I opened my eyes slowly and looked at William. When I spoke, my voice was cold.

"I'm injured, not dead. As for revenge, I'll handle it myself."

When I saw William crying for me, I suddenly had a flashback from five years ago.

Back then, I had just met Cameron.

During a clash, Cameron stepped in to shield the Alpha King, my father, from a rogue ambush.

He blocked the attack with his own body and took the full hit of wolfsbane.

I had knelt beside Cameron's bed just like this, sobbing day and night while I took care of him.

I fought battle after battle and even negotiated alliances for Silver Moon Pack's safety.

I scrubbed the tattoos off my back and hung up my leather jacket.

I put on elegant dresses, cooked Cameron's meals, cleaned his home, and waited to be his mate.

Foolishly, naively, I thought we would have a lifetime of happiness.

And yet… How long did that last?

After leaving the healers' den, I went straight to Rebecca's place.

Cameron wasn't there. Rebecca, meanwhile, was lying on her bed, relaxed, and putting on a facial mask.

When she saw me, her eyes went wide.

"Zendaya? You're alive!"

I smiled at her coldly and mercilessly. "Sorry to disappoint you."

Her panic was instant. I walked toward her one step at a time, forcing her into the corner.

She screamed and grabbed her phone before calling Cameron in a frenzy.

I didn't stop her. I simply watched her put on her little performance.

On the other end, Cameron's voice was even more frantic than hers.

"Don't panic! I'm coming right now!"

After hanging up, Rebecca straightened up. She smirked at me.

"Zendaya, you can't beat me. Cameron wants a Luna who's pure and sweet, like me. If he hadn't needed you to rebuild the pack five years ago, he never would've staged that rescue or forced himself to be intimate with a filthy she-wolf like you for three whole years!"

She looked me up and down in disdain.

"And besides, Cameron promised to crown me as Luna in the marking ceremony in seven days. You're an outsider. You don't deserve to be loved by the pack!"

She ran her fingers over the ring symbolizing Luna's status.

I recalled how I had once led more than a hundred Dark Shadow Pack werewolves into battle to secure alliances for the Silver Moon Pack.

We won that battle.

In return, I was betrayed and lied to.

Seeing how arrogant Rebecca was, I smiled.

"In that case, you can die with Cameron."

With that, I flipped my wrist. A silver knife appeared in my hand. In a flash, I jabbed it into Rebecca's abdomen.

"Aaaah!"

Her scream echoed through the entire house.

She stared at me in disbelief. She didn't expect me to actually hurt her.

I twisted the knife cruelly while it was still inside her.

At that moment, Cameron burst in with bloodshot eyes. He saw Rebecca collapsed in a pool of blood, then looked at the silver knife in my hand.

He kicked me hard and slammed me against the wall.

My already-injured hands smashed against the wall. Fresh blood soaked through the bandages instantly.

Leaning against the wall, I laughed bitterly and stared at him.

His pretty eyes flickered with hesitation for a second. And yet, he still clenched his jaw and spoke coldly.

"Zendaya, why would you hurt someone in my pack out of jealousy? Explain!"

I held his gaze and forced the words out one at a time. "Rebecca hired a group of filthy rogues to assault me."

Cameron threw a fit. He stormed forward, grabbed my hair, and slammed my head against the wall.

"Do you think everyone is as disgusting as you?

"Rebecca is gentle and pure. All she ever cares about is the pups of our pack!

"How could someone like her know any rogues, let alone send them to hurt you?

"Zendaya! I can't believe you'd lie like this just because you're jealous! I really misjudged you!"

He let go and didn't even spare me another glance.

He picked up the moaning Rebecca and ran out with her in his arms.

'This is perfect, Cameron. Since you and that low-ranked Omega are so inseparable, I don't mind granting you your wish. I'll bury the two of you together. You'll spend the rest of eternity with each other!'

I went to the nearest healers' den to get my wounds taken care of.

The moment I stepped into the lobby, I froze.

I saw Rebecca lying on an emergency cot, her face pale. Beside her, Cameron looked on restlessly.

The healer spotted me and jumped. "Ms. Sullivan! Are you hurt again? I just bandaged you this morning!"

Cameron heard that and turned. The anger he had barely contained flared right back up.

"Zendaya! Can you just stop? You've chased us all the way into the healers' den now?"

The healer stopped him quickly. "Alpha Cameron, Ms. Sullivan is also a patient. When she was brought in this morning, her wrists were nearly ruined by silver handcuffs, and…"

I finished the sentence for the healer. "And I was attacked by a group of rogues. I was badly injured."

The healer looked startled that I said it myself and gave me a sympathetic nod before trying to pull me inside for treatment.

Hearing the healer confirm my injuries, Cameron was stunned into silence. His pupils contracted.

"That's impossible. Were you really…"

Before he could finish, another healer burst out of the emergency room.

"Ms. Anderson's abdomen has been completely shredded by silver! She's lost her self-healing ability!"

Whatever flicker of guilt Cameron felt toward me vanished instantly.

Rage swallowed him whole again. He lunged at me, grabbed my arm, and roared at the healer.

"Use her blood! She's a wolf princess. Her blood carries natural healing!"

The healer rushed to stop him. "Alpha Cameron! She's a patient, too! She's already lost a dangerous amount of blood. You can't ma…"

Two Betas who had come with Cameron shoved the healers aside roughly.

Cameron forced me into the blood-drawing chair himself and pinned me down. He forced the healer to insert the thick needle.

I struggled with everything I had, but I was too injured. I couldn't break free from two strong warriors restraining me.

Cameron was still giving the healer orders through clenched jaws. "Draw her blood! However much blood Rebecca needs to recover, take it from her!"

I could only watch as my blood drained out of me. It slowly filled the huge blood bag.

When my vision began to blur from blood loss, I heard footsteps outside the healers' den. William shifted to his wolf form and walked straight toward us.

Cameron, usually arrogant, loud, and untouchable, felt it instantly. For the first time, he sensed that primal, soul-deep fear an Alpha felt when facing a stronger Alpha.

William kicked the healer away from me with one blow.

He gently pulled the thick needle out of my arm.

He looked at my mangled wrists. My bones were even visible through the shredded skin. Then, he looked at my pale face.

The killing intent in his eyes was obvious.

He stood up slowly and walked to Cameron, who had gone stiff with terror.

In a voice so calm it was terrifying, quiet enough for only the two of them, William said, "Alpha Cameron, the last one who dared hurt our princess had his corpse torn apart and offered to the wolf king."

Cameron's entire body trembled. Sweat drenched his shirt in seconds.

Only now did he finally realize the truth. The gentle, obedient she-wolf had always had the full strength of the Werewolf Kingdom behind her.

William lifted his hand. He was ready to tear apart Cameron and Rebecca, the latter still being resuscitated in the emergency room.

I used the last bit of strength to shake off my weakness.

"William, this revenge is mine."

William looked at me. There was a conflicted look in his eyes.

"I, Zendaya, fought for the Silver Moon Pack for years. Yet in his eyes, even an Omega mattered more than I did. So," I went on, steady and calm as I met his gaze, "my justice is mine to take. Whatever's between him and me, starting today, I'll settle it in my own way."

In the end, William clenched his jaw and agreed.

He bent down and lifted me from the chair with care.

He took me straight to the Royal Healers' Den, the highest-security medical wing in the Werewolf Kingdom, where I received the best treatment they had.

My body healed day by day, but my heart drowned every night in the same nightmare.

I dreamed of the dark forest, the freezing cuffs, and those rogues who reeked of sweat and filth.

I dreamed of how I helplessly struggled beneath them.

I often woke up drenched in sweat while my heart pounded out of control.

The ruthless wolf princess I once was felt like she had died at that tree. The one who survived was a broken, terrified version of me.

William saw everything, and worry ate at him. He brought the best psychological healers he could find, but I knew no medicine could cure me.

There was only one antidote: my enemies' blood.

One late night, I woke up from another nightmare.

William walked in without turning on the lights and sat beside my bed silently.

"Princess," he finally said in a rough voice, "if you're tired, and if you don't want to face any of this anymore, let me handle it. I promise you, Cameron and that Omega will vanish from this world before sunrise."

I looked at him. He had always trusted me and followed me without a second thought.

I shook my head.

"William, killing them would be too easy."

I pushed myself up, walked to the window, and pulled open the heavy curtains.

"Do you know what was the first thing I learned after being with Cameron? It's how to smile," I said softly while looking at the lights outside.

"I learned the gentle, harmless, and pretty smile he liked.

"I hid my claws. I had my tattoos removed. I naively believed that if I changed myself into the version he liked, I could finally be happy.

"What I got in return was being chained to a tree and treated like trash by a group of trash."

I turned back to face William.

The vulnerability and fear from the nightmares were gone from my eyes. In their place was a cold, familiar edge, one forged through blood and war.

"The Zendaya who tried to be a good mate? She's gone. What they'll face now is the wolf princess who crawled out of a mountain of corpses."

I stepped up to him and extended my right hand. It was scarred and battered, but still steady and strong.

"William, tell the pack I'm back.

"I don't want Cameron's life.

"I want him cast out of the pack. I want him ruined.

"I want him on his knees, admitting to my face that he's nothing but a blind, pathetic disgrace.

"And I want him to watch helplessly as everything he's ever been proud of gets crushed by my own hands."