Hadley POV:
I sat in my office, the DNA report trembling in my hands. The silence in the room was heavy, suffocating.
My assistant, a sharp Beta named Marcus, stood by the door. "Elder, the guests are arriving. It's Kylie's birthday party. The Alpha expects you downstairs."
"A birthday party," I muttered, a bitter laugh escaping my lips. "We are celebrating a cuckoo bird while our own eaglet has been cast out of the nest."
"Sir?"
"Nothing." I stood up, smoothing my suit. I grabbed the report. "Let's go to the party, Marcus. I think it's time for a toast."
The ballroom of the Moon Shadow Manor was dripping with opulence. Crystal chandeliers cast a golden glow over hundreds of guests. Women in silk gowns and men in tuxedos mingled, sipping champagne. The air smelled of expensive perfume and artificial happiness.
In the center of it all was Kylie. She was wearing a custom-made blue gown that probably cost more than a warrior's yearly salary. On her wrist, she wore the Moonstone Bracelet-an heirloom meant for the firstborn daughter of the Alpha.
It should have been Eliza's.
I watched Derek and Nora. They looked like the perfect couple. Derek, still pale from his blood loss but standing tall. Nora, beaming, holding Kylie's hand.
Disgust rose in my throat like bile.
I walked toward the head table. The crowd parted for me, bowing their heads in respect.
"Father!" Derek smiled when he saw me. "I'm glad you made it."
"Happy Birthday, Grandfather!" Kylie chirped. She reached for a slice of cake.
A servant approached with a silver platter to serve the cake.
Kylie shrieked. "Ew! That plate looks smudged! Did that dirty girl touch it before she left? Get it away from me! Burn it!"
The room went quiet. Kylie's bratty voice echoed off the walls.
"She's gone, darling," Nora soothed her, stroking her hair. "The bad thing is gone. You don't have to worry."
That was it. The dam broke.
I slammed my cane down onto the table. The heavy wood cracked. The sound was like a gunshot.
Glassware shattered. The music stopped. Every wolf in the room froze, sensing the killing intent rolling off me.
"The bad thing," I repeated, my voice low and dangerous.
"Father?" Derek stepped forward, confused. "What is wrong?"
"Everything," I snarled. I looked at the servant holding the plate. "Tell them, Abernathy. Tell everyone here how the 'bad thing' lived."
The butler turned pale. He looked at Derek, then at me. My Alpha command pinned him to the spot.
"She... she lived in the garage, sir," Abernathy stammered. "And then the basement."
"And what did she eat?" I bellowed.
"Scraps, sir. And... dog food."
Gasps rippled through the crowd. To mistreat a child-any child-was a sin. To feed a child dog food was an abomination.
"But she was a Rogue!" Kylie shouted, stomping her foot. "She smelled like poo!"
I turned my gaze on the girl. For the first time, I really looked at her. I saw the entitlement. The cruelty. And underneath the vanilla perfume, I smelled the truth I had missed before. She didn't smell like Nora. She didn't smell like Derek. She smelled... common. Her scent was weak, lacking the Alpha markers.
"You," I pointed at Kylie. "Silence."
I turned back to Derek. I threw the DNA report at his chest. The papers scattered across the ruined cake.
"Read it," I commanded.
Derek picked up a page. He frowned. "What is this?"
"It is the proof of your damnation," I said, my voice shaking with fury. "The girl you starved. The girl you let your dogs bite. The girl whose blood is currently flowing through your veins, keeping you alive."
Derek's eyes scanned the paper. His face went from confused to gray.
"No," he whispered. "This... this says..."
"Paternity confirmed," I read aloud for the room to hear. "Eliza is your biological daughter, Derek. Yours. And Nora's."
Nora laughed nervously. "That's impossible, Hadley. The smell... Burt..."
"Burt was sterile!" I shouted. "And the smell? The lab confirmed it. It wasn't just dirt. It was a high-grade Wolfsbane tincture mixed with sulfur. A masking agent designed to hide a royal bloodline from trackers. You were so blinded by your trauma you didn't even consult a chemist!"
I stepped closer to Nora. "You rejected your own pup. You let her be abused because you were too weak to look past a smell."
"And you," I turned to Dionne, who was trying to sneak away. "You sent her away. Where?"
"I... I thought it was for the best," Dionne stammered.
"She is a White Wolf!" I roared. The revelation hit the room like a bomb. "She carries the purest blood of the Silver Claw. She is the rarest creature born to this Pack in a century. And you threw her away like garbage."
Derek dropped to his knees. He looked at his hands-the hands that had signed the order to lock her in the basement.
"Eliza," he choked out.
"She's gone," I said, my voice cold as ice. "The Silver Claw came for her. And if I know Alpha Johnny... he will bring war to our doorstep for this."
I looked at the weeping Nora, the broken Derek, and the terrified Kylie.
"The party is over," I declared. "And so is this family."
