Alliana’s POV

The moment I reached the hospital entrance, I didn’t stop running. My breath came out in harsh clouds of white. The winter air stabbed my lungs, but I didn’t care. My heart was pounding too hard, too fast, as if it was trying to break out of my chest.

“Dione… please be okay…”

I pushed open the hospital doors and rushed down the bright hallway, searching for my son’s scent, soft, warm, sweet like morning bread. I followed it straight to the children’s ward, but two Snowstorm warriors blocked the door.

I froze. “I… I need to go inside. My son—my son is in there.”

They didn’t move.

Instead, one of them lifted a small whiteboard and showed me the words written there, [Luna Alliana is not allowed inside.]

My stomach twisted. “What? What do you mean not allowed? He’s my son!”

The guard kept his face emotionless.

[You are not permitted. Orders from Alpha Benedict.]

“No—no, please,” I whispered, stepping closer. “He needs me. Dione needs his mother. Please let me in.”

They didn’t budge. The second warrior lifted his hand and made a gesture.

[Stay back.]

Then he pushed me away when I tried to reach for the door. The shove wasn’t gentle—I stumbled and hit the wall with my shoulder.

“Please!” My voice cracked painfully. “He’s only three! He’s sick! He must be terrified—I have to be with him. Please, I’m begging you!”

They didn’t look at me.

The first guard simply wrote again, [He is being cared for. Step away.]

“I am his mother,” I choked. Tears blurred my vision. “How can you keep a mother away from her child?”

But they didn’t answer. I pressed my forehead against the cold wall, swallowing a sob. How cruel could this pack get? How cruel could Alpha Benedict become?

Just then, footsteps echoed down the hall. Alpha Benedict and Hannah.

I spun toward them immediately.

“Please,” I said, wiping my tears. “Please let me in. I want to see Dione. He needs me. He’s sick, Alpha. You can’t keep me out.”

He didn’t even look bothered. He only raised his hands and used sign language, slowly, as if explaining something reasonable, [He needs physicians, Alliana. Not you. Don’t cause trouble.]

I shook my head. “You can’t be serious! He’s three! He needs comfort, warmth, he needs his mother! How can you be so heartless?”

Benedict’s expression didn’t change. Hannah slipped her hand through his arm and looked at me with false sympathy.

“You’ll only get in the way,” she said softly. “Just be patient.”

“I’m his mother!” My voice broke, louder this time.

“Enough,” Benedict said sharply. He turned to the guards. “Keep her out. No matter what.”

Then he and Hannah entered the room.

And the door shut right in my face.

I stood there frozen, staring at the door, unable to breathe for a moment. The sound of the latch locking echoed like a slap to my chest.

I sank to the floor, my hands trembling violently.

If I lost him… If anything happened to Dione… I would rather die.

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I hugged my knees. The hallway felt too bright, too cold. Nurses passed by, glancing but never stopping. Nobody dared help the Luna. The fake Luna.

My breathing grew shaky. I felt helpless, useless, powerless.

Minutes passed. Maybe hours.

I didn’t know anymore. Time was slipping away, and all I could think was—

Please, let my baby be safe.

I leaned my back against the wall, trying to steady myself.

Then… I heard it. The soft click of the door. Not all the way closed. It was slightly ajar.

My body went rigid.

Voices drifted from inside the room. I hesitated for half a second… and then I leaned closer, just enough to hear what they were saying.

Hannah’s voice was the first I heard.

“So the Snowstorm wolves will attack Crownfest Pack without warning? Anytime now?”

My blood turned to ice.

Attack… Crownfest? My pack?

I pressed my hand over my mouth, holding in a gasp.

“Yes,” Benedict replied. His tone was cold, serious. “They stole the weapon shipment meant for us. Crownfest Pack took advantage of my father’s kindness and tried to hide it. That’s treason.”

“That’s why you plan to attack them?” Hannah asked.

“Of course,” Benedict said. “They betrayed us. This week, we’ll strike.” His voice dropped even lower, darker. “I will see the fall of the proud Crownfest Pack soon.”

My heart plummeted.

No. No, this can’t be happening. Crownfest Pack would never steal weapons. Never.

My father was an honorable Alpha. My brother was a respected one. My mother had always taught us that a pack’s honor mattered more than anything.

Snowstorm… must have been tricked. Or they misunderstood something. Or someone framed my pack—

My hands shook violently.

They were going to be attacked. This week.

“A good thing she’s too stupid to notice anything,” Hannah laughed softly. “Even if she finds out, she can’t do anything.”

Benedict chuckled. “She won’t find out. She believes everything we tell her.”

I bit my lip so hard it bled.

Everything was falling apart. My son was sick. And my pack was in danger.

I needed to warn them.

I stumbled away from the door and ran to the end of the hallway. I grabbed my phone and dialed my mother.

The call rang.

Once. Twice. Three times. No answer.

I tried my father. No response.

My brother. Still nothing.

My stomach twisted painfully. “Come on… please… please answer…”

I dialed again. Nothing.

Why weren’t they answering? Did something already happen? Was the pack already under attack? Were they hurt?

My legs felt weak. I pressed my back against the wall for support. My mind raced, dizzy and frantic.

I needed to go home. I needed to get to Crownfest Pack. I needed to stop this. I needed to warn them.

But— Dione. My son was inside that room. Feverish. Sick. Vulnerable. And Benedict’s pack would never let me take him.

My hands covered my face. “What do I do…? What do I do…?”

For the first time in years, I felt truly trapped.

Like a wolf caught in a hunter’s snare.

Dione needed me. My family needed me.

But I only had one body. One life. One heart.

And it was being torn in two.

Alliana’s POV

I left the Snowstorm Pack borders with my heart pounding painfully in my chest. I didn’t want to leave Dione behind, not even for a second, but I had no choice. If Benedict’s pack really planned to attack Crownfest without warning, then my parents, my brother, my whole family was in danger.

I ran the entire way. My legs were shaking when I finally reached Crownfest Pack, but I forced myself to keep going. The moment the guards recognized me, they let me in.

“Lady Alliana?” one of them asked.

“I need to see Alpha Cain. Right now,” I whispered.

They didn’t ask questions. They guided me straight to the main hall. My brother was there, talking with a group of elders. When he turned around and saw me, his eyes widened in shock.

“Alliana? What happened?”

I opened my mouth and everything spilled out. My voice trembled.

“Snowstorm Pack… Benedict… he’s planning to attack us. Soon. This week.”

The elders murmured. Cain’s expression darkened instantly. “Explain everything.”

So I did. I told him about the overheard conversation in the hospital. The accusations that Crownfest stole weapons. The declaration of war. The timing. Everything.

My brother clenched his jaw, eyes flashing with anger. “We never stole anything. That claim is false.”

“I know,” I whispered. “Someone is framing us… or bending the truth.”

Cain took a breath, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’ll prepare. We’re not a weak pack, Alliana. We will defend our home.”

I nodded shakily. “I just… I didn’t want you all to be caught off guard.”

“You did the right thing.” He paused. “But what about you? Why did you come alone? What’s going on?”

The moment he asked, my tears fell.

“Cain…” My voice cracked. “I’ve been suffering there… for years.”

My brother froze, then stepped closer. “Alliana…”

I told him everything. The bullying. The isolation. The fake marriage. The cruelty. The humiliation. The mistress. The lies. Everything Benedict hid behind my back. Every reason why I lost myself.

Cain’s hands curled into fists. “I should’ve taken you home the first time I saw your eyes change. I should’ve known.”

“No,” I whispered. “It was my choice. I thought… I thought enduring made me strong. I thought being patient would make him love me.”

My voice trembled. “I was wrong.”

Cain sighed and pulled me into a hug. “You’re leaving him, right?”

“Yes,” I whispered. “I just… I just need to go back first. I need to get Dione. I’m not leaving without my son.”

“We’ll help you,” he said firmly.

But right then, my phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number.

My heart dropped when I read it. [I knew you can hear now. You took the bait, dear fake luna.]

My blood ran cold. It was Hannah. She knew I could hear. She knew I went home. She knew I found out.

I tightened my grip on the phone. “Cain… I have to go back. Right now.”

“Alliana—”

“My son is there,” I whispered. “If Hannah knows I can hear, she won’t sit still. She’ll do something. I can feel it.”

Cain’s eyes sharpened. “Then go. I’ll send my warriors behind you.”

I nodded, turned around, and ran again. But the moment I stepped back inside Snowstorm Pack, it was chaos. Warriors shouting. Omegas running. Wolves shifting. Panic everywhere.

“What happened?!” I grabbed the closest maid.

The maid’s eyes filled with fear. She quickly used sign language, [Your son… was kidnapped. At the hospital.]

My heart stopped. “No…” My knees weakened. “No—no—NO—”

I grabbed her arm desperately. “Who took him?! Who—”

The maid shook her head, crying silently.

I didn’t wait. I ran to Benedict’s office and slammed the door open.

“Alpha!” I screamed. “Where is my son? WHERE IS DIONE?!”

Benedict was already furious, pacing, slamming his fists on the desk. A warrior ran inside, breathless.

“Alpha! Hannah—she was kidnapped too!”

Benedict’s face twisted. “What?! What the fuck are you all doing?! How did you let her out of your sight?!”

I froze. Hannah… kidnapped? At the same time as my son? Something was wrong. Something didn’t make sense.

“Alpha!” I shouted, stepping forward. “Dione is missing! He’s your son, your flesh and blood. FIND HIM. Please! Just find him—”

He lifted his hands and signed calmly, [I will find him, Alliana. Don’t worry. We will rescue him.]

Relief washed over me, but then he turned to his warriors and yelled, “Find Hannah first! I don’t care what it takes!”

My eyes widened. Hannah first. Not Dione. Not the sick three-year-old boy who might be terrified and freezing somewhere out there.

I felt something inside me break. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

He used sign language to deceive me into thinking he was looking for our son. I couldn’t even imagine the horror if I still hadn’t regained my hearing at that moment. I would have believed that monster!

I stormed out. But halfway down the hall, I stopped. Dione’s nanny, Abby, was standing there, shaking.

I rushed to her. “Abby! What happened? You were with him! How did he get taken?”

She hesitated and started using sign language out of habit.

I grabbed her wrists gently. “No. Speak. I can hear for a week now. Talk to me.”

Her eyes widened. “L-Luna… you regained…?”

“That doesn’t matter!” I snapped, breath shaking. “Tell me what happened to my son.”

Abby swallowed hard, tears falling. “I—I was with him at the hospital. He was asleep. Feverish. I didn’t leave his side. But then… Hannah came.”

My stomach twisted.

Abby continued, voice trembling. “Hannah told me to buy something to eat. She said she would watch him… only for a few minutes.”

“And you believed her?” I whispered, voice breaking.

Abby sobbed. “She’s close to the Alpha. I couldn’t say no… I thought it was fine. I thought… I thought she would help.”

I closed my eyes tightly.

“When I returned,” Abby cried, “Dione was gone. And Hannah was nowhere to be seen.”

My chest burned. “It was a setup.”

Abby nodded, shaking. “I’m so sorry… I’m so sorry…”

I placed a hand over my heart, trying to breathe through the panic. “No… no… I have to find him. I have to.”

I turned around, grabbed my phone, and called Cain with shaking hands.

“Cain…” I whispered when he answered. “Send your elite wolf warriors. All of them. Dione is missing.”

“We’re coming,” he said. “We won’t stop until we find him.”

I ended the call and stepped outside, staring at the storm clouds gathering over the Snowstorm Pack.

And this time, I wasn’t waiting for Benedict.

I would search every mountain, every forest, every river until I found my child. Even if I had to tear this entire territory apart with my bare hands.

Alliana’s POV

I searched everywhere. The hospital hallways. Every corner. Every room. Every possible path leading away from the building.

“Please, please! Did you see a little boy?” I asked every nurse I passed, my voice hoarse. “He’s three. Curly hair. Warm scent. His name is Dione. Please, anything—”

Everyone shook their heads.

“He was just here… he was… he was in this bed…” I whispered to myself, gripping the metal rails until my knuckles turned white. “Where are you… baby… where did they take you…”

I pushed open emergency exits. Checked supply rooms. Looked behind curtains. My legs trembled with exhaustion and fear.

Nothing.

My brother’s warriors arrived shortly after, their presence thick and strong in the air. One of them approached gently.

“Lady Alliana,” he said, voice soft. “We will help you. We’ll search everywhere.”

I nodded, wiping tears I couldn’t control. “Please find him. Please… I can’t… I can’t lose him…”

“We’ll find your son,” the warrior repeated. “Alpha Cain ordered us to protect you.”

We entered the woods behind the hospital. The rain hadn’t started yet, but the sky was dark, heavy, waiting to break.

“Spread out,” one warrior ordered. “Dione might be somewhere near.”

I walked with them, but I could barely see the ground through my tears.

“Dione!” I shouted, voice cracking. “Baby, answer Mommy! Please! Just let me hear you once—”

Nothing answered. No tiny voice. No cry. No footsteps. Only my own fear.

“Lady Alliana,” a warrior said gently. “You need to breathe. We’ll find him—”

“No,” I whispered. “I can’t stop. I can’t rest. He’s out here. Alone. Sick. Terrified. I have to keep going.”

My legs felt like they would collapse, but I forced them forward.

Then, a rustle. A growl. Before I could react, wolves burst from between the trees and lunged at us.

“AMBUSH!” someone shouted.

Everything happened fast. My brother’s warriors shifted instantly, bodies cracking into their wolf forms. Massive forms collided in flashes of claws and teeth.

I froze for a heartbeat, watching wolves slam into each other, snarling and biting. The sound of bones hitting earth. The smell of blood. A flash of fangs near my shoulder.

“Stay behind us, Lady Alliana!” a warrior roared.

One enemy wolf leaped toward me, jaws open wide. But a Crownfest wolf tackled him, sending them both rolling across the forest floor.

I stumbled back, breathing hard, heart hammering.

That’s when I saw her. Standing behind the attackers. Hannah. Her smile was small. Cold. So this was her doing. The kidnapping. The disappearance. Sending wolves to kill me.

All of it.

My nails dug into my palms until they bled. But I didn’t go after her. As much as I wanted to tear her apart, my son came first. Dione mattered more.

After a brutal fight, my brother’s warriors subdued the attackers and tied them up. Hannah had already disappeared into the trees, like a coward hiding her own smell.

“We have to keep moving,” one warrior said. “We won’t find him if the storm starts.”

I nodded, even if my legs were barely holding me up.

We searched again. And again.

But the rain finally broke. Thunder crashed overhead. Rain poured down in sheets. Mist rose from the ground like smoke, hiding everything from sight.

“We’re losing visibility,” a warrior warned. “We’ll lose tracks—”

“I DON’T CARE!” I shouted. “I’m not stopping! He’s out here! I can feel it!”

My voice cracked and broke. I would rather die than stop looking for him.

But then, a familiar scent. Alpha Benedict.

I stiffened. He appeared through the mist with several Snowstorm warriors behind him. And next to him was Hannah. Clinging to his arm like a wounded deer, blanket over her shoulders, fake tears on her face.

“Alpha… I was so scared…” she cried into his chest. “They took me… the kidnappers were terrifying…”

Benedict held her protectively. “You’re safe now. I’m here.”

Then Hannah gasped loudly. “Alpha… I… I saw Dione…”

I froze. My breath caught.

“What?” Benedict asked.

“T-The kidnappers… were threatening us…” Hannah sobbed. “I was so scared…”

Hannah looked at me, eyes trembling in fake guilt.

“They told me that only one of us can live… I have to choose who will remain… but…” She cried harder. “But I accidentally pushed Dione off the cliff!”

My heart snapped. “What…?” I whispered to myself. “No…”

“I couldn’t catch him…” Hannah cried. “It all happened so fast…” She buried herself deeper into Alpha Benedict’s arm.

“A gentle soul like you,” Benedict whispered, stroking her hair. “You’re not at fault. Alliana wouldn’t understand anyway. Just tell her he fell on his own. She can’t hear.”

My breath stopped. He didn’t know I could hear. And he wanted her to lie. To cover her crime. Even if it meant saying our son died by accident.

Hannah nodded obediently. Then she stepped toward me and lifted her hands.

[I’m sorry, Alliana. Dione fell off the cliff himself. He was so scared.]

I stared at her. At those hands. At those orchestrated lies.

But Hannah wasn’t done. She walked closer and hugged me. Tight.

My body froze. Then her whisper hit my ear like a knife. “I pushed your son down the cliff.”

Something inside me exploded. I screamed and lunged at her, rage blinding me. “You—YOU KILLED MY SON!” I roared, reaching for her throat.

But Benedict shoved me hard. I fell to the ground. Mud splashed around me.

“Don’t touch her,” he snarled. “Hannah is the victim here.”

He wrapped his arm around Hannah again, shielding her like she was precious.

And me? He left me kneeling in the mud. In the rain. In the dark.

“Just let her be,” Benedict muttered as he walked away with Hannah in his arms. “It serves her right for trying to hurt you. She’s just a fake Luna anyway, and I don’t need that child. I don’t consider him as my heir.”

---

Alpha Benedict’s POV

I was pissed. Completely pissed. It had been days since Dione’s funeral, and I was preparing everything for the attack on Crownfest Pack. The plan was almost perfect. All I needed was Alliana.

She was the bait. But for days, she hadn’t shown herself.

I marched into the omega quarters and spotted the nanny— Abby. I knew she was the closest omega maid to that woman.

“Where’s that deaf woman?” I snapped. “Where the hell is Alliana?”

Abby stiffened. “S-She’s still mourning at the cliff, Alpha. But…”

“Still mourning? She’s being dramatic again.” I narrowed my eyes. “But what? Spit it out. I don’t have time for this.”

She lowered her head. “I… I’m just confused, Alpha.”

“About what?” My patience was thinning.

“Why you’re still calling Luna Alliana deaf…” Abby whispered.

I stared at her. “The fuck do you mean why? She is deaf. What’s your point?”

Abby swallowed hard. “B-But… Luna Alliana can hear. She regained her hearing a week ago.”

The world seemed to stop. “What the hell did you just say?” I barked.

“She can hear now, Alpha,” Abby repeated, voice trembling. “For a whole week already.”

My chest tightened. Images and words flashed in my head— every conversation I had with Hannah, every cruel thing I said, every plan I revealed, every insult, every moment I spoke freely in front of Alliana… thinking she couldn’t hear a thing.

She heard it all. All of it.

“Fuck…” I muttered under my breath, running a hand through my hair. “Fucking hell…”