Meredith’s POV

For three long years, the world had been nothing but silence.

Three years ago, I lost my child before I ever got the chance to hold them. I still remember the unbearable pain, the way my body betrayed me, the way the blood wouldn’t stop no matter how much I begged the Moon Goddess for mercy. And then, as if my suffering wasn’t enough, I woke up one morning and realized—I couldn't hear a thing.

The healers said it was the shock. The grief. My body shutting down on itself.

For three years, I lived in a world where voices didn’t exist. Where I had to read lips, where I had to depend on others. Where I felt less than a wolf—less than myself. But today… today, I finally heard again.

And the best part? I was pregnant again.

Holding the pregnancy test in my trembling hands, I felt something bloom in my chest—hope. A new beginning. A chance to be happy again. And the one person I wanted to share this with was the man I loved more than anything, Alpha Kael.

Even though we weren’t mates.Even though we weren’t married.I loved him. And I believed—I truly believed—that he loved me too. So I rushed back to our house, excitement thrumming through my veins. But just as I reached his office, my steps slowed. The door was slightly open, and inside, Kael was speaking with his Beta, Lucas.

I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I only hesitated for a moment, about to knock, but then—

"I'm going to marry Princess Rachelle."

The world tilted beneath me.

"She is my love. The only woman worthy of being my mate."

My fingers tightened around the pregnancy test, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might burst.

"And Meredith?" Lucas asked hesitantly.

Kael laughed. Laughed.

"She was just convenient."

A sharp, searing pain ripped through my chest.

"How could I love someone like her? A lowly omega? Do you think I'd actually make her my Luna? She was just there when I needed someone. But now, I don't need her anymore."

I staggered backward, a strangled noise escaping my throat before I could stop it. The voices inside the room immediately fell silent.

Shit.

My breath caught as I saw Kael and Lucas exchange glances. Lucas’ face twisted in panic, his eyes darting to the door. That was when they realized I was standing at the door. The two of them looked at each other, and Beta Lucas seemed to be overthinking the situation. “Oh damn,” he muttered. “Did she hear that?”

Kael only smirked. “Relax,” he said, his tone laced with cruel amusement. “She’s deaf. Even if you curse her in front of her face right now, she wouldn’t hear it.”

A wave of nausea rolled through me. My fingers curled into fists, my nails digging into my palms. For a moment, I wanted to storm in, to scream, to throw the pregnancy test in his face and tell him what a monster he was. Instead, I forced my face to stay blank. Pretended.

Kael’s smirk remained as he turned to the door, opening it and looking down at me. “Meredith,” he signed with his hands, his expression gentle, fake. “Come inside.”

I swallowed hard and nodded, stepping inside like a fool. Like the fool they thought I was.

I sat down on the couch timidly, my hands shoved into my pockets, squeezing the pregnancy test so hard I thought it might snap. My heart screamed at me to run, to leave, to get away from this man. But my body wouldn’t move.

And then—they kept talking. Right in front of me. As if I wasn’t even there.

"Are you sure she didn’t hear anything, Alpha? What if—“ Lucas got cut off.

“Don’t you believe me? I know she’s deaf because I was the reason she’s that way," Kael mused. "Do you know why it happened?"

Lucas frowned. "I heard it was after the miscarriage. She just... lost it, right?"

Kael chuckled. A cold, bone-chilling sound. "Lost it? No, Lucas. I took it from her."

A shiver crawled down my spine. He took it from me… The world felt like it was tilting, and anytime soon I would die right where I was sitting.

Lucas blinked. "What?"

"Do you really think I'd let a filthy omega taint my noble bloodline?" Kael sneered. "That child was a disgrace to me. So I did what needed to be done—I poisoned her drink."

The air left my lungs.

"I told her it was good for her health," he continued, laughing. "She drank it so easily. And then, just like that, the problem was gone." He snapped his fingers. "I didn’t expect the poison to have side effects, though. She bled too much. And well… it damaged her hearing too. But it worked out, didn’t it? She was so broken, so pathetic, she never even suspected a thing."

My fingers trembled in my pockets. It was him. It was always him. The man I loved. The man I trusted. The man I carried a child for—twice. He took everything from me.

And now he was throwing me away like I was nothing.

He sighed, leaning back in his chair. "She actually thought I was going to make her my Luna," he scoffed. "I kept telling her to wait. That my position wasn’t stable. And she believed me."

Lucas chuckled awkwardly. “She did follow you around like a lost puppy.”

Kael grinned. “And she still will. Because after I marry the princess, I’ll tell Meredith it’s just for the sake of the pack. That my heart still belongs to her.” He smirked. “This poor, silly girl will believe it. She’ll even pity me.”

Something inside me snapped. My hands clenched around the pregnancy test so hard that it cracked.

Kael and Lucas both looked up.

"Meredith?" Kael signed, feigning concern. "Are you okay? We’re just talking whout pack metters. Sorry to keep you waiting."

I stared at him. He could even lie to me at my face. How long did he treat me like a fool? Like a toy he could play with?

For the first time in my life, I saw him clearly.

Not as the man I loved.Not as the Alpha I adored. But as the monster he truly was.

And then the thing I feared the most before happened, just like what I overheard from Alpha Kael and Beta Lucas.

The crisp evening air was thick with the scent of pine and honeyed wine, the banquet hall alive with laughter and the clinking of goblets. Wolves from every corner of the realm gathered to celebrate. The Alpha King, in his benevolence, had invited all the packs, including ours—the Aurora Pack. It should have been a night of unity and joy. Instead, it was the night my world crumbled.

I had barely touched the glass of wine in my hand when I heard the sound of a spoon tapping against crystal. The room quieted. Alpha Kael Haynes, the man I had known since I was a pup—the man who had once saved me from a life of loneliness—stood at the center of the room, his sharp blue eyes scanning the crowd with confidence.

“I have an announcement,” Kael declared, his deep voice carrying easily over the hushed room.

I knew that voice too well—firm, commanding, yet smooth. It was a voice that could silence a battlefield, a voice that had once comforted me during sleepless nights at the organization that raised us. My chest tightened as I clutched my goblet, unable to look away.

Kael turned to Princess Rachelle, her golden hair glowing under the chandelier’s light. She smiled up at him, radiant and perfect in her lilac gown. My stepsister. The Alpha King’s daughter.

Kael dropped to one knee.

The air seemed to leave my lungs.

“Princess Rachelle,” he began, his gaze unwavering. “Will you honor me by becoming my mate, my Luna, and standing by my side as I lead the Aurora Pack?”

The room erupted into cheers and applause as Rachelle gasped, her hands flying to her mouth before she nodded eagerly. “Yes! I will!”

I froze. My grip on the goblet faltered, and the wine sloshed over the rim. My heart thudded painfully in my chest, the noise of the celebration fading to a dull roar in my ears.

It happened…

Eyes turned toward me. I could feel their pity—the silent glances, the murmurs. And they talked around me so freely because they were confident I could not hear.

“Poor girl,” I heard someone whisper.

“She’s been in love with him for years.”

“Bold of her to assume the Alpha will marry a mere deaf Omega.”

“Of course, the Alpha will choose someone like Princess Rachelle. Who is Meredith anyway? She’s nothing but a weak Omega. She’s not suited to be anyone’s Luna.”

I wanted to scream, tell them their words were nothing but lies, to lash out at their words, at the world, at Kael himself. But I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe.

I couldn’t take it anymore. My wolf stirred uneasily within me, her frustration mirroring my own. Leave, Meredith. We don’t belong here.

My legs moved on their own, carrying me toward the grand doors of the banquet hall. My mother—my biological mother, now the Queen Luna Vanessa—stood near the edge of the crowd, tears of joy streaming down her face. Her happiness was for Rachelle, for the daughter she had chosen to cherish.

Not for me.

She caught sight of me and started to speak, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. My head was spinning, and my heart felt like it was shattering into a million pieces.

Years ago, when I turned eighteen, my mother suddenly appeared before me and told me the truth—I was her daughter. I could hardly believe it.

My mother was none other than Queen Luna of the Western Wolf Territory. And I had a stepsister—Rachelle.

Yet Rachelle knew nothing. The only ones aware of my existence were my mother and her current husband, Alpha King Theodore.

But why then?

Why not when I was still trapped in the organization? Why wait all these years?

She never gave me a real answer, only saying she wasn’t ready. One of the few things she told me was the fact that she and my biological father had split long ago.

As to why I was in the organization? She just told me my real father hid me there for years without her knowing. I had so many questions—doubts even, but she made me feel like it was a burden to ask.

“You can’t come with me at the palace, Meredith,” she told me one day. “My husband is the current Alpha King. What do you think the people or even Rachelle will think if they found out your real identity? Just pretend to be an omega for everyone’s peace.”

Since then, even Kael, the person I cared about the most, didn’t know who I really was.

The only thing my mother made sure to remind me of—again and again—was that my father was a monster. A tyrant. Evil incarnate. And if he ever tried to contact me, I was never to believe a word he said.

And then, just a month later, he did.

My father started reaching out—calling, messaging—claiming to be my blood.

The Alpha King of the Eastern Territory. The man everyone called a tyrant. A villain. A monster.

And when the incident three years ago happened, my mother became indifferent upon hearing that I had gone deaf. She had always been cold, but she grew even colder. I told myself it was merely because she was busy with her duties as the Queen Luna—I kept making excuses for her.

And yet, after Kael’s betrayal, it felt like everything had been a lie.

Meredith’s POV

I kept my head down as I walked through the dim corridors of the packhouse, my fingers tightening around the edges of my dress. I had learned long ago that walking silently, moving unnoticed, was safer. It was easier to pretend I was oblivious, easier to endure when they thought I couldn’t hear their words.

Princess Rachelle walked beside me, her steps graceful, her presence overbearing. Ever since Alpha Kael proposed to her, she had been living in the packhouse.

Then—a sudden force against my foot.

I barely had time to react before I stumbled, my balance thrown off. I caught myself just in time, but the sharp movement sent a dull ache through my stomach. My pulse spiked.

Rachelle, feigning innocence, gasped and quickly signed, "Oh, I’m so sorry!"

But her lips said something else entirely.

"Serves you right, deaf! I don’t even know why you’re still here when you’re just a nobody. A lowly omega."

I clenched my jaw, my nails digging into my palms.

"I know this deaf girl just wants to steal my man," she continued with a smirk, her voice a quiet sneer. "Thinking she can seduce the Alpha? Dream on. As if Kael would ever marry a pathetic, deaf Luna."

I lifted my head and looked at her. Just looked.

Her smirk deepened, and she chuckled before signing again. "Oh, nothing."

But her voice carried on with its venom. "How pitiful. You don’t even know that everyone has been cursing you right in front of your face for years. Even the maids of this pack laugh at you."

I swallowed the sharp sting in my throat and kept my expression carefully blank. Don’t react.

Her laughter trailed behind me as we entered the dining area.

I took my usual seat, forcing my hands to remain steady as I reached for my cup.

Then, Rachelle signed sweetly, "Meredith, could you pass me the soup?"

I hesitated but nodded, reaching for the steaming bowl. As soon as her fingers touched the edge—she shoved it forward, right into her own dress. The thick, hot soup spilled all over her pristine silk gown.

"Ahh!" she shrieked dramatically, pushing back from the table.

I stiffened in shock, my eyes widening. I hadn’t even touched her. But before I could move, before I could even process what had just happened, the doors burst open. A cold shiver ran down my spine.

Kael.

His presence filled the room instantly, his sharp blue eyes scanning the scene. His gaze landed on Rachelle first, then flickered to me—and darkened.

"What the hell is going on here?"

His voice sent a tremor through my bones. He signed to me, “What did you do?” And he had already assumed it was my fault—not even asking what happened first.

Rachelle whimpered, clutching the soiled fabric of her dress, looking every bit the fragile, innocent victim.

"Oh, Alpha," she sniffled. "Please don’t be angry. It’s not her fault. Maybe she’s just... jealous of me. I mean, I understand. After all, I get to marry you soon while she’s still just a lowly omega. Maybe she just couldn’t help herself."

The breath caught in my throat. She was playing the role perfectly. And he was buying it. Kael turned to me, his expression stern, his hands moving sharply as he signed—

"Why would you hurt royalty? Are you wishing for death?"

The words hit harder than any slap. My heart pounded painfully against my ribs. I wanted to scream. I wanted to shout the truth, to let him know what kind of woman he was about to make his Luna. But I knew it wouldn’t matter.

It never did.

Slowly, I lowered my hands. And nodded. Then, without another word, I turned and walked away. Each step felt heavier than the last, but I kept moving, kept my head high even as my vision blurred.

Then I heard it. Kael’s voice—gentle now, coaxing.

"I’ll reprimand Meredith for this," he murmured. "Don’t worry, Rachelle. I won’t let her get away with it."

A bitter laugh built in my chest, but I swallowed it down. Instead, I placed a trembling hand over my stomach, pressing lightly against the life growing inside me.

"How could your father do this to us?" I thought.