Betrayal in the Pack

The mind-link hit me like a sledgehammer while I was reviewing territorial agreements with the neighboring Crescent Valley Pack. My mother's voice pierced through my consciousness, sharp with an urgency I'd never heard before.

*Shelby, you need to come home immediately. Family emergency. Pack honor is at stake.*

I pressed my fingers to my temples, trying to focus through the mental static. *What kind of emergency? Can't this wait until—*

*No details through the link. Others might overhear. Just come. Now.*

The connection severed abruptly, leaving me staring at the half-signed contracts spread across the conference table. Beta Marcus from Crescent Valley raised an eyebrow. "Pack business?"

"Something like that." I gathered the papers with practiced efficiency, my hands steady despite the knot forming in my stomach. Whatever this was, it couldn't be good. Luna Robinson never used the emergency protocols unless something threatened our family's standing.

The two-hour drive back to Silver Moon territory felt endless. My wolf, Sage, paced restlessly in the back of my mind. *Something's wrong,* she whispered. *The Luna's scent was all over fear and desperation.*

*When isn't it?* I thought back, but even I couldn't shake the feeling that this was different.

I pulled into the circular driveway of the pack house—the pack house I'd bought and maintained for the last five years—and my blood turned to ice. My belongings were scattered across the front lawn like debris after a tornado. Clothes, books, my laptop bag, even my grandmother's jewelry box, all dumped carelessly on the grass.

"What the hell?" I slammed the car door and marched toward the house, stepping over a pile of my work blazers. The front door stood open, and I could hear voices from upstairs—familiar laughter that made my skin crawl.

I stormed through the foyer, my heels clicking against the marble I'd paid for, and headed straight for my bedroom. The door was ajar, and what I saw inside made my wolf snarl.

Rachel was lounging on my bed—*my* bed—wearing one of my silk robes, her dark hair spread across my pillows like she owned the place. She looked up as I appeared in the doorway, her lips curving into that smug smile I'd grown to despise.

"Oh good, you're back." She stretched languidly, making no move to get up. "I was wondering when you'd show up to collect your things."

"Get out of my room." The words came out low and dangerous. "Get out of my house."

"Actually, about that..." She examined her manicured nails with theatrical indifference. "Daddy wants to see you in his office. Something about a little chat."

Before I could respond, heavy footsteps echoed down the hallway. Alpha Robinson appeared, his commanding presence filling the doorway behind me. Even after all these years, his alpha aura still made my wolf want to submit, but I forced myself to stand tall.

"Shelby." His voice carried that tone I remembered from childhood—the one that meant I was in trouble for something I didn't understand. "My office. Now."

I followed him downstairs, my mind racing. The familiar scent of leather and pine that usually marked his study now carried undertones of stress and something else—shame, maybe? Luna Robinson was already there, perched on the edge of the leather sofa, her hands twisted in her lap.

"Sit." Alpha Robinson gestured to the chair across from his desk, the same one where I'd received lectures about disappointing the family, about not finding my mate, about not living up to Rachel's potential.

I remained standing. "I want to know why my belongings are on the lawn."

"We need to discuss your future contributions to this family." Luna Robinson's voice wavered slightly. "There's been a... development."

"What kind of development?"

Alpha Robinson leaned back in his chair, his fingers steepled. "Your sister is pregnant."

The words hit me like a physical blow, but I kept my expression neutral. "Congratulations to Rachel, I suppose. Though I'm not sure why that requires throwing my things out."

"The father is... problematic." Luna Robinson's euphemism hung in the air like a bad smell.

"Problematic how?"

"He's a rogue." Alpha Robinson's jaw clenched. "Your sister's condition threatens everything we've built. The pack's reputation, her future as Luna, our standing with allied territories."

My wolf went very still. "And this concerns me how?"

"We need five hundred thousand dollars immediately," Luna Robinson said, her words rushing together. "For relocation expenses, medical care, and... arrangements. And we need you to transfer the pack house deed to Rachel."

"You want me to give her my house and half a million dollars because she got knocked up by a rogue?" The disbelief in my voice was sharp enough to cut glass.

"That's not all." Alpha Robinson's alpha tone pressed against my consciousness, trying to force compliance. "You'll publicly claim the pup as your own. Tell the pack you had a brief relationship with an outsider who's since left the territory. Your mateless status makes you the perfect cover."

The room spun. They wanted me to sacrifice everything—my money, my home, my reputation—to clean up Rachel's mess. Again.

"No."

The single word fell into the silence like a stone into still water.

"Excuse me?" Alpha Robinson's eyebrows shot up.

"I said no. I won't do it. Any of it." I crossed my arms, feeling Sage's strength flowing through me. "Who's the father? I want to know exactly who Rachel's been spreading her legs for."

"Shelby!" Luna Robinson gasped.

"Don't you dare take that tone with me," Alpha Robinson snarled, rising from his chair. "This family has given you everything—"

"This family has taken everything from me," I shot back. "I've funded your lifestyle, bought this house, supported Rachel's shopping habits, and what do I get? Treated like hired help."

Footsteps on the stairs interrupted our standoff. A familiar scent drifted through the air—cologne I knew, mixed with something wild and dangerous. My stomach dropped as Neo Dixon appeared in the doorway, his arm sliding possessively around Rachel's waist.

But this wasn't the Neo I knew. Gone was the charming smile, the careful deference he'd always shown me. This version had cold eyes and a predatory grin that made my skin crawl.

"Having family drama?" His voice carried a mocking edge I'd never heard before. "Maybe I can help clear things up."

Rachel leaned into him, her hand resting on her still-flat stomach. "Neo, meet my sister. The one I told you about."

"We've met." Neo's grin widened, showing too many teeth. "Haven't we, *babe*?"

The endearment, delivered with such casual cruelty, made everything click into place. The late nights he'd claimed were pack business. The phone calls he'd taken in private. The way he'd grown distant over the past few months.

"You bastard." The words came out barely above a whisper.

"Now, now. No need for name-calling." Neo stepped forward, and I caught the full force of his rogue scent—wild, untamed, dangerous. "Though if you're not going to be reasonable about helping family, maybe we have a problem."

"The only problem here is you," I snarled, my wolf rising to the surface.

"Careful, Shelby." Neo's eyes flashed with challenge. "Rogues don't play by pack rules. If you want to settle this the hard way, I'm more than happy to remind you what real wolves are capable of."

The threat hung in the air between us, thick with the promise of violence. Alpha Robinson stepped forward, his authority crackling through the room.

"Enough." His voice cut through the tension like a blade. "Shelby, you have a choice. Support your family and maintain pack honor, or leave. Tonight. If you won't sacrifice for the good of this pack, then you're no daughter of mine."

Luna Robinson's sob echoed in the sudden silence. "Please, Shelby. Don't make us choose between you and Rachel."

I looked around the room—at my parents who'd never seen me as anything more than a meal ticket, at my sister who'd stolen my boyfriend and expected me to clean up her mess, at the rogue who'd played me for a fool.

"You already made that choice years ago," I said quietly. "You just never bothered to tell me."