Lilian’s POV

I packed in silence.

Not the kind of silence that comes from peace,but the kind wolves learn when they realize no one in the den is listening anyway.I folded clothes into my travel bag,tucked my documents into the inner lining,and slid the contract from last night between two pieces of stiff leather so it wouldn’t crease.Even my wolf stayed quiet,pressed low in my ribs like it was conserving strength.

When I stepped out of my room,the corridor smelled faintly of incense and old cedar.The Wyatt manor was awake,but it pretended it wasn’t.Doors stayed closed.Servants avoided my eyes.In this Pack,your value decided whether you were seen.

Then I spotted her.

Adeline leaned casually against the second-floor railing,as if she’d been waiting for me the way a predator waits for prey to step into open ground.Her hair fell in soft waves.Her robe was pale,delicate,innocent.Her scent was sweetened with jasmine to hide the sharper note beneath it,the one that always made my wolf tense.

In her palm,she held my engagement ring.

Brian’s ring.

The band caught the light with a cold gleam as she rolled it over her fingers,her smile smug and unhurried.

“Lilian,”she drawled,voice bright as honey,“was that kidnapping game fun last time?”

My grip tightened on my bag strap.I could still feel the darkness of that room.The walls too close.The air too thin.My ribs ached as if the bones remembered being broken.

Adeline tilted her head,eyes glittering.“You still haven’t learned your lesson,have you?No one will believe you.They’ll only believe me.”She smiled wider.“You’re nothing but a liar.”

I forced my voice into steadiness.“Give it back.”

“Oh,right.”She laughed softly,as if I’d said something amusing.“I forgot to tell you.”She lifted the ring higher,letting it swing between her fingertips like a charm.“The men who beat you were sent by Brian himself.”

My breath hitched before I could stop it.

Adeline watched my face with hungry satisfaction.“It was his punishment,”she continued,savoring every word,“for making me sick with your little self-made drama.”

My stomach turned.Even knowing what I’d overheard in the infirmary,hearing it spoken so openly,so casually,still felt like a claw raking down my chest.Like Brian’s hands were on my throat again,squeezing until I couldn’t breathe.

Adeline laughed louder,rubbing the ring as if polishing a trophy.Then her fingers loosened.

The ring slipped.

It clattered down the stairs with a sharp,metallic sound,striking step after step like a countdown.

“What did you just do?”The words ripped out of me before I could swallow them back.

My body moved on instinct.That ring wasn’t just metal.It was three years of a lie,and the last proof that I hadn’t imagined everything.I lunged forward.

But as I rushed past her,Adeline shifted.

She leaned into my path,blocking me with her body.Her lips curled into something colder than a smile.In one smooth motion,she grabbed my wrist,then guided my hand upward as if I were the one reaching for her.

She pressed my palm against her shoulder.

Then she screamed.

A piercing,theatrical sound that split the quiet of the manor like a blade.

Adeline threw herself backward,twisting as she fell,letting her body tumble down the stairs.Her robe flared like a wounded dove’s wings.She hit the floor hard,half-kneeling in a heap,hair scattered,tears already spilling as if she’d been rehearsing them all morning.

“Ah!”she wailed.“It hurts!”

Footsteps thundered from below.Heavy.Furious.Familiar.

Brian’s scent hit first,all sharp pine and dominance,the kind of Alpha presence that used to make my wolf lift its head with hope.My parents followed,their auras tight with righteous outrage.

From where they stood,they saw only what Adeline wanted them to see.

Me at the top of the staircase.

Adeline curled on the floor below,sobbing like a victim carved from porcelain.

Brian stormed up the last few steps,seized my arm,and yanked me forward.His grip bruised instantly,like his body remembered how to hurt me better than how to hold me.

“Lilian!”he shouted.“How could you push Adeline?”

“I didn’t push her.”My voice came out rough,controlled by teeth clenched so hard my jaw ached.“She fell on her own.”

My father’s face flushed red,his Alpha temper flaring hot.“Are you still lying?”he bellowed.“You know Adeline’s health isn’t good.How could you be so cruel?”

My mother stepped forward,her eyes like winter ice.She didn’t ask.She didn’t hesitate.She shoved me hard.

My lower back slammed into the railing.Pain shot up my spine and stole my breath.My wolf snarled inside me,not in rage,but in humiliation.A daughter shoved by her own Luna,like I was nothing more than a rogue dragged into their home by mistake.

On the floor,Adeline lifted her head slightly and clung to Brian’s shirt with trembling fingers,tears glistening in her lashes.

“Brian,”she whispered,voice weak and sweet,“don’t blame Lilian.Maybe I bumped into her and made her angry.Just…pretend I fell on my own.Don’t make things difficult for my parents.”

Her performance was flawless.It painted her as kind,and me as monstrous.

Brian’s expression darkened further.He looked at Adeline like she was fragile moonlight.Then he turned on me as if I were dirt under his boot.

He snatched up the ring where it had landed near the bottom step.For a heartbeat,it flashed in his hand,the stone catching firelight like a star.

Then he hurled it to the floor.

The ring shattered.The gemstone split.Fragments scattered like tiny,cruel teeth across the marble.

Something inside me twisted so hard it felt like my ribs cracked again.

Brian’s eyes burned with fury.“Why do you always hurt Adeline and then blame her?”he demanded.“Do you know intentionally harming someone can land you in prison for years?”

I stared at the broken pieces,at the ruin of something I once guarded like a vow.The man I had loved most was standing firmly at Adeline’s side again,defending her without a single question.

Slowly,a bitter smile spread across my mouth.

“You want to send me to the Pack enforcers because of this?”I said,voice shaking with cold anger.“Fine.Let them check the corridor runes.Let them pull the house footage.Let them see who staged this performance.”

I shoved Brian’s chest hard enough to make him take a half step back.

Then I raised my hand.

The slap cracked across Adeline’s face,sharp and undeniable,echoing through the stairwell like a verdict.

Adeline froze.Her fingers flew to her cheek.For a moment,she forgot to cry.

I leaned slightly forward,my voice low and viciously clear.“See that?This time,I really hit you.Now you can scream with proof.”

Brian’s shock lasted half a breath.

Then his palm struck my face with full force.

My head snapped to the side.Heat bloomed across my cheek.My vision flashed.

His eyes were cold when I looked back at him,colder than the night I was dragged into darkness.

“I haven’t even dealt with what happened last time,”he said,voice flat with contempt.“You’ve barely left the infirmary and you’re already targeting Adeline again.”

His gaze pinned me like prey.“I’ll send you to prison.You can stay there until you’ve reflected.When you finally understand what you’ve done,I’ll come get you.”

Before I could speak,his guards seized my arms.

Their hands were iron.Their auras pressed down,suppressing my wolf.They dragged me toward the doors of the manor as if I were a criminal.

Brian didn’t even look at me again.

He turned instead,gathered Adeline into his arms,and held her close.His expression softened with heartbreak as he murmured comfort into her hair.

It was almost impressive,how quickly he could become tender for the right woman.

At the Pack station,the cold stone and silver-lined bars smelled of disinfectant and old fear.The moment I was seated across the table,Brian arrived behind me like a storm that didn’t care who it soaked.

He tossed a confession document onto the table.

“Sign it,”he ordered,voice cold.

I picked up the pen.

My hand didn’t tremble.

I didn’t sign.

I ripped the paper into pieces instead,tearing slowly,deliberately,letting the sound of it fill the room like a warning.

Then I lifted my eyes to him and laughed under my breath,low and mocking.

“Brian,”I said quietly,“why should I sign something when I’ve done nothing wrong?”

My throat tightened,but I forced the words out anyway.“If you really want to put me in a cell,don’t hide behind excuses.I want to see how far you’ll go for Adeline.I want to see what you become when you decide I’m disposable.”

For a split second,his face looked…strained.Like something inside him tried to rise.

Then it vanished.He turned away sharply,jaw clenched.

“Lock her up,”he told the enforcers coldly.“Release her tonight.Let her reflect.”

He walked out without looking back.

I watched him leave,my eyes burning,my throat tight with tears I refused to shed in front of anyone who didn’t deserve them.

Between Adeline and me,he never hesitated.

Even when I was innocent,he always chose her.

And every choice he made pushed me deeper into the abyss,as if he wanted to see whether I would crawl back out…or finally stop trying.

In the cell’s dim light,my wolf stirred,not afraid this time.

Angry.

And awake.

Lilian’s POV

Brian had barely left when my parents arrived.

The iron-barred corridor seemed to shrink the moment they stepped into view,their Alpha and Luna pressure filling the space like suffocating fog.They didn’t rush to me.They didn’t ask how I was.They stood a few steps away,looking at me as if I were a stain that had finally refused to scrub out.

My mother spoke first,her tone clipped and cold,stripped of any maternal warmth.

“Lilian,admit your mistakes.As long as you confess properly,Brian will let you go.”

My father nodded beside her,eyes sharp,voice edged like a blade forged by Pack law.

“You’ve embarrassed the Wyatt Pack enough.Stop resisting.”

I couldn’t help it.A bitter smile tugged at my lips.

Ever since the day they brought me back into the Pack,I had been trained to lower my head.If I scored higher than Adeline in Pack academy exams,that was my fault.If I outperformed her in combat drills or strategy trials,that was my fault too.If I didn’t smile sweetly,didn’t act spoiled,didn’t play the obedient adopted sister she wanted me to be—every difference became another sin.

I had admitted fault for years.Until the words themselves had lost all meaning.

This time,I didn’t bow.

Swallowing the bitterness clawing at my throat,I asked calmly,“What’s the point of admitting anything now?”

I lifted my eyes to meet theirs,my voice steady despite the ache spreading through my chest.

“Should I admit that I didn’t push Adeline hard enough?”

The slap came before the echo of my words faded.

My father’s hand struck my face with a sharp crack,the force snapping my head to the side.Pain flared hot across my cheek,bright enough to blur my vision for a second.I tasted blood.

But I didn’t cry.

I straightened slowly,lifting my chin in stubborn defiance,and let out a cold,humorless snort.

“I was kidnapped,”I said hoarsely.“Locked up.Beaten.Nearly broken.And all you cared about was whether Adeline caught a cold.”

My wolf growled low in my chest,furious and wounded.

“Now she stages a fake fall,”I continued,voice shaking but unbroken,“and you force me to confess again.Tell me—am I just some stray you dragged off the street?Something disposable you can blame whenever she cries?”

Neither of them flinched.

They looked at me the way one looks at an enemy,not a daughter.A threat to the fragile balance they’d built around Adeline.

My mother’s lips pressed into a thin line.

“Ungrateful,”she snapped.“If you refuse to admit fault,then stay here.”

My father turned away first.

They left without another glance,their footsteps echoing down the corridor like a verdict already passed.

Before I could protest,the guards seized me.Their hands were rough,impatient,suppressing my wolf with iron collars laced faintly with silver runes.I was shoved forward,stumbling,dragged into a narrow holding cell deep within the Pack station.

The door slammed shut.

Darkness swallowed me whole.

Only a thin blade of light slipped through a narrow window near the ceiling,barely enough to remind me the world still existed outside these walls.The air was stale,heavy,pressing against my lungs.

My body began to tremble.

The walls felt too close.The ceiling too low.My chest tightened as if invisible hands were squeezing my ribs inward.Claustrophobia surged,violent and merciless,dragging memories of that dark room back to the surface.

“Brian…”I whispered instinctively,my voice cracking.“Brian…”

No answer came.

Only silence.Only darkness.

Time lost all meaning.

When the cell door finally creaked open,I flinched so hard my back slammed against the wall.Shapes filled the doorway—tall,broad-shouldered women with hardened expressions and the unmistakable scent of Pack enforcers who no longer cared about rules.

One of them smirked.

“Is that her?Miss Wyatt said to teach her a lesson.”

My heart dropped.

A short-haired woman stepped forward,cracking her knuckles with deliberate slowness.Panic surged through me.I backed away,but another fist tangled in my hair and yanked me down.

The floor rushed up to meet me.

Fists and boots followed.

Each blow exploded through my body,sharp and unforgiving.Pain radiated through my ribs,my back,my legs.Old injuries screamed as they were torn open again.I tried to fight back,but my wolf was weak,suppressed,my body still healing from the last beating.

I was no match for them.

I curled in on myself,arms shielding my head,biting down on my screams as they vented their cruelty without restraint.The world narrowed to pain and breath and the metallic taste of blood.

“Enough!”a guard shouted from outside the bars.“Stop it!”

Reluctantly,they stepped back.

I lay sprawled on the cold floor,barely conscious,blood soaking into the stone beneath me.My vision dimmed.My back burned where old wounds split anew,each movement sending agony through my bones.

Laughter echoed faintly as the door opened again.

Hands grabbed me.I was dragged out,my body scraping against the ground.Their mocking voices followed me like ghosts,but I didn’t have the strength to respond.

A full day and night passed.

Then,without ceremony,I was thrown out of the station.

Sunlight hit my eyes like a blade.I raised a trembling hand to shield my face,swaying as I forced myself upright.Step by step,limping and dizzy,I made my way to the hospital.

After my wounds were cleaned and hastily bandaged,I turned to leave.

That was when I saw them.

Brian froze the moment his eyes landed on me.Shock flickered across his face,genuine this time.He stared as if seeing me for the first time.

“How…”His brow furrowed.“How did you end up like this?”

For a heartbeat,something like heartache crossed his eyes.His hand lifted,as if he meant to help me.

I stepped back.

Before I could speak,Adeline rushed to his side,clinging to his arm like she belonged there.She looked at me with wide,worried eyes,perfectly rehearsed.

“Lilian,”she said softly,“Brian released you yesterday.Why didn’t you come home last night?And how did you hurt yourself so badly?”

She turned to Brian,voice gentle as venom.

“Don’t blame her.She probably just wants attention.Look at her—she’s really hurt.Let’s treat her first,okay?”

Her words worked instantly.

The concern vanished from Brian’s eyes,replaced by cold fury.He glared at me as if I were something repulsive.

“You’re doing this again,”he snapped.“Lilian,your lies are obvious now.No one believes you anymore.”

This time,I didn’t argue.

I simply looked at him,memorizing the face I had once loved with everything I had.His eyes were still beautiful—but empty of me.

He turned to Adeline,gently taking her hand.Without looking back,he ordered,“If she has the strength to hurt herself,she has the strength to walk home.”

Then,colder still,“Watch her.Don’t let her take a single shortcut.”

They walked away together.

I stood there alone for a long moment before forcing my legs to move.Each step burned.Each breath hurt.

And with every painful stride,one thought carved itself deeper into my mind,sharper than any blade.

I will make them pay.

All of them.

Lilian’s POV

When I finally reached home and pushed the front door open,Adeline’s sobs poured out of the living room like a blade dragged across my nerves.

She was curled up on the sofa,trembling,her face buried against Brian’s chest.His arms wrapped around her instinctively,protectively,as if she were something fragile that might shatter if he loosened his grip even slightly.The air was thick with her scent—sweet,pitiful,carefully controlled—so different from the sharp bitterness clinging to my own clothes.

“Brian…”Adeline cried hoarsely.“I don’t want to go through with the arranged mating.I don’t want to marry that mad Alpha.He’s cruel.Brutal.The females from his previous pack alliances…they all died.”Her fingers clenched in his shirt.“Why does it have to be me?Why can’t it be Lilian instead?”

Her words landed with surgical precision.

Brian’s hand moved slowly,soothing her back in steady circles,the way one calmed a frightened wolf.His voice dropped into that gentle register he only ever used for her.

“Don’t be afraid.With me here,no one will force you.”He paused,then added with quiet certainty,“No matter who has to go through with the arranged mating,it won’t be you.”

My parents immediately echoed him,their Alpha and Luna authority wrapping around Adeline like armor.

“Don’t worry,sweetheart,”my mother said softly.“We would never let you go to that pack.”

“We’ll protect you,”my father added.“No matter what.”

I stood in the doorway,half in shadow.

No one looked at me.

Not Brian.Not my parents.Not even Adeline,who cried so convincingly in his arms.It was as if I were already invisible—already chosen as the unspoken alternative.

Without saying a word,I walked past them and went straight to my room.

The door clicked shut behind me,and the silence cracked something open inside my chest.

Memories flooded in without mercy.

I remembered the night I had casually mentioned wanting to see the sunrise from above the clouds.That very evening,Brian had ordered a private jet prepared.By dawn,we were standing on a remote island cliff,an observation platform built overnight just so I wouldn’t have to stand in the cold sea wind.

He had once spent hundreds of millions without blinking just to make me smile.

He took me skiing through the Alps,held my hand while we chased the aurora across frozen plains,cooked for me when I was too tired to eat,traveled with me to places even wandering wolves rarely reached.He documented every journey,every laugh,every quiet moment,as if he were afraid time would steal them away.

Back then,I truly believed he was my mate.

Now I understood the truth.

I wasn’t irreplaceable.I was just new.

A novelty.A distraction that had lasted longer than expected.

I wiped my tears away quickly,not allowing myself the luxury of breaking down.My hands moved with practiced calm as I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small recorder.I removed the memory card,then slid it into an envelope along with a copy of the detention center’s CCTV footage.

I sent everything to my friend with a single tap.

As the progress bar filled,a bitter taste rose in my throat.

At first,I had only meant to record Adeline’s pitiful performance in front of Brian and my parents.Evidence,just in case.But fate had been cruelly efficient—I had also captured her ordering the inmates to“teach me a lesson.”

When the files finally sent,my screen dimmed.

Footsteps sounded outside my door.

My heart tightened.

The door opened quietly,and Brian stepped inside.His tall frame filled the doorway,his presence as familiar as it was unbearable.Before I could react,he crossed the room in long strides and pulled me into his arms.

The scent of cedar and night air clung to him—the same scent that once made me feel safe.Now,it only made me feel trapped.

He rested his chin against the top of my head,his grip firm,almost desperate.

“Forgive me,Lilian,”he whispered weakly.

I froze in his embrace.

My lips pressed together,every word lodged painfully in my throat.I didn’t respond—but he didn’t seem to need me to.

“Don’t be so hard on Adeline,”he continued softly,as if soothing a child.“She’s different from you.You’re the Wyatt Pack’s biological daughter.You already have everything.”

He hesitated,then added,“I’ll marry you one day.”

My fingers curled slowly.

“But Adeline…”His voice gentled further.“She has nothing.It’s normal for her to be sensitive.You should try to understand her.Be patient with her.”

“I have everything…”

The words slipped out of me in a whisper so bitter it made my stomach churn.

So this was his apology.

He hadn’t come to admit fault.He hadn’t come to acknowledge what had been done to me.He had come to excuse Adeline—and to remind me of my place.

Brian truly believed that a hug and a few soft words could erase everything.That no matter how deeply he hurt me,I would forgive him as I always had.Even if just yesterday,he had sent me home bruised,broken,and bleeding.

In his eyes,he could strike me ninety-nine times—

and then toss me a single bone and expect me to crawl back,tail wagging.

I lifted my head and looked at his face.

My heart ached so fiercely it felt like it might splinter apart.

Slowly,I realized something crucial.

Brian was wrong.

And this time,I would not come back.