“Miss Holly, we have found a body. The features match your mother. We need you to come to the pack hall for identification.”

My smile, reflected in the polished metal mirror of the bridal hut, shattered with a single message delivered by the patrol runner.

When the healers pulled back the hide-covered shroud, her body was hardly recognizable. Her eyes were gone. Her core and organs torn out, as if some creature had fed on her life essence.

I fell to the ground, screaming until my voice broke, and the world faded into darkness.

When I woke again, my fiancé, Evan Marks, the future Alpha of the Stoneclaw Pack, sat beside me. He brushed away my tears with gentle fingers and pressed a soft kiss to my forehead.

“They caught the beast responsible,” he whispered. “I made sure he paid for what he did to your mother.”

He vowed that for the rest of his life, he would protect me the way she once did.

But that night, startled awake by another nightmare, I sensed movement outside the sleeping den. Through the narrow gap of the wooden door, I saw Evan holding my half-sister, Sarah, in his arms.

She sobbed into his chest, shaking from head to toe.

“If she ever discovers the truth, she’ll kill me.”

Evan cupped her face, gentle as always.

“Sarah, listen to me. Those wanderers fooled you. You didn’t know what they were. This isn’t your fault. You’re a victim too.”

A coldness settled deep in my bones. My breath caught.

So this was the truth. My mother died because of Sarah. And the male who swore to love me for life was protecting her.

After sending Sarah back to her quarters, Evan turned and saw me collapsed on the floor. His expression wavered for a heartbeat. Guilt. Irritation. Then something harder.

“So you heard everything?”

His voice held no warmth. Only annoyance that his secret had been found.

“Don’t blame Sarah. Your mother pushed too hard. She kept asking Sarah to help her place her savings with those travelers. She walked into danger on her own.”

He tossed a blank parchment onto the nearest table, the Stoneclaw seal still fresh.

“Write whatever number you want. But forget what you heard. For now, we keep the peace. The bonding ceremony is in five days. We will proceed as planned.”

I stared at the male who once promised to love me under the Moon Goddess's light. Now he felt like a stranger wearing a familiar face.

I wiped my tears, my heartbeat steadying into something colder.

If my ceremony was destined to become my mother’s funeral, then in five days…

I would return the favor, with interest.

……

I said nothing. Evan grew impatient, yanking off his leather chest wrap and tossing it onto the wooden stand beside our bed of woven furs.

“If you understand, then sleep.”

But something inside me snapped. Grief, rage, betrayal. It all tore free at once.

“Pretend? Are you serious?”

My voice echoed against the timber walls of the den.

“You knew. You knew my mother was the only family I had. You knew how much it mattered to her to see me walk to the bonding altar in white. And Sarah destroyed everything.”

Did he really not understand why my mother had been desperate to gather coin? Evan’s family had looked down on us from the moment our packs allied. His parents barely tolerated me. My mother had tried so hard to prove she belonged in the same hall as them. That was why she sought Sarah’s help, hoping for once she wouldn’t be dismissed as useless.

I still remembered the patrol commander’s quiet words.

“She tracked the wanderers down to reclaim her savings. She didn’t know they belonged to a rogue organ-trading circle. They butchered her and took what they could use.”

The memory hollowed my chest. Tears blurred my vision.

“If it weren’t for Sarah and her mother, none of this would have happened. All I want is justice for my mom. And you’re stopping me from even that.”

“Enough, Holly.” Evan’s growl cut through the room. His eyes darkened with irritation. “Sarah was fooled as well. She lost everything too. And you? Instead of compassion, you’ve been spreading that she is your father’s bastard cub. Do you have a heart at all?”

“Compassion?” I laughed, the sound brittle. “What about my mother? She died in the worst way imaginable.”

“She died because she made foolish choices,” he scoffed. “Sarah had no part in it. Do not even think about harming her.”

His voice held the frost of a winter storm. My wolf shuddered deep inside me.

I clutched the front of my tunic as if it could hold my breaking chest together. The packed-earth floor blurred under my tears.

“Evan,” I whispered, “have you forgotten? When you were taken by rogues, who risked her life to save you? Who fought them off with her bare hands?”

“Do you remember the night she lay in the healer’s bed, half-conscious, and you knelt beside her and promised you would never hurt me? That you would care for me for as long as you breathed?”

His jaw tightened. His expression hardened into something sharp and cold.

“Do not drag up old stories. I have given you and your mother shelter, food, status for years. Whatever debt I owed, it’s paid.”

Then, as if he wanted to slice me open further, he laughed without warmth.

“This is about coin, isn’t it?”

He flicked the parchment at me again. The edge scraped across my cheek, sharp enough to draw blood.

I tasted iron on my tongue as I clenched my fists.

“I don’t want your coin. I want Sarah held accountable.”

He rolled his eyes, a lazy exhale coming from his nose.

“Go ahead. Let’s see which pack elder will stand against me in a hearing. Know your place.”

Then his gaze narrowed. “I will not have a hysterical female as my mate. This ends here.”

His signal stone hummed. He glanced down and, instantly, his face brightened.

“A gift? From you? That is thoughtful. Truly, those trade alliances only succeeded because of your charm.”

“What? No escort? Don’t worry, I will come get you. Stay where you are.”

He did not grant me a single look as he strode out of the den.

The door of woven branches closed behind him. My tears burned trails down my cheeks.

Fine. If this was the path he chose, I would not stop him.

I turned to pack my belongings when the messenger stone on the table buzzed again.

“Miss Holly,” the paralegal from the council said cheerfully, “since you withdrew the charges in your mother’s case, we are closing the investigation. Just keeping you informed.”

My blood turned to ice.

I had never withdrawn anything.

I froze. Dropped the charges? What in the Moon’s name were they talking about?

I ran to the Council Hall as fast as my legs could carry me. But by the time I burst inside, the parchment containing my mother’s case had already been shredded into tiny pieces and tossed into the fire pit.

Everything blurred. I fell to my knees, clutching the Council scribe’s sleeve, my voice cracking.

“You promised. You said you’d help me get justice for my mother.”

The scribe looked uneasy. He let out a long, defeated sigh.

“The person who withdrew the complaint was your mate. Evan Marks. No one here can go against a future Alpha. I am truly sorry.”

With a curt nod, he signaled the guards, and they escorted me out into the dirt path beyond the Hall.

But I wasn’t giving up.

There had to be someone in this cursed territory who still had a spine.

Hands trembling, I rode from pack to pack, seeking any elder or lawkeeper who might help me. One after another turned their backs. The answer never changed.

“Forgive us, Miss Holly. Alpha Heir Marks made himself clear. Anyone who touches this case will lose their post before sunrise. We cannot assist you.”

I sank to the ground outside the Stoneclaw border. My palm landed on a shard of rock, slicing skin, blood seeping out. I barely felt it.

When I was sixteen, my father cast my mother and me out of his den. The same day, Sarah and her mother moved in.

I still remembered Sarah, only thirteen, standing on the steps of the pack house with a smug little smirk. That was the day I learned my father had been unfaithful for years.

Mom and I wandered for days, packless and cold. One freezing night, we stumbled into a clearing where rogues were forcing a young wolf into a cage. Evan Marks, heir of the Stoneclaw Pack, was bound and beaten.

Mom didn’t hesitate. She lunged into the fight, claws bared. She saved him… and nearly died doing it. She took blade after blade meant for him.

Afterward, Evan dragged us back to Stoneclaw against his parents’ wishes. Mom refused his offer of full support. Instead, she worked as a housekeeper at the manor. I transferred to the Stoneclaw training grounds, attending lessons alongside the young heir.

Day by day, I watched the boy I’d rescued grow into someone I couldn’t help but love. He loved me back. On my twentieth year, he held my hand before my mother and vowed he would protect me for life.

But things changed a year ago.

He returned from a night of feasting with nearby packs speaking about Sarah in ways he never had before.

“She’s not who I thought she was,” he told me. “She’s working three odd jobs to pay her way through training. Can you believe that?”

“And some rich wolf tried to claim her as his mate. She slapped him across the face. Feisty girl.”

Then he added, “You and she never got along. But maybe that’s because you never gave her a chance. If you spent time with her, you might see how lovable she is.”

My gut twisted, but I forced myself to ignore it.

Later, a friend told me Evan had purchased a rare moonstone bracelet once worn by an ancient Winter Queen. I assumed it was for my birthday.

But on the day of my birth celebration, Sarah posted on the pack board. That exact bracelet gleamed on her wrist. And in the reflection of a nearby window, I recognized a familiar male figure standing beside her, fingers interlaced with hers.

That night, I waited beside a dying candle. Evan never returned.

It was the first time he forgot my birthday.

After that, he forgot more. Anniversaries. Promises. Moments that used to matter.

Meanwhile, Sarah’s posts grew bolder. His silhouette behind her in feasting halls. His bare shoulders through a steamy bathhouse door. His hands adjusting her cloak.

Six moons ago, we signed our bonding contract. Evan told me he wanted to give me the perfect ceremony.

Now I knew the truth. There would never be a ceremony.

My hands steadying, I picked up the communication stone and spoke.

“You still want my shares in Stoneclaw Holdings,” I said coldly. “Fine. I will sign them over. All of them.”

He had gifted me those shares the day he finally won my heart. I told him it was too much. He insisted.

His voice echoed in my memory, painfully gentle.

“If you want the stars or the moon, I will give them to you. A few shares are nothing compared to that.”

I understand now. What we had was real. Once. But hearts change. Wolves grow cold. And love is never immortal.

The boy who once held me as if I were his entire world was gone. Devoured by time and choices.

As I ended the call, the stone vibrated with Evan’s message.

Calmed down yet?

I arranged the burial grounds and paid for the rites. Shouldn’t you be satisfied? Stop testing my patience.

Another message appeared seconds later.

Did you not hear me? Come to my study now. Sign the forgiveness decree for Sarah.

Something inside me finally broke. I called him. My voice shook with fury.

“Why should I sign anything for her? And if I refuse, what then? You going to press my hand onto the parchment yourself?”

He ended the call. Cold. Without a pause.

Seconds later, another image flashed across my message stone.

A scanned copy of an investment pact. A binding trade agreement signed between my mother and Sarah.

Large runic letters carved across the center read:

All trades carry risk. Any loss caused by personal misjudgment is the client’s own responsibility.

My mother’s name and blood-mark sat cleanly at the bottom.

Evan had been preparing for this. His legal advisors, a ruthless pack of seasoned elders, were ready to crush me like dust underfoot.

Still, I went to the Stoneclaw Council Hall.

Inside the lift platform leading up the tower, I ran into Sarah.

She wore a rare moon-silk gown tailored by the clan’s finest artisans, a jeweled pouch on her arm worth more than most warriors would earn in a lifetime, and around her wrist, the ancient queen’s moonstone bracelet glimmered.

She looked like royalty. Like someone born adored.

Her lips curled when she saw me.

“Oh dear, Annelise, you look dreadful,” she said in a syrupy voice. “I guess it’s true. When a she-wolf ages, the bloom fades. No wonder Evan lost interest.”

Then, feigning concern, she added, “Still haven’t buried your mother? Want me to help plan the rites? We are family, after all.”

My hands curled into fists. Rage burned so hot it felt like fire under my skin.

“You knew it was a scam,” I hissed. “You knew those wandering traders were frauds. You tricked my mother into giving away everything she had.”

She widened her eyes, pretending to be hurt, though a smirk tugged at her lips.

“How could you accuse me like that? I was only trying to help,” she crooned. “Your mother wanted more coin for your bonding dowry. How could I refuse?”

My chest tightened. Blood roared in my ears.

“That old woman adored you,” she went on, voice slipping into a sneer. “Loved you more than her own life.”

Then she leaned close, whispering, her breath brushing my ear.

“One day, I stepped on Head Alpha Marks’s prized moon-peonies. On purpose. The steward said he’d cut your mother’s pay for three moons. She begged on her knees. Right in front of me.”

“She hadn’t taken a single rest day in months,” Sarah giggled. “All to save money for your perfect wedding. And when I told her to crawl across the garden like a dog? She did. Instantly.”

My world shattered. All those times my mother smiled through exhaustion, telling me not to worry… I never knew what she had endured for my sake.

As the lift platform doors opened, something inside me broke.

I raised my hand, vision blazing.

“Sarah, you’re a monster.”

Before I even touched her, she flung herself out of the lift, shrieking as she held her face.

“Annelise, I apologized,” she sobbed. “I even knelt to you, but you keep tormenting me. Do you want me dead? Fine, then. I will die for your mother!”

She stumbled toward the stone wall, pretending she meant to smash her head against it.

“Sarah!”

A figure rushed past me. Arms wrapped around her protectively.

Evan.

He hauled her into his embrace and rammed his shoulder into me. I wasn’t prepared. My head snapped back, slamming into the stone wall behind me with a sickening crack.

The world tilted. Warm blood trickled down my neck.

Evan turned on me, eyes wild with fury.

“Holly, how dare you? Apologize to Sarah. Now.”

It looked like she was his mate. And me? Just some deranged outsider.

Sarah trembled against him, sobbing.

“I know she’s grieving,” she whimpered, clinging to him as if he were her last breath, “and I offered to pay it all back. I said I’d take any job, even the dangerous ones. But she still struck me. She cursed me too. Said I should drop dead.”

Evan pulled her closer, jaw tight, gaze burning with anger.

“Have I not given you enough?” he snapped at me. “Look at yourself. Just like your mother. Petty. Greedy. Always playing the victim. You deserved the punishment.”

My breath hitched. The hall spun, yet I stayed rooted, stunned into stillness.

“Petty and greedy?” I whispered. “That’s what you think of me? That wanting justice for my mother makes me a grasping lunatic?”

Tears blurred my vision, but I refused to let them fall.

For a moment, something in Evan flickered. But the instant Sarah whimpered in his arms, his expression hardened.

“I saw you attempt to strike her,” he said. “I don’t care why.”

He stepped toward me.

“This is the last time I will repeat myself. Apologize.”

My heart clenched like claws were crushing it.

“And if I refuse?” I answered, voice cold.