The Alpha's Discarded Secretary Is The True Royal Luna

Hayley Thornton POV:

I shoved the heavy double doors open. The dark gray carpet swallowed the sound of my heels as the air near the floor-to-ceiling windows dropped to freezing.

A suffocating wave of synthetic rose perfume hit my nose. Jalyn Hyde used the cheap, sickly sweet fragrance to mask her natural wolf scent, and the harsh smell made my stomach churn. As a pampered socialite from Frostfang Enterprises gunning to become the next Luna of our corporate pack, she wore arrogance like a second skin.

"You stole the confidential files!"

Jalyn's shrill voice cut through the dead silence of the executive office. She jabbed a bright red fingernail right at the tip of my nose, her eyes gleaming with malicious glee.

I ignored her barking and turned toward the tall, broad-shouldered man behind the mahogany desk. Johnston Anthony, the young Alpha CEO of Apex Consolidated and the man I had secretly loved and served for six years, watched me with flat, cold gray eyes.

"I didn't do it," I said, forcing down the sour lump in my throat and straightening my spine. "Only you, Jalyn, and I have seen the final draft of the Silver Valley territorial development and mineral-rights proposal."

Jalyn raised her hand and swung hard.

A sharp gust of wind preceded a vicious slap across my left cheek. The loud crack echoed through the spacious room.

Fire spread across my skin as my head snapped to the side. My inner lip caught on my teeth, filling my mouth with the warm, metallic taste of blood.

I pressed a palm to my swollen cheek and whipped my head back to glare at Jalyn. Deep inside my chest, my hidden White Wolf bloodline roared to rip her throat out, but I bit down hard on the tip of my tongue to suppress the lethal instinct.

"You lowly Omega, how dare you talk back!"

Jalyn sneered and hurled a thick stack of printed communication logs straight at my chest. The sharp edges hit my collarbone before the papers scattered across the floor.

I glanced down at the sheets. The forged encrypted nodes bypassed every single pack firewall-a premeditated trap designed to frame me.

I looked back at Johnston, my chest tight with a fragile hope that he would see through such a clumsy lie. Instead, he rubbed his temples in irritation, the faint yellow nicotine stain on his index finger catching the light.

"The evidence is solid, Hayley. You really disappoint me."

Johnston's low voice froze six years of devotion into pain. My chest tightened.

My heart twisted as if an invisible fist had clamped around it, squeezing the air right out of my lungs. I dug my fingernails into my palms, staring at the man I had willingly hidden my true noble birth to support from the shadows.

"You'd rather believe these fake scraps of paper than trust me?" My voice trembled, carrying one last desperate test.

"Jalyn's family is about to finalize a high-tier alliance with us. She has no reason to betray the Pack's interests." Johnston stood up, looking down at me from his towering height as if stating a simple business fact.

His words hit me like a physical blow to the sternum, waking me up completely. In the werewolf world, genetic rank dictated everything, and before absolute profit and high-tier bloodlines, my six years of quiet companionship were nothing more than a disposable joke.

Jalyn leaned smoothly into Johnston's chest, shooting me a triumphant smirk.

Watching them pressed together made bile rise in my throat. The suffocating grievance in my chest evaporated, leaving behind a cold, hollow stillness.

"Since you've already found me guilty, why call me up here?" I uncurled my fists, my voice dropping to a flat, emotionless chill.

Johnston's brows drew together slightly, looking surprised by my sudden lack of tears. "Hand over your security clearance and apologize to Jalyn."

"Apologize?" I let out a cold laugh and reached behind my neck, yanking off the lanyard that marked me as the Alpha's confidential secretary. The metal clasp clicked sharply against my knuckles.

"Yes. Kneel down and beg for my forgiveness, and maybe the Alpha will be merciful enough to let you scrub toilets on the ground floor," Jalyn giggled behind her hand, looking at me like a rat in the gutter.

I didn't spare her a glance. I locked my gaze onto Johnston's indifferent face and spoke word by word, "And what if I refuse?"

Johnston's eyes darkened instantly, the muscle in his left cheek twitching as he bit the inside of his mouth. An arrogant Alpha never tolerated defiance, especially from a secretary who had always obeyed him.

"This isn't a request, Hayley. It's an order." He took a slow step forward, his muscles tensing as the predatory dominance of an apex leader flooded the room.

The air vanished from my lungs as an invisible, crushing weight-the Alpha's Command-slammed down on my shoulders.

In werewolf society, an Alpha's genetic command carried absolute physiological force over lower ranks within the same pack, designed to make any weak Omega's knees buckle on the spot.

My bones gave a faint, straining pop under the immense pressure. My legs trembled, fighting the biological urge to bend, while a layer of cold sweat broke out across my forehead.

Jalyn folded her arms, her smile twisting with eagerness as she waited for me to hit the floor.

Johnston watched with cold certainty, fully expecting a backgroundless Omega like me to crumble beneath his will.