Ariana POV
The silence in the grand dining room was deafening. I kept my shirt lifted, the raw, blistered flesh of my stomach framing the dark, twisted dead-branch scar of the silver poison. I waited for the shock. I waited for my family's outrage.
Instead, my heightened senses caught a sudden, rancid shift in the air.
A sour, suffocating stench of panic and heavy guilt radiated from Alpha Gene, Luna Beverly, and my two brothers. My blood ran ice-cold. They weren't surprised. The horrifying truth clicked into place-my entire family knew Kylie had hired that Rogue to cripple my Inner Wolf, and they had helped cover her tracks.
Before I could unleash my fury, a feral growl ripped through the room. Holden's cedar scent spiked with aggressive, possessive rage. His Alpha ego couldn't stand the sight of other males looking at his mate's bare skin, nor could he stomach the visual reminder of the dirty deal he had made to protect Kylie.
He lunged forward, his large hands roughly grabbing the hem of my soaked shirt and yanking it down. The coarse fabric scraped violently against my fresh burns.
I gasped, my knees buckling from the searing agony.
"Don't look at her!" Holden snapped at my brothers, his claws extending as he grabbed my wrist in a bruising grip. "I'm taking her to the bathroom to run cold water-"
"Don't touch me!" I snarled, fighting against his iron hold.
Suddenly, a sharp chime echoed through the room. The giant screen at the head of the table flickered to life. Kylie's face appeared, framed by the luxurious backdrop of her overseas villa. Because she was a wolfless Omega, she couldn't use the Pack's mind-link.
Instantly, the suffocating tension vanished. My parents and brothers morphed into doting, affectionate figures.
"Did Holden make you mad again, Ari?" Kylie asked, her voice dripping with fake, sugary innocence. Even through the screen, I could almost smell her nauseating, artificial lily perfume.
I stared at her, my hatred solidifying into a weapon. I stopped fighting Holden's grip. Instead, I forced a sickeningly sweet smile, looping my arm through his and resting my head against his tense shoulder.
"Not at all, Kylie," I purred, staring dead into the camera. "Holden and I were just discussing the Healer's fertility herbs. We're preparing to breed our own strong Alpha pups. They'll be so excited to call you Auntie."
The effect was instantaneous. Kylie's sweet smile froze, her eyes flashing with pure, venomous jealousy. As a low-level Omega, breeding strong pups was her deepest insecurity.
Beside me, Holden went completely rigid. His Inner Wolf panicked. He had been avoiding my bed for months, spending his lust on Bree. My sudden declaration of breeding terrified his guilty conscience. He awkwardly pulled his arm out of my grasp, stepping away.
The sight of both of them breaking character sent a wave of cold satisfaction through me. Without another word, I turned and walked out of the dining room.
I headed upstairs to my old bedroom to find some burn ointment, but I froze in the doorway. My small room had been entirely gutted. It was now a shrine to Kylie's aviation hobby, filled with Blackwood Empire model planes and a massive poster of her in a flight suit.
"You don't even deserve a room here, wolfless," Bryan sneered, stepping up behind me.
I needed my Pack Identification Papers-the legal documents required to sever my ties with the Taylor Pack and execute the Rejection ritual. I couldn't leave without them.
I swallowed my pride and let my eyes well up with fake tears. "I just came to get my Pack Identification Papers," I whispered, looking down. "I want to transfer my Maple Bay penthouse and the Maserati to Mom for her birthday. I just wanted to prove I can be as good a daughter as Kylie."
Bryan's aggressive posture relaxed into smug amusement. He completely bought my pathetic, desperate act. "Finally learning your place," he scoffed. He walked down the hall to the family safe, punched in the code, and tossed the thick envelope at my chest.
I clutched the papers tightly. My ticket to freedom.
I hurried downstairs, heading straight for the front doors. But a heavy Alpha aura slammed into my back.
"Where do you think you're going?" Bradford barked, stepping into the foyer. "Get back to the table. You're embarrassing this family."
I slowly turned around and walked back into the dining room. Bradford smirked, thinking I had submitted to his command. I stopped right at the edge of the long mahogany table, my eyes locking onto Alpha Gene and Luna Beverly.
My dormant White Wolf surged with a fraction of her true power. I grabbed the edge of the heavy velvet tablecloth with both hands.
With a violent, explosive yank, I ripped it backward.
Pure gold cutlery, bone china tureens, and a feast fit for royalty crashed to the marble floor in a catastrophic explosion of shattered glass and flying food.
Luna Beverly shrieked. Alpha Gene roared, his chair scraping violently against the floor.
"Enjoy your dinner," I sneer, my voice dripping with absolute venom.
I spun on my heel and stormed out the heavy oak doors into the freezing night. Behind me, Holden's frantic voice echoed over the chaos. "Her burns-she's delirious from the pain!" I heard his heavy, panicked footsteps rushing after me into the dark.
