Liora’s POV

Eighteen years ago, my mate, Alpha Kaelen of the Blackthorn Pack, swore to me that we would never have pups. He said the pack didn’t need heirs—we could live free, just the two of us, ruling side by side without the burden of children.

I believed him. I gave up everything for him. When the Healer warned me my womb was cursed, Kaelen convinced me to go through with the ritual hysterectomy that stripped me of any chance to bear pups. I agreed. For him. For us.

And I never looked back.

Not until the day he walked into our den with two wide–eyed wolf twins in his arms—one boy, one girl, no more than a few moons old, swaddled in furs. Their scent was unfamiliar, their bloodline unknown.

“They were abandoned on the edge of our borders,” Kaelen said smoothly, his silver eyes shining with conviction. “They need a mother, Liora. Will you raise them as your own?”

I didn’t even hesitate.

From that moment on, I poured every ounce of love into those pups. I taught them to shift, soothed them through their first broken bones when the moon pulled too hard, stayed awake through fevers that made their little bodies tremble. I trained them in the art of combat, packed their hunting satchels, kissed their foreheads before every patrol.

And I loved them. Fiercely.

Now they’re grown. One was chosen for the Elder Council’s academy, the other accepted into the Lycan Courts as an envoy. My chest nearly burst with pride. They were my children in every way that mattered.

At their send–off feast, when the pack howled under the silver moon, Kaelen handed me a scroll.

“Liora,” he said, his voice calm, “it’s time. Sign the transfer. All pack assets will now belong to the twins. They’ll inherit everything.”

I didn’t even question him. I reached for the quill.

But before I could sign, my mother grabbed my wrist. Her eyes blazed with worry.

“Child,” she whispered, “do you even know whose blood runs in those pups’ veins? You’re giving them everything. Keep something for yourself—please.”

I smiled softly. “Mother, it doesn’t matter. They are mine. My heart knows it.”

Her face crumpled, tears spilling as she dropped to her knees. My father stormed in, his fury shaking the room.

“You shame our bloodline, Liora!” he roared, and struck me across the face. “You would give away the Oldfang legacy to pups we know nothing of?”

But still—I signed.

Kaelen’s grin widened, sharp as a wolf baring his fangs. And in front of the entire pack, he pulled another woman forward. A sleek she–wolf with golden hair and a cruel smile. He slipped his arm around her waist, his touch intimate.

She tossed a parchment at my feet. A divorce decree.

“Thank you for raising Kaelen’s pups all these years,” she said, her voice dripping with triumph. “But it’s time for you to step aside. Our family will finally be whole.”

The crowd gasped. My blood turned to ice.

I looked at her—at the she–wolf who had clawed her way into my mate’s heart. My voice came out calm, steady.

“Fine.”

But inside, my world shattered.

Her name was Seraphine. Once a low–ranking wolf in my company of hunters, ambitious and cunning. I should have seen it. She wasn’t just playing the games of the pack—she had been playing house with my mate all along.

My voice cut through the stunned silence like a blade. “So, Kaelen—you’ve been bedding her all this time?”

Seraphine only smiled, her golden eyes gleaming. “Don’t be bitter, Liora. If you truly loved Kaelen, you’d want what’s best for him. Even if that means stepping aside.”

Kaelen snarled. “Enough. Sign the papers and be done with it. Don’t drag this out.”

I stared at him, but I no longer saw the powerful Alpha he had become. I saw the starving boy I’d once saved—an omega orphan, half–dead from hunger, trembling at my door. I was the one who carried him into my home, who fed him, who loved him.

And now, before the whole pack, he cast me aside for his old flame.

Whispers spread like wildfire through the wolves gathered around us.

“She gave up her womb for him…”

“And raised pups that weren’t even hers…”

“And now this?”

My claws curled into my palms, I was reeling from an unknown betrayal.

Liora’s POV

“I think those twins carry Kaelen’s blood—with that homewrecker,” someone muttered from the back of the feast hall.

“Of course they do,” another wolf growled. “Why else would he push Liora to transfer the entire Blackthorn estate to them?”

“Poor Luna. She was completely played.”

The whispers spread like wildfire through the hall, sharp as claws, burning like shame against my skin. What had started as a celebration beneath the moon had become a public spectacle—me, stripped of dignity at its center.

My mother clutched my arm, her face streaked with tears. “Liora, this is exactly what we warned you about,” she cried, her voice breaking. “That male has always been calculating. He never loved you. And those pups—you don’t even know whose blood runs through their veins. But you refused to listen!”

My father had stormed out earlier, his temper too wild to contain. Now he returned, fury radiating off him like heat from a forge.

“How could I have raised such a foolish daughter?” he roared, his wolf aura shaking the air. “You gave up your womb for him, your rank, your freedom—now even your assets? Liora, you are a disgrace to the Oldfang name!”

Judgment pressed in from every corner, murmurs thick and merciless. I looked down at the parchment—the divorce decree—in my hands. But no one noticed the faint, almost amused curve of my lips.

“Liora,” Kaelen said, his voice slick with false gentleness, the tone I had come to despise, “you can’t blame me. You can’t bear pups. What choice did I have?”

A dry laugh tore from my throat, cold and humorless. “You’re the one who made me do it. You told me to undergo the Healer’s ritual so we could live child-free. You swore that if I sacrificed that, you would stay with me forever.”

Kaelen shrugged, careless, his silver eyes gleaming. “That was then. Things change. An Alpha needs heirs. And since you can’t give me any, I’ll take them elsewhere.”

“Exactly.” Seraphine stepped forward, her golden hair catching the torchlight, her voice smooth as venom. “What good is a Luna who cannot produce heirs? And what use is a fortune if there’s no blood to inherit it?”

Around us, wolves began to nod in quiet agreement, whispers rising again, echoing her cruelty.

My mother stepped forward, eyes blazing with fury. She jabbed her finger at Kaelen. “You! Have you forgotten where you came from?” Her voice trembled with rage.

“You were a starving orphan, half-dead on our borders. Couldn’t even afford your own meals. If Liora’s father hadn’t stepped in, your sick mother would have died before the next moonrise. We gave you a home. A seat at our table. A chance to prove yourself. And when you took Liora as your mate, we asked for nothing in return—no dowry, no riches. Instead, we gifted you a house, gave your brother a position among our hunters, treated you as our blood.

“And this… this is how you repay us?”

The hall fell silent.

Kaelen let out a humorless laugh. “Why bring up the past? None of that matters now.” He turned to me, smirking. “Well, Luna? Are you just going to stand there clutching those papers? Sign or not, it doesn’t matter. The estate’s already been shifted to the twins. The vaults, the lands, the titles—they are theirs now. As for you—” His mouth twisted. “You’ll have a handful of coins for your retirement. Consider it thanks for your… sacrifices.”

Gasps rippled through the pack. Wolves growled low, whispers cutting through the air.

“If not for her, Kaelen’s mother would have perished. He’d still be a nameless orphan in the woods.”

“The Oldfangs gave him everything—and he gutted them like prey.”

“Look at him—grinning like a wolf who’s stolen the kill.”

Kaelen’s smug smile stretched wide, too wide.

Then—smack!

The sound cracked through the hall like thunder. My father had stormed forward and struck Kaelen across the face, so hard his head snapped to the side.

“You bastard!” my father bellowed, his voice shaking the stone walls. “She gave you her body, her rank, her life! And this is how you repay her? You would strip her bare in front of the entire pack?”

Kaelen’s face flushed crimson, more from humiliation than pain. He waved his arm sharply. “Guards! Remove this old fool from my sight!”

Like trained hounds, the Blackthorn sentries surged forward, eyes blazing, teeth bared, surrounding my father with fists clenched and waiting for a command to descend on him.

Liora’s POV

The same wolves who had been all smiles earlier, helping my father carry barrels of mead into the hall, turned on him in an instant at Kaelen’s command. Their eyes glowed amber, hackles raised, ready to lunge.

“You lay a claw on me, and you’ll regret it,” my father warned, his voice sharp, carrying the weight of an Elder’s authority.

One of the guards scoffed, baring his teeth. “And why wouldn’t we? You’re no Alpha. Who do you think you are to challenge him?”

But they hesitated. There was still fire burning in my father’s gaze—the kind that reminded every wolf in the room why the Oldfang bloodline had ruled for centuries.

Then Seraphine, drunk on her new role as victor, sauntered forward and—smack!—struck my father across the face.

The hall went silent.

He froze, not from the sting, but from the humiliation. This was a wolf who had once been High Councillor of the North, who had brokered peace between rival packs, who had funded the building of orphan dens and veterans’ halls. And here he stood, struck by the she–wolf who stole his legacy.

His fists clenched, fury trembling through him. He was about to unleash it, but I grabbed his arm, pulling him back before bloodshed tore the hall apart.

“This is too much,” someone whispered from the crowd. “They dared lay claws on Elder Oldfang?”

“How could they disrespect him? That male rebuilt homes after the Great Fire, fed starving pups in winter. And now… this?”

“Liora gave her life to Kaelen. Doesn’t she know a she–wolf doesn’t get her moons back once they’re gone? A male can sire pups into his grey years, but a female…”

“If my daughter had done this,” another muttered, “I’d have disowned her.”

“This pair—Kaelen and Seraphine—they’re vile. And now they rule the Blackthorn fortune?”

Growls filled the air, but Kaelen stood unfazed. He raised a hand for silence.

“Are we done yet?” His voice cut through the noise.

The hall quieted, tension humming like a bowstring.

He turned to me, lips curling. “So, Luna? Are you signing, or not? Hurry. The moon doesn’t wait for indecision.”

“Fine,” I hissed.

I picked up the quill. The contract was laughably simple, a few scrawled lines that left me with nothing but a pittance—barely enough coin to survive a single moon cycle outside the pack. A clean exile.

With quick, steady strokes, I signed my name.

Kaelen snatched the parchment, scanning it before letting out a mocking laugh. “Good. Great. Liora, you’re our greatest benefactor. You’ve given me an empire. My bloodline will thrive for generations because of you.”

Seraphine raised her goblet high, her golden eyes gleaming. “Truly, Liora, you’re like my fairy goddess. Perhaps I’ll toast to your generosity every full moon.”

I smiled. Calm. Cold.

Good. Let’s see how long that smile lasts.

Then it happened.

My father, who had been watching the scene unfold, coughed violently, his body trembling. His hand pressed against his chest—and then he collapsed, blood spilling from his lips onto the stone floor.

“Father!” I screamed, dropping to my knees beside him.

“James!” my mother cried, clutching his shoulders, her own wolf aura flaring in panic.

Wolves surged forward, some trying to steady him, others attempting to channel healing energy. Panic rippled through the hall like wildfire.

I looked at his pale, stricken face. His heart had always been fragile. It nearly gave out years ago when I agreed to Kaelen’s ritual. Now this betrayal… it was breaking him completely.

Kaelen stood, watching the chaos, barely blinking. Then his eyes flicked to the man who rushed forward to help—tall, broad–shouldered, his aura sharp as a blade.

“Theon Stormfang?” Kaelen sneered. “What in the moon’s name are you doing here? Don’t tell me you’ve got your eyes on Liora now. She’s not exactly… desirable anymore.”

Theon and Kaelen had grown up together, both orphans from small villages. But where Kaelen had clawed his way up by deception, Theon had risen with honor. Kaelen used to mock him—called him weak, called him nobody.

Theon only offered a cool, polite smile, not even sparing Kaelen a glance. His attention stayed fixed on my father, his hands steady as he helped ease him upright.

My father groaned weakly as he was carried into a side chamber to rest.

Then a voice called, “Where are the pups?”

“The twins? I think they went to fetch their acceptance scrolls from the Elders’ table.”

Just then, the grand doors creaked open, and in walked two young wolves in ceremonial garb—Chara and Cael, the twins I had raised.

Their bright, familiar faces lit the hall. But when their eyes found mine, their smiles soured. They turned their backs and rushed into Kaelen’s arms.

“Father!” Chara beamed, hugging him tight. “Mother Seraphine! We did it! The Elders accepted us both!”

Kaelen grinned, pride swelling in his voice. “I knew you would, pups. I’m proud of you.”

After hugging them, he leaned down, speaking softly. “From now on… don’t call her Aunt Seraphine anymore. Call her ‘Mother.’”

Their eyes lit up, their joy pure and sharp. In unison, they turned and cried out:

“Mother!”

“Mother!”

The sound broke me.

I was the one who nursed them through fevers, who trained them to hunt under the moon, who shielded them from bullies and taught them honor. I was the one who kissed scraped knees, who calmed their first violent shifts.

And now… another wore the title I had bled for.

My mother couldn’t stand it. She stepped forward, her voice cracking.

“Chara! Cael! Your mother is right here!” She pointed at me, her eyes blazing with disbelief. “She gave eighteen years of her life to raise you! And now you call the she–wolf who shattered our family ‘Mother’? Where is your loyalty?”

The entire hall waited for their answer.