And then the thing I feared the most before happened, just like what I overheard from Alpha Kael and Beta Lucas.
The crisp evening air was thick with the scent of pine and honeyed wine, the banquet hall alive with laughter and the clinking of goblets. Wolves from every corner of the realm gathered to celebrate. The Alpha King, in his benevolence, had invited all the packs, including ours—the Aurora Pack. It should have been a night of unity and joy. Instead, it was the night my world crumbled.
I had barely touched the glass of wine in my hand when I heard the sound of a spoon tapping against crystal. The room quieted. Alpha Kael Haynes, the man I had known since I was a pup—the man who had once saved me from a life of loneliness—stood at the center of the room, his sharp blue eyes scanning the crowd with confidence.
“I have an announcement,” Kael declared, his deep voice carrying easily over the hushed room.
I knew that voice too well—firm, commanding, yet smooth. It was a voice that could silence a battlefield, a voice that had once comforted me during sleepless nights at the organization that raised us. My chest tightened as I clutched my goblet, unable to look away.
Kael turned to Princess Rachelle, her golden hair glowing under the chandelier’s light. She smiled up at him, radiant and perfect in her lilac gown. My stepsister. The Alpha King’s daughter.
Kael dropped to one knee.
The air seemed to leave my lungs.
“Princess Rachelle,” he began, his gaze unwavering. “Will you honor me by becoming my mate, my Luna, and standing by my side as I lead the Aurora Pack?”
The room erupted into cheers and applause as Rachelle gasped, her hands flying to her mouth before she nodded eagerly. “Yes! I will!”
I froze. My grip on the goblet faltered, and the wine sloshed over the rim. My heart thudded painfully in my chest, the noise of the celebration fading to a dull roar in my ears.
It happened…
Eyes turned toward me. I could feel their pity—the silent glances, the murmurs. And they talked around me so freely because they were confident I could not hear.
“Poor girl,” I heard someone whisper.
“She’s been in love with him for years.”
“Bold of her to assume the Alpha will marry a mere deaf Omega.”
“Of course, the Alpha will choose someone like Princess Rachelle. Who is Meredith anyway? She’s nothing but a weak Omega. She’s not suited to be anyone’s Luna.”
I wanted to scream, tell them their words were nothing but lies, to lash out at their words, at the world, at Kael himself. But I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe.
I couldn’t take it anymore. My wolf stirred uneasily within me, her frustration mirroring my own. Leave, Meredith. We don’t belong here.
My legs moved on their own, carrying me toward the grand doors of the banquet hall. My mother—my biological mother, now the Queen Luna Vanessa—stood near the edge of the crowd, tears of joy streaming down her face. Her happiness was for Rachelle, for the daughter she had chosen to cherish.
Not for me.
She caught sight of me and started to speak, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. My head was spinning, and my heart felt like it was shattering into a million pieces.
Years ago, when I turned eighteen, my mother suddenly appeared before me and told me the truth—I was her daughter. I could hardly believe it.
My mother was none other than Queen Luna of the Western Wolf Territory. And I had a stepsister—Rachelle.
Yet Rachelle knew nothing. The only ones aware of my existence were my mother and her current husband, Alpha King Theodore.
But why then?
Why not when I was still trapped in the organization? Why wait all these years?
She never gave me a real answer, only saying she wasn’t ready. One of the few things she told me was the fact that she and my biological father had split long ago.
As to why I was in the organization? She just told me my real father hid me there for years without her knowing. I had so many questions—doubts even, but she made me feel like it was a burden to ask.
“You can’t come with me at the palace, Meredith,” she told me one day. “My husband is the current Alpha King. What do you think the people or even Rachelle will think if they found out your real identity? Just pretend to be an omega for everyone’s peace.”
Since then, even Kael, the person I cared about the most, didn’t know who I really was.
The only thing my mother made sure to remind me of—again and again—was that my father was a monster. A tyrant. Evil incarnate. And if he ever tried to contact me, I was never to believe a word he said.
And then, just a month later, he did.
My father started reaching out—calling, messaging—claiming to be my blood.
The Alpha King of the Eastern Territory. The man everyone called a tyrant. A villain. A monster.
And when the incident three years ago happened, my mother became indifferent upon hearing that I had gone deaf. She had always been cold, but she grew even colder. I told myself it was merely because she was busy with her duties as the Queen Luna—I kept making excuses for her.
And yet, after Kael’s betrayal, it felt like everything had been a lie.
