The Queen They Lost, Now His

spent three years saving every single credit to buy the Moonlight Grass. It was the only herb capable of healing my damaged wolf spirit.

But the moment I walked through the door, my eldest brother, the Pack Alpha, snatched it from my trembling hands.

"Willow has a migraine," Ryker stated, his voice devoid of warmth. "She needs this."

I begged him. I told him it cost a fortune. I told him it was my only chance to finally shift.

But Axel, my second brother and the Pack Doctor, just adjusted his glasses with clinical coldness.

"Don't be selfish, Ember. Willow is fragile. Your jealousy is ugly."

They boiled my entire future into a tea for an adopted sister who was faking it.

Desperate to prove I wasn't the villain, I spent my last emergency cash on gifts for them.

But when I handed Willow a silk dress, she smirked at me, stepped on the hem, and threw herself backward onto the carpet.

"My ankle!" she screamed. "Ryker, she pushed me!"

I rushed forward to help, but my bad leg gave out. I smashed my knee against the metal bed frame, blood instantly soaking through my jeans.

Axel didn't check my shattered knee. He roared at me, "You vicious snake! You wanted her to trip!"

Ryker loomed over me, his Alpha Command crushing my lungs like a physical weight. "Get out of my sight."

Bleeding, broke, and heartbroken, I dragged myself out into the storm.

They thought I would crawl to a friend's house. They thought I would always be their punching bag.

Instead, I accepted an offer from the rival Shadow Alpha to join a top-secret research facility.

A fifteen-year lockdown. No contact. A complete erasure of my existence.

As I stepped onto the private jet, I looked down at the house one last time.

"Happy Birthday, brothers," I whispered into the wind.

I hope you enjoy the silence when you realize the sister you tortured is gone forever.

Chapter 1

Ember POV:

Antiseptic and copper. The smell of a losing battle.

My shift at the pack infirmary had ended three hours ago, but I had stayed behind to organize the inventory. As an Omega with a damaged wolf, I had no speed, no strength, and no healing ability. All I had was my mind and my hands.

I dragged my bad leg up the steps of the Pack House. The old burn scar on my knee throbbed in rhythm with the cold wind. It was a reminder of the fire that took our parents and silenced my wolf, Sera, ten years ago.

I pushed open the heavy oak doors.

"Where is it?" Ryker's voice boomed through the hallway.

It wasn't just a question. It was laced with Alpha Command. My knees buckled instantly. My dormant wolf whimpered deep in my subconscious, terrified by the power of the Pack Alpha.

I looked up. Ryker, my eldest brother, stood at the top of the stairs. His eyes were flashing gold. Beside him stood Axel, my second brother and the Pack Doctor.

"Where is what?" I whispered, gripping the banister to stay upright.

"The Moonlight Grass," Axel snapped, adjusting his glasses. "We know you bought the last batch from the trader today."

My heart stopped.

I had saved for three years to buy that herb. It was the only ingredient capable of waking a dormant wolf spirit. It was my only chance to hear Sera speak again, to finally shift, to stop being the broken defect of the family.

"I... I have it," I stammered. "It's for my treatment. You know this."

"Willow has a migraine," Ryker said. His voice was cold, devoid of the warmth he used to have when we were children. "She's sensitive. The pain is affecting her core."

"A migraine?" I choked out. "Ryker, that herb costs five thousand credits. It restores soul damage. You want to boil it for a headache?"

"It's not just a headache, Ember," Axel interjected, his tone clinical but defensive. "Her vitals are erratic. Her scent is... fading. The Moonlight Grass stabilizes spiritual fluctuation. You wouldn't understand the complexity."

"Do not question me, Omega," Ryker growled. The pressure in the air increased, heavy like a wet wool blanket. "Bring it to her room. Now."

I wanted to scream. I wanted to tell them that Willow was faking it, just like she faked her twisted ankle last week. But the Alpha Command locked my throat. My body moved against my will.

I walked to my room, hands trembling, and retrieved the dried, glowing blue grass from its velvet box. My hope. My future.

I walked to the guest suite-the one that used to be Mom's sewing room, now redecorated in pink silk for Willow.

Willow lay on the chaise lounge, looking perfectly healthy. When she saw me, she offered a weak, sugary smile.

"Oh, Ember," she cooed. "Ryker said you had something to help me. You're so sweet."

I placed the herb on the table. My fingers didn't want to let go.

Ryker snatched it up. "Get out."

I turned and limped away. As the door clicked shut, I heard Willow giggle. "It smells like dirt, Ryker. Do I really have to drink it?"

I made it to my room before I collapsed.

My phone buzzed on the bed. I picked it up with numb fingers. It was an email.

Subject: Acceptance Notification - Project Silver Dawn.

Dear Ms. Ember Blackwood, based on your exceptional paper on Silver Poisoning pathology, you have been selected...

I stared at the screen. This was the most prestigious, top-secret research facility in the country. It was a closed project. No contact with the outside world for fifteen years.

It was an escape.

I walked to the window. Tonight was the Moon Festival. The pack was gathering in the square for the bonfire.

I reached out through the Mind-Link, the telepathic web that connected all pack members.

Ryker? Axel? Are we going together?

Silence.

Then, a sharp static noise. They had blocked me.

I put on my coat and walked to the square alone. The wind bit through my thin sweater. I saw them in the distance. Ryker was holding Willow's hand. Axel was adjusting her scarf. They looked like a family.

I was the ghost haunting them.

I pulled out my phone and dialed Axel.

"What?" Axel answered on the first ring, annoyance dripping from his tone.

"It's the festival," I said, my voice shaking. "I thought... Mom and Dad always wanted us to light the first log together."

"We are busy," Axel hissed. " The smoke triggers Willow's asthma. We're taking her to the clinic, then flying her out to Moon Island. She needs sea air."

"Moon Island?" I gasped. "But... that's our family retreat. You promised we'd go there for my birthday."

"Stop being selfish, Ember," Axel spat. "Willow is sick. You are just jealous. Don't bother us."

The line went dead.

I stood there for a long time. The festive drums started beating. Couples were dancing.

I wasn't going to let it end like this. If they were leaving, I would say goodbye. Not for them, but for the little girl inside me who still loved her big brothers.

I took a taxi to the pack hospital.

I stopped at the gift shop. I had zero credits left after the Moonlight Grass, so I used the emergency cash I kept in my shoe.

I bought a crystal etched with protection runes for Ryker.

I bought a rare medical manuscript replica for Axel.

And for Willow... I bought a silk dress. Peace offering.

I walked up to the VIP floor. The door was ajar.

"She needs rest, Alpha," Axel was saying gently.

"I know," Ryker replied softly. "She's been through so much."

I pushed the door open. "Happy Moon Festival."

The room went silent. Willow sat up in bed, her eyes widening. She looked at the bag in my hand.

"I brought gifts," I said, stepping forward.

"Oh! Let me see!" Willow exclaimed, jumping out of bed with surprising agility for someone with a migraine. She snatched the bag.

She pulled out the dress. It was long, flowing, and expensive.

"It's... okay, I guess," she muttered, holding it up against herself. Then, her eyes flickered to Ryker. A sly grin touched her lips.

She took a step back, deliberately stepping on the hem of the dress.

"Ah!"

She threw herself backward. It was a theatrical fall. She landed on the thick carpet with a soft thud, but she screamed as if she had been shot.

"My ankle! Ryker, it hurts!"

I rushed forward instinctively. "Let me help-"

My bad leg caught on the edge of the rug. I went down hard. My knee, the one with the burn scar, slammed into the metal frame of the bed.

Crack.

Pain, white and hot, exploded up my thigh. I felt the warm trickle of blood soaking my jeans.

"Get away from her!" Axel roared.

He didn't look at me. He didn't look at the blood pooling under my leg. He rushed to Willow, who was sobbing dry tears.

"You vicious little snake!" Axel turned to me, his face twisted in rage. "You bought a dress too long for her on purpose! You wanted her to trip!"

"No," I whispered, clutching my knee. "Axel, I'm bleeding..."

"I don't care," Axel snarled. "Get up. Stop acting like a victim. You are rotting from the inside out, Ember."

Ryker stepped forward. He loomed over me, his shadow swallowing me whole.

"Get out of my sight," he commanded.

I dragged myself up. The pain in my leg was nothing compared to the hole they had just punched through my chest.