Elaria was still sitting on the marble staircase when the front doors opened.
Cold night air rushed into the mansion.
Then heels clicked sharply against the floor.
Nyra Storm walked in looking like she was about to start a war.
Tall.
Dark-haired.
Wearing an expensive charcoal coat over a black silk dress, phone still in one hand.
Her wolf aura filled the foyer instantly.
Several Omega servants lowered their heads and moved away immediately.
Nyra spotted Elaria sitting on the floor.
Her expression changed at once.
For one brief second, real concern flashed across her face.
Then she looked up toward the second floor.
Toward the bedroom.
And her eyes turned murderous.
“Tell me they’re still upstairs,” she said calmly.
Elaria laughed weakly through tears.
“You can’t kill an Alpha.”
Nyra handed her purse to a terrified Omega nearby.
“Watch me.”
Before Elaria could stop her, another voice suddenly echoed through the mansion.
“What exactly is going on here?”
Elaria froze.
Her father.
Alpha Draven Vale.
He stepped into the foyer wearing a dark suit from the council gathering, silver streaks visible through his black hair.
Beside him stood Lenora.
And behind them—
Vaelyn.
Of course.
Vaelyn now wore one of Elaria’s silk robes, her blonde hair still messy from bed.
The sight nearly made Elaria sick again.
Nyra noticed immediately.
“Oh, that’s insane,” she said softly. “She’s wearing your clothes too?”
Vaelyn instantly looked emotional.
“Please don’t make this uglier than it already is.”
Nyra actually barked out a laugh.
“Ugly?” she repeated. “Sweetheart, you climbed onto your stepsister’s Alpha’s dick. We passed ugly twenty minutes ago.”
“Nyra,” Elaria whispered tiredly.
But Nyra was already furious.
Ronan appeared at the top of the stairs then.
His black shirt hung open slightly, exposing the fresh red scratch marks across his chest.
Marks Vaelyn probably left there.
The mate bond twisted painfully again.
Elaria looked away immediately.
Her father’s gaze hardened the second he noticed her crying.
“What happened?”
Nobody answered.
Then Vaelyn stepped forward with watery eyes.
“It was a mistake.”
Nyra looked genuinely impressed.
“Wow. Shameless and fast. Dangerous combination.”
“Nyra,” Ronan warned coldly.
But Nyra crossed her arms.
“No, actually, let’s talk about this.”
She pointed upstairs.
“Did the Alpha accidentally trip into her vagina too? Is that the official story?”
Vaelyn’s lips trembled.
“I never meant for anyone to get hurt—”
Elaria suddenly laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because she’d heard those exact words before.
Twenty years ago.
From Vaelyn’s mother.
Her father’s face darkened immediately.
“Enough.”
Elaria slowly stood up from the staircase.
Her legs felt shaky.
But her voice came out terrifyingly calm.
“No,” she said quietly. “I think we should finally talk honestly for once.”
The entire foyer fell silent.
Even the servants stopped moving.
Elaria looked directly at Lenora first.
“You know,” she said softly, “my mother used to throw up blood upstairs while you sat downstairs drinking tea in her kitchen.”
Lenora stiffened instantly.
“Elaria—”
“No, let her finish,” Nyra said coldly.
Elaria’s eyes shifted toward Vaelyn.
“And now your daughter sleeps with my mate in my bed.”
Vaelyn immediately burst into tears.
“I said I was sorry!”
“Sorry?” Elaria whispered. “Your mother was sorry too.”
Her father stepped forward sharply.
“That’s enough disrespect.”
Elaria looked at him slowly.
Disrespect.
Interesting word.
Even now—
He still protected them.
Something inside Elaria finally cracked completely.
“You chose them over Mom too,” she whispered.
The room went still.
Her father’s jaw tightened dangerously.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Elaria stared at him in disbelief.
“I watched her die.”
Lenora flinched.
Elaria took another step forward.
“She was still alive when you moved your mistress into our home.”
“Watch your tone,” Alpha Draven growled.
But Elaria couldn’t stop anymore.
Years of grief poured out all at once.
“You let her walk around wearing Mom’s clothes,” Elaria snapped. “You let the Pack whisper about her while she was dying upstairs—”
“That’s enough!”
“No,” Elaria shouted back suddenly. “You know what? I finally understand something.”
Tears streamed down her face now.
“You never loved Mom.”
Draven’s expression darkened instantly.
“You are behaving hysterically.”
Nyra muttered, “Classic cheating-man vocabulary.”
Elaria laughed bitterly.
“Hysterical?” she whispered. “Your mistress destroyed Mom’s life, and now her daughter destroyed mine. Congratulations, Alpha. You really built a beautiful family legacy.”
The slap echoed through the foyer.
Everything went silent.
Elaria’s head snapped sideways from the force.
Pain exploded across her cheek.
For a second, she couldn’t even process what happened.
Her father had never hit her before.
Not once.
Even Nyra looked shocked.
Then her expression turned lethal.
Slowly, Elaria lifted a trembling hand to her face.
Her father’s breathing sounded rough now, like even he hadn’t expected himself to do it.
But he still said:
“You will not speak to me like that.”
Something inside Elaria died quietly.
Not loudly.
Just—
Gone.
Ronan finally moved downstairs.
“Draven,” he said carefully.
But Elaria stepped backward before he could get close.
“Don’t.”
Her voice broke.
“I can’t stand any of you touching me right now.”
Vaelyn suddenly started crying harder.
“This isn’t fair,” she sobbed. “I love him too—”
Nyra whipped around so fast her coat flared behind her.
“Oh, shut the hell up.”
Vaelyn froze.
Nyra stepped closer slowly.
“You know what your problem is?” she asked coldly. “You confuse being desired with being valuable.”
“Nyra,” Draven warned.
But Nyra ignored him completely.
“No, let’s really talk tonight.”
Her eyes swept across the room with open disgust.
“One man cheats. Another man covers it up. A mistress cries. A daughter steals her sister’s mate.”
Then she smiled coldly.
“And all of you still expect Elaria to behave politely.”
Nobody answered.
Because nobody could.
Nyra walked directly to Elaria and gently took her suitcase from beside the stairs.
“Come on,” she said softly. “We’re leaving.”
Ronan’s expression hardened immediately.
“She’s my Luna.”
Nyra looked back at him.
“And you treated her like trash.”
The air thickened slightly from Ronan’s Alpha aura.
Any normal wolf would’ve lowered their eyes instantly.
Nyra didn’t even blink.
“You should leave before this escalates,” Ronan warned.
Nyra smiled.
Cold.
“Oh, it’s absolutely going to escalate.”
Elaria looked at her weakly.
Nyra’s eyes softened slightly when they met hers.
Then she turned back toward the others.
Especially Ronan.
Especially Vaelyn.
“Listen carefully,” Nyra said quietly.
The calmness in her voice somehow sounded more threatening than shouting.
“You humiliated the wrong woman.”
Ronan’s jaw tightened.
Nyra continued:
“You think tonight ends with her crying and leaving?”
She laughed softly.
“No.”
Her gaze turned icy.
“This is the part where you should start being afraid.”
Then she wrapped an arm around Elaria’s shoulders and guided her toward the front doors.
Behind them, Vaelyn suddenly spoke shakily.
“She’ll never survive without the Pack.”
Elaria stopped walking.
Slowly, she looked back.
Vaelyn stood beside Ronan now.
Protected.
Exactly like her mother used to stand beside Elaria’s father.
History repeating itself again.
But this time—
Elaria smiled.
“You should pray,” she whispered softly, “that I do.”
