind me, still rough from sleep.

I kept smiling as his arms came around my waist. His lips pressed against the mark on my neck.

Now it just felt like he'd branded me. Claimed me like property.

"Morning," I said, soft and sweet. Everything in me wanted to shove him away. "Sleep okay?"

"Always do when you're here." He kissed my shoulder. "You were tossing and turning though. Something wrong?"

Yeah, I found out you destroyed my life on purpose.

"Just thinking about the celebration." I slid the eggs onto his plate. "Lot to plan."

He sat down and I put breakfast in front of him.

"Oh, hey." I poured his coffee like this was just another morning. "I was gonna ask you something yesterday, but you were with Rowan and I didn't want to bug you."

His fork stopped.

"What's up?"

"The decorations for the celebration. Think we should do the usual setup or try something different?" I sat across from him and held his eyes. "Not urgent. We can figure it out later."

His shoulders dropped. "Whatever you want. You're better at this stuff anyway."

He reached over and grabbed my hand. "You're amazing, you know that? Always thinking about what the pack needs."

I squeezed back. Smiled like I meant it. "That's what I'm here for, right?"

Not for much longer.

By noon I was in my studio. The room Kael set up when my hands got better, saying he wanted me to have space for my art.

I stared at my laptop. My finger hung over the keyboard, shaking.

Three years. Three whole years I'd avoided anything about that competition. Couldn't stand to think about it. About what I'd lost.

Kael never brought it up either. I thought he was being sweet. Letting me move on.

My chest got tight as I typed: "15th Werewolf Tattoo Master Competition."

I need to see it. All of it. No matter how bad it hurts.

I clicked the first link.

Selene's face filled my screen. Huge smile, holding this crystal trophy. The headline said: "Rising Star Selene Wins with Breathtaking 'Moonlit Wolf Soul.'"

I opened the image gallery.

Everything stopped.

That design. I knew every line. The gradient technique I spent months perfecting. The way the moonlight bent through the wolf's fur. The layered depth in the eyes that made them look alive.

This wasn't similar. This wasn't inspired by my work.

This was my work.

My hands were already pulling up my cloud storage, fingers clumsy and too fast. I found the backup folder from three years ago. The photos I'd taken of my designs before everything went to hell.

I pulled them up next to Selene's winning piece.

Same. Everything was the same. Ninety-five percent identical, down to the smallest details. The only thing different was her signature where mine should've been.

"No." My voice came out strangled. "No, this isn't—"

But it was.

She didn't just break my hands. Didn't just steal my spot in the competition.

She stole the actual design. My months of work. My creativity. Everything I'd poured into that piece.

And Kael knew. He had to have known.

I don't know how long I sat there. At some point I got up and went to my desk, pulled out my old portfolio from the bottom drawer.

My hands shook so bad I could barely open the folder. But there they were. My original sketches. My signature. The dates stamped on every page, months before the competition.

Proof. Undeniable proof that I'd created this design first.

I pulled up the video of her acceptance speech next. Made myself watch it.

"This piece is everything I believe about our wolf," Selene said, looking so goddamn sincere I wanted to throw my laptop. "I'm so honored the judges saw the innovation in my technique."

Your technique?

"The gradient work here, I've been developing this for years." She pointed at MY design on the screen behind her. "And getting that emotional depth in the eyes? That took me months."

The judges nodded.

My fist hit the desk before I could stop it. Pain shot through my knuckles but I didn't care.

"Liar." The word ripped out of me. "You lying, thieving bitch."

She stood there, taking credit for MY work while I'd been in a hospital bed with crushed hands.

And Kael watched it happen. Knew the whole time and said nothing.

I pressed my hands against my eyes, trying to breathe. Trying to think past the rage burning through my chest.

They took everything. My hands, my dream, my actual work, and made it hers.

Took me an hour before I could think straight again.

Then I got to work.

I saved everything. The comparison shots, my original sketches with all the timestamps, screenshots of her speech. Backed it all up to three different clouds and two USB drives.

Then I started digging deeper.

If Selene stole one design, maybe there were more. I pulled up her whole portfolio, every piece she'd won awards for in the past three years.

Two hours later, I had my answer. At least three other pieces showed weird similarities to smaller artists' work. She was careful, mixed things up, but the patterns were there once you knew what to look for.

She was a fake. Good at performing, sure. Good at stealing. But not the genius everyone thought.

I leaned back and stared at all the evidence spread across my screen.

Want to be a legend, Selene? I'll make you one. Just not the kind you're hoping for.

First: Get into the competition and expose her for what she is. Show the entire wolf world she built everything on stolen work.

Second: Get away from Kael before he can hurt me again. Before he can arrange another convenient accident.

But that second part? That was gonna be harder.

That evening I was in the study, pretending to look at decoration ideas while actually reading pack transfer laws.

The rules were clear and they sucked. A Luna could request a transfer, but her Alpha had to approve it. Without his okay, leaving counted as desertion. They'd hunt me down like a rogue.

I scrolled through the legal pages, my stomach sinking lower with every paragraph.

Maybe I could wait until Kael traveled for pack business? If I had even a few days head start, I could get far enough away to file the paperwork before he caught up.

But when was his next trip? Would it even be enough time?

I bookmarked everything and cleared my history. Then I pulled up actual decoration websites, just in case he checked.

Footsteps in the hall made me switch tabs fast.

"Still working?" Kael appeared in the doorway, smiling. "Getting late, Jules. Take a break."

"Almost done." I gestured at the screen full of flower arrangements. "Help me pick between these centerpieces?"

He walked over, his hand landing on my shoulder as he leaned down.

"Whatever you like." He kissed the top of my head. "You've got good taste."

"Left one then," I said, keeping my voice light. "More elegant."

"Perfect choice, my dear."

His hand stayed on my shoulder. Once that touch would've made me feel safe.

Now it just reminded me I was trapped.

But not for long.