Ivy POV
As Carlton’s heavy footsteps faded into the night, the suffocating weight of his Alpha aura finally lifted from the Moon Lake. For a moment, there was only the sound of Denisse’s pathetic sobbing.
Then, Dixie, who had been cowering near the willows, let out a sharp, cruel laugh.
"A royal?" the low-rank Omega sneered, stepping out of the shadows to look down at the ruined girl. "You couldn't even secure a Mason, you delusional little whore. Look at you now. You're nothing but trash."
Denisse snapped. A feral, agonizing shriek tore from her throat as her Inner Wolf, driven mad by the ultimate humiliation, took over. She lunged at Dixie, and the two women crashed hard onto the cold stone pavement.
It wasn't a graceful fight. Dixie, accustomed to hard labor and possessing the brute strength of a working Omega, easily overpowered the pampered girl. She grabbed a fistful of Denisse’s perfectly styled hair and dragged her nails viciously across her cheek, screaming curses at both Denisse and her mother.
"Stop it!" Jackie shrieked, her face pale with panic. Being entirely wolfless, she had no physical power to separate them. She could only rely on her stolen matriarchal authority. "Unhand her, Dixie, or I swear to the Moon Goddess I will have you whipped until your bones show!"
Fearing Jackie’s lingering influence over Carlton, Dixie reluctantly let go. She spat on the ground near Denisse’s feet before scurrying away into the dark.
Denisse was left a broken, muddy mess. Her lip was bleeding, her forehead was swelling, and her opulent dress was shredded. Jackie dropped to her knees, trembling with rage as she held her daughter. "I will find the bitch who set us up," Jackie hissed, her eyes wild. "I will tear her to pieces."
Slowly, Denisse pushed herself up. Her bloodshot eyes darted around the courtyard until they locked onto the shadows of the weeping willows. Onto me.
"You," Denisse snarled, stumbling toward me. The pungent, sour stench of her panicked rose scent clashed violently with my crisp lilies. "You forged that letter! You stole my scent!"
I widened my eyes, the absolute picture of innocence. "Me?" I asked softly, my voice trembling just enough. "Denisse, I am wolfless. I don't even have an Inner Wolf to use the mind-link. How could a weakling like me extract a high-rank female's pheromones and perfectly mimic your elegant script?"
She froze. The logic was flawless to her. She had no idea that in my past life, desperate to be useful to Darius, I had endured agonizing assassin training to master the art of forgery and scent manipulation. To her, I was just the useless fifth daughter.
"I'll kill you anyway," Denisse spat, raising a trembling, dirt-stained hand.
"Enough," Jackie snapped, stepping forward with her usual imperious glare. She looked at me, expecting the terrified, submissive girl I used to be. "Ivy, help your sister back to her room. Now."
In my past life, I would have bowed my head and obeyed. Tonight, I simply looked at the wolfless woman who had stolen me from my true parents. I didn't say a single word. I didn't even blink. I just turned my back on them and walked away, leaving Jackie gasping in sheer, unprecedented shock at my defiance.
When I returned to the Luna's Suite, the suffocating stench of wolfsbane was gone, replaced by the soothing aroma of medicinal herbs. Josephine was sitting up against the pillows, her pale face drawn with sorrow.
"I heard the commotion," Josephine murmured, her voice frail. "Ivy, my sweet girl... it is a tragedy you lost the Mason match. Denver would have been a strong protector."
I sat on the edge of her bed and took her cold hands. "Mother, Denver despised me for being wolfless. He conspired with Denisse tonight to throw a servant into my bed and ruin me."
Josephine’s eyes widened, her breath hitching. "The Masons... they would stoop so low?"
"Jackie and her brood will not stop until we are all dead," I urged, squeezing her fingers. "You must use your Luna authority. You have to take back the estate."
Josephine shook her head, a tear slipping down her cheek. "I have no strength left, Ivy. Not since I lost my pup. My spirit died with that stillborn boy."
I stared at her broken, defeated posture, my chest tightening. She didn't know. She had no idea that her baby hadn't died. Jackie had bribed the midwife, swapping the healthy infant to secure her own position. That boy was Blake Russell, the Pack's eldest son and a formidable Dire Wolf warrior. And in my past life, Jackie had murdered him with silver powder right before his wedding to keep the secret buried.
If Josephine didn't fight, Blake would die again. I looked into her grieving eyes, realizing that the only way to awaken the fierce, protective Luna within her was to shatter the lie she had lived for over twenty years.
