Melissa’s POV
The week after the banquet felt like walking through a storm I couldn’t see my way out of. Every breath, every step, every sound in the packhouse was a reminder of everything I’d lost—my mother, my dignity, and the man I once believed was my destiny.
But there was one thing I hadn’t lost yet. My will.
When I found the truth, the evidence that proved Alicia’s hands were stained with my mother’s blood, I thought justice, at last, would find me. I thought the Moon Goddess had seen my pain and decided it was time to let the truth come to light.
I was wrong.
I filed the case myself, hands trembling as I signed the papers. But I never expected who would stand against me in court.
The Redmoon Courtroom was filled with wolves that day—pack members, elders, and outsiders who came to witness the scandal unfold. The tension in the air was thick enough to choke on. I stood at the plaintiff’s side, my pulse drumming in my ears.
And then, the door opened. Cyrus walked in.
He was dressed in an immaculate black suit, his Alpha mark glowing faintly beneath his collar. His presence commanded silence. Every wolf in the room lowered their gaze out of instinct. My heart sank when I saw where he stood.
Across from me. Beside Alicia.
She sat there, pretending to look fragile and frightened, her hand clasped in his.
“Alpha Cyrus Redmoon will be representing Miss Alicia,” the judge announced.
My stomach twisted. “You’re… you’re defending her?”
He looked at me then, his eyes cold and distant. “I am.”
“Cyrus, she killed my mother—”
“Enough,” he snapped, his Alpha voice echoing through the room. My wolf whimpered inside me. “You’ve said enough, Melissa. You think you can waltz in here with forged evidence and destroy someone’s life? You’ve gone too far.”
My hands trembled. “Forged evidence? How can you even say that?”
He stepped closer, his scent, a mix of cedar and storm, so familiar yet suffocating now. “You’ve changed, Melissa. You used to be kind. Now all I see is bitterness. You’re clinging to lies to justify your anger.”
I wanted to scream, to reach across the table and shake him, to make him remember what he once said, that he’d always protect me, that my mother was like family to him. But those words meant nothing to the man standing in front of me now.
He was no longer my Cyrus. And I was nothing but an enemy.
The trial dragged on for hours. Every time I presented a piece of evidence, Cyrus countered it flawlessly.
“This fabric sample?” He held it up between his fingers. “Could belong to anyone. You’re reaching, Melissa.”
By the time the hearing ended, the air around me felt crushed and empty.
Alicia smirked, tears of fake relief glistening in her eyes as Cyrus wrapped an arm around her shoulders. The spectators murmured, some sneering in my direction. I stood frozen, my throat dry, my heart aching.
As they walked past me, I whispered, “You’ll regret this, Alpha.”
He paused for a moment but didn’t turn around. “No, Melissa. You will.”
---
That night, the Redmoon Pack held a grand auction in the main hall, an event Elder Francine hosted every year for charity.
The hall was filled with wolves in fine clothes and false smiles. I stood near the back, unnoticed, my mind still replaying the courtroom scene over and over like a wound that refused to close.
And then I saw it.
Lot #27. The auctioneer held it up carefully, the light catching on the smooth green surface.
A jade bracelet.
My breath caught in my throat. My mother’s bracelet.
The one she never took off. The one that was supposed to have been placed beside her urn.
I pushed forward through the crowd, ignoring the whispers. “Where did you get that?” I demanded, my voice shaking. “That’s mine. It belonged to my mother!”
The auctioneer blinked at me, startled. “Miss, please, we can’t—”
But then Cyrus’s voice cut through the noise. “Melissa.”
He stood near the front with Alicia beside him, a glass of wine in his hand. His expression was unreadable.
“Tell them it’s my mother’s bracelet,” I said, my voice cracking. “You’ve seen her wear it before, Alpha. Please.”
He frowned slightly, as though I were a stranger rambling nonsense. “It’s just a bracelet, Melissa. Don’t make a scene.”
“Just a—” My breath hitched. “It’s all I have left of her!”
He didn’t respond. His gaze had already shifted to Alicia, who was admiring the bracelet with a smile.
“I like it,” Alicia said softly, her fingers brushing the jade. “It’s so pretty.”
Cyrus’s lips curved. “Then it’s yours.”
He raised his hand, bidding an amount that silenced the entire hall. The bracelet was his. No—hers.
The crowd applauded. I stood frozen, tears stinging my eyes.
Alicia turned to me, feigning innocence. “Oh, I didn’t mean to take something important, Melissa. I just… liked it.”
Then, as she slipped it onto her wrist, the fragile jade cracked.
The sharp sound echoed through the hall, followed by a soft laugh from someone in the crowd. Alicia gasped, pretending to look horrified. “Oh no… I didn’t mean to—”
Before anyone could stop her, she let the broken bracelet fall to the marble floor. The jade split into two perfect halves, rolling to my feet.
Cyrus sighed. “It’s fine, Alicia. It’s old. It was bound to break eventually.”
My heart clenched. I knelt slowly, my shaking hands gathering the pieces. The coolness of the stone burned my palms. My wolf whimpered inside me, mourning the final shred of my mother that had been destroyed before my eyes.
Alicia’s laughter, soft, cruel, rippled through the hall as she turned back to Cyrus. “You’ll get me another, won’t you?”
“Of course,” he murmured.
Their words blurred as I clutched the broken bracelet against my chest. My tears fell silently onto the jade, streaking across its smooth surface.
