During finals week, a group of women stormed into my house, screaming: “There she is! The vixen who seduced our Alpha!”

I didn't know who they were, or what they wanted.

The ringleader was my brother’s girlfriend. Without a word, she slapped me hard.

“You bitch! How dare you steal my mate?”

They brutalized me, wrecked my home, and dangled my mother’s only keepsake over my head.

“Admit on camera that you’re a slut, or I’ll smash this!”

To save it, I did. She smashed it anyway.

I completely lost it. I lunged at her, clawing bloody scratches across her face.

Just as they were about to scrawl humiliating slurs on my face, a furious roar shook the house:

“Are you insane? How dare you touch my sister!”

————————

1

Finals week. I was holed up at my brother Thane’s new place in Seattle, buried in a pile of textbooks. All I wanted was a little peace and quiet to study.

I’d barely opened a book when someone started pounding on the front door.

Thinking it was a delivery, I cracked it open without a second thought.

“Get in here, girls! This is her! The vixen who seduced the Alpha!”

The door was barely ajar before a short, heavily made-up woman shoved a selfie stick in my face. A whole gaggle of girls crowded in behind her.

“Who are you? I think you have the wrong house,” I said, frowning.

Before I could say more, they flooded into the living room, pushing me so hard I stumbled backward.

“Hmph. So you’re the other woman. You’re not even that pretty.”

The girls glared at me with pure hostility. My inner wolf began to stir, a low growl rumbling in my chest.

“What gives you the right to barge into my home? Get out!” I yelled.

I reached for my phone, but a woman with big curly hair snatched it away.

“Thinking of calling for help? Dream on!”

She glared at me and shrieked, “You bitch, trying to steal my mate? I’m going to teach you a lesson today!”

I was still trying to figure out what she meant by “other woman” and “mate” when a sharp slap cracked across my face. The sting left me stunned.

“Look at her, playing all innocent. I bet the Alpha falls for that act. He probably loves sluts like you,” the woman who hit me sneered.

She rubbed her wrist and yelled, “Don't you dare tell me you don’t know Thane! Swear on the Moon Goddess that you’re not his mistress!”

Thane Sterling is my brother! How dare she call me a mistress? Every penny I have came from my mother’s inheritance.

“I know Thane. I’m his sister!” I shot back.

No one had ever laid a hand on me before. My temper flared. “Now that you know he’s my brother, get the hell out!”

“Shameless fox! That’s what every mistress says when they get caught!” The woman laughed coldly, digging her nails into my already swelling cheek.

Tears welled in my eyes from the pain, but I couldn’t push her hand away.

“Celeste, look at this place. It’s huge and so opulent. Thane really spoils this little tramp,” one of the other girls said.

Celeste? The name sounded familiar. I shoved her away, clutching my burning face.

“You’re my brother’s mate, Celeste Crawford?” I asked.

That just seemed to energize the mob.

“So you knew Celeste was Thane’s mate and you still came onto him! Get a good look, everyone! Look at this shameless bitch!” The short woman shoved her phone in my face again.

I knew she was livestreaming. Furious, I slapped the phone out of her hand, sending it clattering to the floor. “Get that thing out of my face! I’m not his mistress! Celeste—”

Before I could finish, the livestreamer kicked me hard in the stomach. I doubled over in pain.

“I’m Thane’s sister! His actual sister!” I choked out, clutching my stomach, my voice tight with pain and rage.

Everyone froze. They all turned to look at Celeste. “Thane has a sister?”

Celeste’s face darkened. “Yes,” she said slowly. “He has a sister.”

“Did we mess up? If we just attacked the Alpha’s sister, we’re so dead…”

Just as the pack of she-wolves started to hesitate, a voice cut through the tension. “She’s lying. She’s not Thane’s sister at all.”

The livestreamer, a girl named Sophia Rivers, dangled my student ID in the air triumphantly.

“Look, everyone! See how clever this mistress is? She gets caught and immediately lies about being his sister.”

She shoved my ID toward the camera. “Her name is Lyra Morningstar. You’re a Morningstar, the Alpha is a Sterling. You’re not even from the same family. How could you possibly be siblings?”

She was broadcasting my personal information online. Panic set in. I lunged for my ID, but two women grabbed me and held me fast.

Celeste, feeling like she’d been played for a fool, flew into a rage. Crack. Crack. Two more slaps landed on my face. My head spun, and the taste of blood filled my mouth.

“You lying fox! How dare you trick me? I’ll rip you apart!” Celeste screamed.

I was pinned to the floor, helpless against the barrage of her kicks and punches. My inner wolf whimpered in pain inside me.

“We really are siblings,” I said weakly.

No one believed me. Their eyes were all drawn to the lavish decor of the villa.

“Thane really spent a fortune on you. He hasn’t even put this much effort into the home we’re supposed to build together,” Celeste said, sneering as she scanned the room.

Then, she spat out two words: “Smash it.”

“Are you all watching? The real show is about to start! Share this stream, you don’t want to miss what happens next!” Sophia shrieked with excitement.

This house was my gift to Thane for his bonding ceremony. I had overseen everything, from the design to the final touches. The thought of them destroying it sent a wave of panic through me.

“No! Don’t touch anything! I put my heart into this place!” I struggled wildly, trying to break free from the two women holding me down.

I clawed blindly at them, leaving bloody scratches on their arms. They cursed at me and tightened their grip.

It wasn't about the money. It was my design, my creation, my gift.

The more I panicked, the more they seemed to enjoy it. Within minutes, the house was filled with the sound of shattering and tearing. The top-of-the-line television was smashed, the leather sofa was slashed, and even the antique vases were reduced to shards.

“You… you’re all insane! I’m calling the cops!” I gritted out, forced to watch as they turned my work into a wasteland.

My threat reached the ears of the women holding me. “What’s that? The little bitch wants to call the cops?” one of them mocked. “This is pack business. We’re Celeste’s sisters, here to back her up.”

They shoved and pinched me as I curled up on the floor, doing nothing but clenching my jaw against the pain.

“What’s this? One of our viewers says this statue is a limited-edition bronze of the Pack Guardian. That it’s worth a fortune?” Sophia asked with theatrical surprise.

That got my attention. “Don’t touch that statue!” I yelled. “You can’t afford to replace it. It’s our family’s guardian!”

“Why would Thane give something that valuable to some stray he picked up?”

“It’s probably a fake.”

“Even if it’s a fake, look how worked up she is. It must be worth something.”

The women stood before the statue, chattering amongst themselves.

“Don’t touch it! If you break it, your entire families couldn’t afford the damages!” I shouted, my voice cracking.

Thane had bought the statue anonymously at a private pack auction and had me place it in the new house.

Hearing this only made Celeste angrier. “He hemmed and hawed when I asked him to buy me that moonstone necklace, but he buys you a guardian statue? Who the hell do you think you are!”

She turned to the others. “Destroy that piece of junk!”

“Everyone watch! We’re about to smash this so-called guardian live! How exciting is this? Let the gifts fly!” Sophia yelled gleefully.

They shoved the statue over and stomped on it with their feet.

I could only pray that the family artisans could repair the damage.

“Get me a hammer,” Celeste announced. “This must be a love token Thane gave this little slut. I want to smash it to pieces.”

The last sliver of hope in my heart died.

“You’re going to regret this, Celeste,” I said, my voice hollow.

My brother told me his mate was sweet and innocent. Did he have any idea she was capable of something this vile?

I watched in numb shock as the priceless statue was beaten out of shape.

When Celeste’s gaze fell on my limited-edition Maserati parked in the garage, I glared at her with cold eyes. It had been Thane’s graduation gift to me.

She strolled over to the car, her eyes raking over its gleaming finish. Then, she dragged her key across the side. The screech of metal on metal echoed in the garage.

Her face twisted with rage, Celeste marched back to me, grabbed my hair, and started kicking me again.

“You bitch! This is my favorite sports car! Thane said he’d buy it for me, and he gave it to you instead!” she screamed.

I was on the floor again, her high heels digging into me. All I could do was curl into a ball to protect myself. I bit my lip, imagining the look on Celeste’s face when she found out she had just destroyed her own bonding ceremony gift.

Not that she deserved any of it now. I swore to myself she would never be the matron of the Sterling family.

“The mistress getting put in her place by the rightful mate! How’s that for a show, everyone? Remember this bitch’s name: Lyra Morningstar. Feel free to dox her,” Sophia said in her irritating voice.

I thought I had endured the worst of it. But then they found my most precious treasure upstairs.

“Celeste, come see what we found!”

The moment I saw them holding the jewelry box, all the pain vanished. I was so panicked I couldn't even speak.

Celeste opened the box and pulled out the platinum crescent moon pendant.

“What is this piece of junk? Kept in such a nice box, too. Toss it,” Celeste said.

“No!” I screamed. “Don’t throw it away!”

As Celeste raised her hand to throw it, I ignored the pain and scrambled to my feet. “You can have anything else! Please, just give me back the pendant.”

It was my mother’s. An heirloom. The symbol of our Morningstar bloodline.

My parents had filed for a divorce certificate over conflicting family philosophies. My father took my brother and founded the Sterling Group. My mother took me back to our ancestral lands. She would sometimes hold this pendant, staring at it, lost in thought. I knew it represented her pride and her lineage.

My mother never took another mate. She raised me alone. She passed away the year I started college. This pendant wasn't just a symbol of my bloodline; it was the last piece of my mother I had left.

Celeste glanced from the pendant in her hand to my trembling, desperate face. Her next words were pure venom.

“Oh,” she said casually. “You seem to care about this. That just makes me want to destroy it even more.”

Seeing her raise her hand again, I blurted out the first thing I could think of. “Celeste, that’s Thane’s most precious possession! If you destroy it, he’ll kill you!”

Celeste hesitated, studying the pendant more closely.

“Why would an Alpha like Thane care about a stupid pendant?” Sophia chimed in, enjoying the drama. “She already tried to trick us by saying she was his sister. She’s trying the same thing again.”

Celeste’s brow furrowed. “You almost fooled me again!” she snarled.

“Please,” I begged. “Don’t break it. I’ll do anything.”

A thousand ideas flashed through my mind, anything to stop this madwoman. None of them seemed likely to work.

Celeste weighed the pendant in her hand, a smug smirk twisted her lips. “Anything? Fine. Then get on camera and admit you’re a shameless mistress.”