The internet exploded by the second day at noon.
Nyra had livestreamed the confrontation the night before, and by today, her media empire had already pushed the scandal to the top of every major news platform’s trending list.
Elaria woke up in Nyra’s penthouse wrapped in unfamiliar blankets and the dull ache of emotional exhaustion.
For one peaceful second, she forgot.
Then the mate bond pulsed painfully in her chest again.
Reality crashed back instantly.
Ronan.
Vaelyn.
The slap.
Her father choosing them.
Again.
Elaria shut her eyes tightly.
“Don’t throw up on my imported sheets.”
Nyra’s voice drifted from somewhere nearby.
Elaria slowly sat up.
Nyra stood near the bedroom doorway already dressed for work in a sharp black pantsuit, tablet in one hand, coffee in the other.
Completely unbothered.
Completely terrifying.
“You’re awake,” Nyra said. “Good. Your public revenge campaign starts in ten minutes.”
Elaria blinked slowly.
“…What?”
Nyra walked into the room.
“I couldn’t sleep.”
“That’s never good.”
“It really wasn’t.”
Nyra tossed her tablet onto the bed.
The screen lit up instantly.
And Elaria nearly stopped breathing.
A Livestream Background Banner filled the display.
Millions of views.
Comments flooding endlessly.
The title read:
THE LUNA THE BLACKWOOD PACK BETRAYED
Elaria stared at her in horror.
“Nyra.”
“What?”
“You went live?”
Nyra looked offended.
“Obviously.”
“Nyra—”
“No,” Nyra interrupted sharply. “Absolutely not. They humiliated you publicly. We return the favor publicly.”
Elaria grabbed the tablet shakily.
Clips were already everywhere.
News accounts.
Pack gossip forums.
WolfTok edits.
Someone had even leaked photos from previous Pack galas showing Vaelyn hanging around Ronan.
Comments flooded the screen endlessly.
“HE CHEATED WITH HER STEPSISTER???”
“The daughter of the former mistress too??? Oh this family is EVIL.”
“Justice for Luna Elaria.”
“Alpha Ronan deserves exile.”
“Wait HER FATHER SLAPPED HER???”
Elaria froze.
Then looked up sharply.
“…How do they know that?”
Nyra smiled slightly.
“I may have excellent security footage connections.”
“Oh my God.”
“Oh, it gets worse.”
Nyra grabbed the tablet and scrolled.
A video clip began playing.
Nyra herself sat in front of a camera during last night’s livestream, looking furious.
“You want to know what happened to Elaria Vale Blackwood?”
She leaned toward the camera coldly.
“She came home early and found her Alpha in bed with her stepsister.”
Millions of comments exploded beneath the stream.
Then Nyra continued calmly:
“And before anyone asks why this situation is especially disgusting, let me educate you all.”
A photo of Elaria’s late mother appeared onscreen.
Beautiful.
Then beside it—
A younger photo of Lenora.
The mistress.
The replacement.
Nyra’s voice turned icy.
“Years ago, Elaria’s mother died while Alpha Draven Vale openly kept his mistress in the Luna’s home.”
Another image appeared.
Vaelyn.
Smiling beside Ronan.
“Now history repeats itself.”
Elaria’s stomach dropped.
“Nyra…”
“Oh, I’m not done.”
The next clip showed Nyra staring directly into the camera.
“If the Blackwood Pack thinks Elaria will disappear quietly like her mother did, they’re about to learn a very expensive lesson.”
Silence filled the bedroom.
Elaria stared at her best friend in disbelief.
“You declared war on an Alpha Pack.”
Nyra took a sip of coffee.
“Yes.”
“You’re insane.”
“Correct.”
Elaria suddenly laughed for the first time in two days.
A real laugh.
Small.
But real.
Nyra’s expression softened slightly.
“There she is.”
Then her phone rang.
Nyra glanced at the screen and groaned dramatically.
“Ah. Speaking of evil.”
She answered immediately.
“What?”
Even from across the room, Elaria could hear screaming through the phone.
Her father.
Nyra pulled the phone away from her ear slightly.
“Wow,” she muttered. “Still loud. Still a terrible parent.”
More shouting.
Nyra rolled her eyes.
“No, Alpha Vale, actually, public opinion currently thinks you’re a pathetic cheating enabler.”
Pause.
Then Nyra smirked.
“Oh? You’re threatening me?”
Another pause.
Her smile widened.
“Good luck with that.”
She hung up.
Elaria swallowed hard.
“He’s angry.”
“He’s embarrassed,” Nyra corrected.
And that was worse.
Because powerful men could survive guilt.
They never survived humiliation.
Nyra checked the time.
“I have a meeting downtown in an hour.”
Elaria immediately sat up straighter.
“No. I’ll stay somewhere else.”
Nyra looked offended again.
“You think I’d leave you alone after publicly humiliating two Alpha families?”
“…Fair point.”
“My brother’s home anyway.”
Elaria froze slightly.
“Cassian?”
Nyra nodded casually.
“He got back from the Northern territories last night.”
Elaria’s stomach tightened unexpectedly.
Cassian Storm.
Nyra’s older brother.
Future Alpha of the Storm Pack.
Dangerous.
The kind of man who looked calm right before violence happened.
Elaria hadn’t seen him in almost a year.
Mostly because Ronan hated him.
Actually—
Ronan hated any Alpha male who paid attention to Elaria.
And Cassian always looked at her too carefully.
Nyra grabbed her bag.
“Try eating today.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“I’m serious.”
Nyra walked toward the door, then paused dramatically.
“Oh, and if your ex-mate shows up?”
Elaria looked up.
Nyra smiled slowly.
“My brother bites.”
Then she left.
—
Three hours later, Elaria sat curled up on the enormous penthouse couch staring blankly at the city below.
The internet was still exploding.
News channels now covered the scandal openly.
Even neutral Packs criticized Ronan publicly.
A Luna betrayal was already disgraceful.
But cheating with her stepsister?
The daughter of the former mistress?
It looked monstrous.
Elaria suddenly heard footsteps behind her.
Heavy.
Male.
Her wolf reacted instantly.
Awareness.
Cassian Storm walked into the living room wearing a black button-down with the sleeves rolled up.
Broad-shouldered. Silver-eyed.
His dark hair still looked damp from a shower.
Everything about him radiated controlled violence.
But when he saw Elaria curled into herself on the couch—
His expression softened slightly.
“Hey.”
Elaria swallowed unexpectedly.
“…Hey.”
Cassian walked closer slowly like he was approaching an injured wolf.
Which, honestly, he was.
He glanced at the television screen showing another news segment about Ronan.
Then his jaw tightened.
“You shouldn’t watch that.”
Elaria laughed weakly.
“Hard to avoid when the entire continent knows my life is falling apart.”
Cassian sat across from her.
Silent for a moment.
Then:
“He’s a fucking idiot.”
The bluntness startled a laugh out of her.
Cassian watched her carefully.
And for some reason—
Unlike Ronan’s gaze—
Cassian’s attention never felt possessive.
It felt… protective.
Before Elaria could answer, the penthouse doors suddenly slammed open.
Her father stormed inside.
Fury rolled off him instantly.
Two security guards followed nervously behind.
“Sir, he forced his way—”
Cassian stood immediately.
The entire room temperature seemed to drop.
Alpha aura flooded the penthouse instantly.
“Leave,” Cassian told the guards calmly.
They practically fled.
Elaria’s father looked furious the second he saw her.
“This is your fault.”
Elaria stared at him numbly.
Of course.
Cassian moved slightly in front of her instinctively.
A small movement.
But protective.
Claiming space between them.
Draven noticed immediately.
His expression darkened.
“This scandal ends today,” Draven snapped. “You will publicly deny everything.”
Elaria actually laughed.
“You want me to lie for them?”
“For your family.”
The word hit her like poison.
Family.
Interesting.
Because nobody used that word while she was being betrayed.
Cassian finally spoke.
Low. Dangerously calm.
“She doesn’t owe any of you protection.”
Draven’s eyes shifted toward him sharply.
“This doesn’t concern the Storm Pack.”
Cassian smiled slightly.
Coldly.
“It does now.”
The air thickened instantly between the two Alphas.
Elaria’s father looked furious.
“She is still mated to Ronan Blackwood.”
Cassian’s silver gaze darkened.
“Not for long.”
The words sent a strange chill through Elaria.
Draven looked back toward her.
“You embarrassed this family.”
Elaria slowly stood.
“No,” she whispered. “You did.”
His expression twisted angrily.
“You sound exactly like your mother.”
The room went silent.
Elaria felt the words slice straight through her chest.
Then Cassian stepped forward.
Every instinct in the room shifted instantly toward him.
Predatory.
Even Alpha Draven stiffened slightly.
Cassian’s voice stayed calm.
But lethal.
“You should leave now.”
Draven laughed coldly.
“Or what?”
Cassian looked him directly in the eyes.
And smiled.
Not kindly.
“Or you’ll discover why the Northern territories still fear my Pack.”
