Kimberly POV:
The betrayal didn't feel like a knife. It felt like a hollow space opening up in my chest, sucking all the air out of the room.
"Facility?" I repeated, the word tasting like ash. "Is that what you told them? That I was in a mental facility? I was in Zurich, Austyn. Securing the banking rights that pay for that suit you're wearing."
Austyn chuckled sadly, shaking his head at the crowd. "See? She creates these elaborate fantasies. Zurich. Banking rights. Kim, you haven't left the state in a year. You've been... unwell."
The parents murmured in sympathy. "So sad," someone whispered. "She really believes it."
Jaylin tugged on Austyn's jacket. "Daddy, that girl tried to steal my toy. Make her go away."
Daddy.
I looked at the boy. Then I looked at Austyn. The resemblance was undeniable. The same nose. The same set of the eyes. Jaylin wasn't a distant nephew. He was five years old. Lily was five years old.
He had cheated on me the entire time. And he was brazen enough to bring the proof into my home because he thought I was too weak to stop him.
"Is he yours?" I asked. My voice was quiet, but it carried through the room.
Austyn stiffened. He placed a hand on Jaylin's head. "He is my nephew, Kimberly. You know this. Don't drag a child into your delusions."
"Liar," I hissed.
I stepped away from the wall, pulling Lily with me. "And you," I pointed at Evalena. "Take off that necklace. It belongs to the Alpha female of the Miller line. It burns the skin of anyone unworthy."
Evalena flinched, her hand flying to the emerald. I saw a flash of red irritation on her neck beneath the stone. It was burning her, leaving angry welts against her skin, but she was enduring the pain just to maintain the charade.
"Austyn gave this to me," Evalena said, pouting. "It's a symbol of his love."
Austyn walked over to her. He put his arm around her waist, pulling her close. The sight of them touching-his hand on the fur coat I owned, her body pressed against the husband I had elevated from poverty-made my vision swim with red.
"Kimberly," Austyn said, his voice dropping an octave, trying to use an Alpha Command on me. "Go home. Now."
It was pathetic. His command felt like a gentle breeze against a stone wall. He had no power over me. He never did.
"You are commanding me?" I let out a dry, humorless laugh. "You forget who holds the leash, Austyn."
"She's threatening the Alpha!" Ms. Albright shrieked.
"She's dangerous!" Evalena cried out, burying her face in Austyn's chest. "Austyn, protect us! She's crazy!"
"This is my Mate!" Austyn shouted, gesturing to Evalena.
The room went silent.
My heart stopped. The Mate Bond-the sacred, biological connection that tied two wolf souls together-screamed in agony. To deny your true mate publicly, to claim another... it was the ultimate blasphemy against the Moon Goddess.
"What did you say?" I whispered.
"I said Evalena is my Mate," Austyn declared, his voice shaking slightly but loud enough for everyone to hear. "The bond with you was a mistake, Kimberly. A glitch. Evalena is my true soulmate."
He was rewriting the bond. He was counting on the pack's ignorance. He thought because I had suppressed my aura for years to let him shine, that I had actually lost it.
"She's not your mate," I said, stepping forward. "She is a Rogue in a stolen coat."
"Get back!" Austyn snarled.
I didn't stop. I moved faster than their eyes could track. I reached out and grabbed the emerald necklace around Evalena's neck.
"No!" she screamed.
I yanked. The gold chain snapped with a sharp crack.
Evalena stumbled back, clutching her neck. The stone was in my hand. It pulsed with a warm, green light, recognizing its true master. The burn marks on Evalena's neck were visible now-angry, blistered red skin where the holy stone had rejected her flesh.
"Look!" I held up the stone. "It rejects her!"
"She attacked the Luna!" Ms. Albright yelled. "Guards! Warriors! Help!"
The door burst open again. Three pack warriors rushed in, their eyes glowing. They saw me holding the necklace, and Evalena crying on the floor.
They didn't see the truth. They only saw what they had been told to see.
They lowered their spears, aiming them at my chest.
