On the night of the pack’s grand full-moon celebration, Alaric was practically vibrating with excitement. He had ordered a feast that could rival any royal gathering and commanded his second-in-command to hand out double rations of the pack’s bounty to every loyal member.

Lilith, all sweetness and smiles, went from wolf to wolf, presenting neatly wrapped bundles of meat and silver charms. Everyone accepted their gifts with gratitude—except me. When she reached my spot, she shoved me back with surprising force.

“Step aside! Strays like you don’t deserve a place among us,” she spat.

I blinked, stunned. “What… what are you talking about?” I asked.

Her lips curled into a cruel grin as she flung a banishment scroll at me. It hit my chest, rustling as it fluttered to the ground. “A lowborn runt like you has no claim to the pack’s rewards. Leave before you make the rest of us sick!”

As she ranted, the massive enchanted moon-crystal overhead lit up with a series of images—me, entwined in what looked like intimate moments with a high-ranking alpha from another pack.

Finally, the ledger of rewards appeared. Every wolf had been granted generous shares—ornaments, meat, and silver—but my column glowed a harsh, unforgiving red zero.

I clenched my fists, staring up at Alaric as he lingered nearby, silent and watchful.

“You’re really going to exile me… tonight?” I asked, voice tight with controlled anger.

The crystal continued cycling through the compromising images: me walking beside other pack leaders, sharing a toast, and in one humiliating shot, held at the waist as I stepped into a secluded lodge with one of them.

Alaric finally tore his eyes away from the screen and gave me a cold, unreadable look. He said nothing.

“I asked you a question,” I pressed again, my voice sharper this time. “Are you sure?”

The pack had gone quiet. Every wolf’s gaze was on him now, a mixture of pity and awe. Alaric ignored it all, stepping forward until he loomed over me. His voice was like ice scraping stone.

“Raven,” he began, each word deliberate, “what right do you have to stay among us? Every ounce of this pack’s prosperity comes from effort… except yours.”

“Is it not enough that I provide? That I’ve been loyal to you? That I’ve given my heart?” I shot back, trembling with fury. “Is that why you humiliate me in front of the whole pack? Don’t tell me these wolves are the reason you keep your distance instead of claiming the mate I offered you!”

He pulled a stack of papers from his cloak and slammed them against my chest. The edges cut into my skin, and when I touched my cheek, warm blood stained my fingers.

“They say it was noble to raise the pack’s renown under the full moon,” he growled, voice low and dangerous. “But I will not allow a disgrace like you to tarnish it—even if you are meant to be my mate.”

I looked up at him, steadying my shaking limbs. Surely he could see the truth if he just looked past the pictures. “Alaric, you know me. My achievements come from my own claws and fangs. Nothing in those images—nothing—changes that.”

Lilith’s laugh cut through the tension, dripping with venom. “Your own hard work?” she mocked. “And what kind of work would that be? Pleasing alpha clients? Everyone knows exactly how ‘deep’ your… collaborations go.”

Snickers and outright laughter spread through the pack. Some wolves murmured their agreement, pointing at me like I was a trapped prey.

I ground my teeth together, forcing myself to remain composed. “Those images mean nothing. My dealings with them were entirely about pack politics and alliances—nothing else.”

“Pack politics, you say?” Lilith scoffed, picking up the image from the floor—the one showing a wolf’s arm around my waist as we entered the lodge. “Then explain this one. How do you justify it?”

She leaned closer, lips twisted in cruel amusement. “This comes from a crystal vid. Shall I show everyone the full sequence?”

I studied the image for a heartbeat, then suddenly laughed, low and relieved. The wolf in the picture wasn’t an alpha or a client—it was my older brother, testing me during training.

That night, I stumbled back to my den drunk with frustration and humiliation. I meant to call Alaric to fetch me—but instead, I ended up calling my brother.

It just so happened that my brother had come from Emperor Bay that evening, sent by our parents to reason with me and stop me from being so stubborn. He arrived just in time to drag me away from a group of wolves who clearly had ill intentions toward me.

Who would have thought that simply taking me to a safe den to rest would be captured by someone with a hidden agenda?

No wonder Alaric had been acting so distant ever since that night—cold at times, yet forcing himself to appear warm.

It turned out he had been bottling up his feelings all along. He waited until I had secured the allegiance of key wolf packs and quietly leveraged my family’s influence to help him claim the leadership position he wanted for his own territory. Tonight, finally, he chose to explode.

I couldn’t help but feel hurt by his lack of trust.

And yet, he was also the first male I had ever truly fallen for. I didn’t want this misunderstanding to tear us apart.

Even more, I didn’t want my parents to learn that my first true, consuming love had ended before it ever really began. After all, I had fled Emperor Bay to escape the marriage they had planned for me.

I wanted the freedom to choose my own mate, to stand as an equal beside someone, not be trapped in a loveless alliance orchestrated for power. But I had never confided this to anyone—not even Alaric.

I feared that if he discovered I was the Queen Wolf of the Elite Circles, he would feel crushed beneath the weight of my status, insecure and overwhelmed.

Since childhood, every male around me had only ever wanted me for my position. I despised those calculated displays of affection, those compliments dripping with hidden agendas. But Alaric—when he looked at me, his eyes held nothing but stars.

The memory of how perfect things had been made a bitter laugh escape me.

“What are you laughing at?” Alaric’s frown cut through me, his voice sharp with disdain. “How can you laugh at a time like this?”

I lifted my head, holding his gaze without flinching. “Do you honestly think I climb to the top by sleeping with wolves?”

“Then what else have you done?” he sneered, his voice icy. “Tell me—what else could you have done that deserves any respect?”

It felt as if invisible claws had squeezed around my heart, tightening until every breath became a struggle.

I drew in a steadying breath and spoke slowly. “The wolf in that image… is my brother.”

“Your… brother?” Lilith’s laughter rang sharp and cruel. “Do you take us for fools? A ‘sworn brother’ your real brother? Or is that what you call every wolf you sleep with? Must admit, that does make things… more interesting!”

The laughter around me grew louder, sharp like snapping teeth; someone even whistled mockingly.

Alaric’s eyes were ice. “Enough,” he said, voice cutting through the noise. “Stop humiliating yourself. Take your banishment scroll and leave. From this moment, you no longer exist to me or to this pack.”

I gripped the scroll tightly, feeling only emptiness crawl through me. For five years, I had hidden my true identity, living as an ordinary wolf in his ranks, working tirelessly to help him rise to power.

And now, after personally laying the path to his dominance, he was ready to cast me aside like a used tool. I could endure loss—but I would not be made a fool. The last five years of my youth might have been wasted on an ungrateful alpha, but I would not break.

“Alaric… you’ll regret this,” I whispered, low and deadly.

Alaric’s reaction was laughter, sharp and mocking, as though I had just made the world’s most absurd joke.

“Regret?” he barked. “The only thing I’ll regret is ever meeting a faithless she-wolf like you!”

He extended his hand toward Lilith. The two exchanged a triumphant smile and strode together to the center of the clearing.

It was only then that I noticed—their matching ceremonial attire, a designer set of dark tailored leathers and a flowing gown of deep crimson. He raised their joined hands high, his voice loud and commanding over the gathered pack.

“Tomorrow marks the most crucial day in the history of our territory—our ascension! None of this would have been possible without the effort of every wolf here. Together, we shall continue to rise to greatness!”

The pack erupted in cheers, the forest shaking with howls of approval and thunderous applause.

The endless flattery of Alaric and Lilith, hailed as the perfect golden pair of the pack, rang sharply in my ears. Alaric’s eyes swept over me, indifferent, as though I were nothing more than a shadow passing through the clearing. I felt utterly invisible, a ghost among wolves.

As I stared at the male I had devoted five years of my heart to, I finally understood why my parents always said my judgment was flawed. They had been right—I had been blind, hopelessly blind.

I hadn’t realized that Lilith, Alaric’s ever-loyal mate-in-waiting, had been entwined with him all along, hiding in plain sight.

Being the daughter of the Ashcrofts had never made me incapable of maneuvering within the upper echelons of the pack. I had the claws to lift him to power, and just as easily, I could tear him down from the heights he now claimed.

Clutching the resignation scroll in my hand, I made my move to leave this suffocating den of deceit.

But as I took my first step, Mr. Webb from the pack’s administration blocked my path, a false smile plastered across his face.

“Raven, there’s no need to hurry away just yet,” he said, adjusting his glasses, the tone of his voice laced with authority and a thin veneer of civility. “Before stepping down, you must sign a declaration confirming that your actions while under our pack’s roof have no ongoing influence over our affairs. You’ll also need to sign a binding non-compete clause—ensuring you cannot use your connections to poach clients or allies once you leave.”

Not long ago, I had been Alaric’s mate, respected and feared in equal measure, my ability to secure powerful alliances earning me the utmost courtesy from the pack.

Mr. Webb had fawned over me then, bowing his head and addressing me with the reverence due to “Mrs. Thorne.” That time had passed. Now, he looked down at me with a self-satisfied smirk, as though diminishing me might somehow restore his own sense of significance.

I studied his pathetic display and replied, voice ice-cold, “A declaration? A non-compete? And what makes you think I would ever sign either of them?”

His smile evaporated instantly, replaced by a hard edge. “Because of your dirty little schemes! The pack has already shown mercy by not pressing charges—do not mistake our restraint for weakness!”

I laughed, bitter and unrestrained. “Dirty schemes? Evidence? Or are you simply referring to those conveniently misinterpreted images?”

Lilith strutted forward, heels clicking against the stone floor, manicured finger jabbed toward my pack communicator. “Isn’t the proof right there in your device? Who knows how many contacts you’ve hoarded? Step out of here, and who’s to say you won’t seduce one by one to secure a new alliance?”

Before I could react, Mr. Webb lunged for my communicator. My fingers grazed it—and then it was gone.

“Give it back!” I snapped.

Lilith snatched it from his hands with a triumphant smirk, retreating just enough to mock me fully. “Look at you, so nervous now. Clearly, there’s more you don’t want anyone to see.”

She turned to Alaric, prompting him for the passcode. They tried his birthday, mine, even the day we first claimed each other under the full moon—but the device stayed locked. Alaric’s patience snapped. He yanked the communicator from her hands and barked at the security wolves to restrain me.

He attempted the facial recognition feature—but multiple failures forced the system to default to passcode entry.

“What is the password?” he demanded, voice like a growl.

Since the day we bonded, the passcode had always been the date he first admitted his feelings. I could almost smirk at the irony—he had forgotten. Not surprising.

Failing to access my device before his pack only fueled his humiliation. His pride crumbled, his face darkening with a storm of rage, every second deepening his fury.

“You keep insisting the photos were a misunderstanding—so why change your password?” he spat, the accusation heavy with irritation.

“It’s the date you first confessed to me,” I said calmly.

Alaric froze, struggling to remember that moment. His expression twisted, a chaotic swirl of confusion, anger, and something dangerously close to regret—a ruined masterpiece of emotion.

I wrenched free from the guards’ grip, snatching my communicator back. Alaric watched in silence as I unlocked it effortlessly. His lips parted, as if he wanted to speak—but no words emerged, and the tension hung between us, heavy as a winter storm over the pack.