Switched Bride, True Luna - Chapter 47: Chapter 47

Emily
I caught the error by instinct.
Something about the formatting in the final report struck me as off. I’d stayed late to double-check the quarterly summaries ahead of next week’s Pack Council meeting. And there it was: my name on a report I hadn’t touched.
At first, I thought maybe someone had reused one of my old templates. Carla was always insisting she “helped organize things behind the scenes,” even though I hadn’t asked. But this wasn’t a template issue.
The report looked like it came from me. My style. My formatting. Even my digital signature. But when I opened the source log, the time stamp once again told the truth.
It had been uploaded three hours ago. At a time when I was physically out of the office. There was no possible way I was logged into an on-site account.
Someone had forged it.
I flagged it, rewrote the sections Carla had altered, and submitted the correct version directly to Logan’s chief liaison with a note about internal inconsistencies. I didn’t name her. Not yet.
I wanted to believe it would stop there but it didn’t.
By morning, a leaked version—not mine, not the corrected file, but the doctored one—made its way into the press. The headline wasn’t brutal: “Future Luna’s Financial Oversight Questioned Amid Ongoing Legal Battle.”
There was a photo of me in the corner, mid-speech, mouth slightly open, frozen in the act of explanation. Or defense. The placement made it look like I was trying to justify the error they’d already pinned on me.
I found Logan in his office, seated behind his desk with a tablet in hand. The expression on his face was controlled. As if he was afraid to let his anger show.
“It wasn’t me,” I said. “I found the forged report and corrected it last night. Someone submitted it under my name using falsified credentials.”
Logan’s eyes flicked up. “You have proof?”
I pulled up the digital logs and forwarded them to his private channel.
After a beat, he nodded. “Then we’ll take care of it.”
Something in me loosened. Until I added, “I need you to make a public correction.”
That made him pause. He sat back slowly, eyes narrowing—not with suspicion, but calculation. “If we issue a correction, we risk drawing more attention to it. Letting it fade out quietly might be better.”
Better. For him? But definitely not for me.
I crossed my arms. “So, we’re just going to let them believe I made a mistake? Or deliberately doctoring records.”
“They’ll forget it by next week.” He dismissed my concerns.
“I won’t.”
Logan stood now, voice still calm. “Emily—”
“No.” I hated the shake in my voice, hated how exposed this made me feel. “You believe me in private. But in public? You’re quiet. And that might as well condemn me. Your silence lets people think I’m incompetent. Or worse.”
He exhaled, jaw flexing. “This isn’t about trust. It’s about optics. If we look defensive, it adds fuel.”
“It’s already burning.” My hands curled into fists at my sides. “And you’re letting me stand in the fire alone.”
“I’m trying to protect both of us.”
“No, you’re protecting yourself.”
His eyes snapped to mine, and for a second, I saw the Alpha edge beneath the surface—sharp, frustrated, barely held in check.
“You think I don’t take heat every time I stand beside you?” he said, voice low but not soft. “You think this campaign, this Pack, this family—they don’t question me every damn day for choosing you?”
“Then maybe you should choose someone else,” I shot back. I hadn’t meant to say it. Not like that. But once it was out, I couldn’t take it back.
The silence that followed was immediate. I had stunned Logan into silence.
He looked away first. Not in shame. Not in defeat. Just… resignation.
I straightened my posture. Forced my tone to settle. “I’ll handle it on my own. Again.”
I turned and left his office, not because I wanted to—but because if I stayed, I might ask him to fight harder.
And I couldn’t take another moment of hoping he would.
Third Person
The tea shop Chloe selected was strategically neutral—just close enough to Titanfang territory to avoid suspicion, just far enough that no one of consequence was likely to walk in.
Inside, everything was soft upholstery and muted pastels. A place designed for secret conversations.
Carla arrived first. She had chosen the corner booth furthest from the door, one hand curled around a porcelain teacup she had no interest in sipping from. She smoothed her skirt, straightened her spine, and tried not to look out of place.
Chloe arrived ten minutes late, of course. Radiant in a bone-colored coat and cream-toned heels, she stepped through the door like she’d owned the place.
“Darjeeling?” she asked, sitting down without invitation.
Carla nodded stiffly. “You said this would be quick.”
“It is.” Chloe set her clutch down and crossed her legs. “So, did you do it?”
Carla’s lips curved, a little proud, a little nervous. “The report was intercepted before it reached the council, but I leaked an alternate version. Enough to raise eyebrows. And the press ran with it. She’s officially in the hot seat.”
Chloe’s smile was all teeth. “Perfect.”
A flash drive, thin and sleek, slid across the table between them. Chloe tucked it into her bag without looking.
“You’re sure it can’t be traced back to me?”
“I used a ghost terminal. Wiped the logs. It’ll look like she made the edits herself.”
For a moment, neither of them spoke. They didn’t need to; the plan had worked. The public now saw Emily as sloppy, impulsive, unprepared. Exactly what Chloe needed.
Chloe took a slow sip of her tea, then set the cup down with deliberate care.
“I’m not doing this just for fun, you know,” she said, her voice lighter than her expression. “I gave up everything I was supposed to have. For what? So my stepsister could wear Titanfang colors and play Luna?”
Carla didn’t answer.
“She was supposed to marry that old Alpha her father picked out,” Chloe continued, swirling the tea in her cup. “A pathetic, gray-haired has-been with a crooked nose and an ego twice the size of his territory. That was her fate. And I would’ve pitied her.”
Her smile widened.
“But now she’s with Logan. And that I can’t forgive. He was mine. Should be mine now.”
Carla’s eyes darted toward the window. “You really think he’d still choose you?”
Chloe didn’t blink. “He already did. Once. And he will again.”
There it was—the core of it. Beneath all the elegance and diplomacy, Chloe’s certainty was absolute. Mating well been part of her plan, Logan had once been part of that plan.
And no matter how many headlines featured Emily’s name, Chloe believed the spotlight belonged to her.
Carla, for her part, had her own reasons. She had no illusions about becoming anyone’s Luna. But she did know how to make herself useful.
“I did what you asked,” she said. “Don’t forget our agreement.”
Chloe leaned forward and let her voice drop between them. “I haven’t. If this keeps up, I’ll have my mother call off the wedding arrangements. You’ll be free of that miserable deal, and I’ll be exactly where I belong.”
They both sat back, pleased with how things were turning out.
“Let’s see how long Emily lasts without Logan’s protection.”