The wind whipped around us, howling through the steel beams as Drew's Delta warriors forced my mother and brother onto the makeshift platform. My mother's face was ashen, her human-weak heart visibly struggling against her ribcage. My brother's eyes were wide with terror as they bound his wrists with coarse rope.

"Drew, please," I begged, my voice breaking as I watched them secure my family to the crane's suspension cables. "They're innocent!"

He didn't even look at me. His attention remained fixed on the crane operator, a low-ranking wolf who couldn't meet my eyes as he prepared to lift my family into the air.

"Raise them," Drew commanded, his voice eerily calm.

The hydraulic whine of the crane pierced the air as my mother and brother were lifted off the platform. My mother's scream was thin and reedy, her wolfless body trembling violently as she dangled fifty feet above the concrete foundation below.

"Mom!" I shrieked, lunging forward only to be slammed back by Drew's Alpha aura.

He pinned me to the ground with his power, kneeling beside me as his warriors kept my family suspended in mid-air.

"Now," he growled, his breath hot against my ear as he forced our minds to link. "Tell me where Lana is."

"I don't know!" I cried, tears streaming down my face as I felt his presence invade my thoughts. "Drew, please—they have nothing to do with this!"

My wolf, Luna, thrashed wildly within me, her howls of anguish echoing through our bond. *They're hurting our family*, she screamed. *Our pack is attacking our family!*

"I swear on the Moon Goddess," I sobbed, feeling Drew's mental probes ripping through my consciousness. "I had nothing to do with Lana's disappearance!"

Drew's eyes narrowed, his mental touch becoming crueler as he searched for any hint of deception. "You're lying," he snarled, withdrawing from our mind-link. "I can feel it."

"No!" I screamed, struggling against his Alpha hold. "Drew, you know me! You know I would never—"

"I thought I knew you," he cut me off, rising to his feet. His expression was cold, distant—the eyes of a stranger looking down at me. "But the woman I knew wouldn't have tried to harm Lana."

With a casual flick of his wrist, he signaled to his Delta warriors. "Cut the safety cables."

Time seemed to slow as I watched the warriors move to obey. My brother's eyes met mine across the distance, wide with terror and confusion.

"Evelyn," he called out, his voice breaking. "What's happening?"

I couldn't answer. My scream tore from my throat as the first cable was severed with a metallic clang that echoed across the construction site.

My mother's frail body jerked violently in mid-air. Her eyes bulged, her mouth opening in a silent cry as her human heart—already weakened by years of discrimination and hardship—gave out under the terror.

"Mom!" I shrieked, watching helplessly as she went limp in her restraints.

The second cable snapped, and my brother plummeted toward the lower scaffolding. The sickening crunch of bone meeting steel filled the air as his leg twisted grotesquely beneath him.

"Matthew!" I screamed, fighting against Drew's hold with every ounce of strength I possessed.

Blood pooled beneath my brother's shattered leg as he lay among twisted steel beams, his face contorted in agony. My mother hung motionless above him, her life already slipping away.

Something broke inside me then—something fundamental and irreparable. My wolf howled in pure anguish, the sound tearing from my human throat as I scrambled to my feet.

"I need to get to them!" I cried, lunging toward the scaffolding ladder. "My mother—she needs help!"

Beta Marcus stepped into my path, his expression grim but determined. "Alpha's orders," he said, not meeting my eyes.

"Move!" I screamed, trying to push past him.

Delta Ryan appeared on my other side, his massive frame blocking my way. "We can't let you interfere, Luna," he said, his voice tight with the strain of following an order he clearly didn't agree with.

"Interfere?" I shrieked, watching my brother's blood seep into the concrete. "They're dying!"

"Stand down," Drew commanded from behind me, his Alpha tone forcing me to my knees. "This is pack justice."

I collapsed to the dirt, my hands clawing at the ground as I watched my family suffer. My mother's body swayed gently in the breeze, her gray hair dancing around her still face. My brother's cries had faded to whimpers as shock set in.

"Please," I whispered, my voice breaking. "Please let me help them."

But Drew's warriors remained unmoved, their loyalty to their Alpha overriding any compassion they might have felt for me or my family.

As I knelt there, watching my world shatter around me, something inside me hardened—a seed of hatred taking root where love had once lived.

The sound of hurried footsteps cut through my anguished screams. I turned to see Elena Cross, our Pack Healer, her medical bag clutched tightly against her chest as she rushed toward the platform. Her face was pale with shock, eyes wide as she took in the horrific scene before her.

"Let me through!" she commanded, her voice carrying the authority of her position. "There are injured people who need immediate attention!"

Delta Ryan stepped into her path, his massive frame blocking her way. "Alpha's orders," he said, his voice tight with discomfort. "No one interferes until the Luna confesses."

I watched Elena's expression shift from shock to disbelief, then to outright horror as she realized what was happening.

"This is madness!" she cried, trying to push past him. "That woman is dying! And the man—his leg is shattered!"

"Stand down, Healer," Drew's voice cut through the chaos like a blade of ice. He hadn't even turned to look at her. "This is pack justice."

Elena's eyes found mine, filled with helpless desperation. "Evelyn, please," she whispered. "Tell them what they want to hear. Your mother—"

"Will die anyway," Drew finished for her, finally turning to face the healer. "Unless Evelyn tells me where Lana is."

I couldn't tear my gaze away from my mother's swaying form. Her face was so still, so peaceful—as though she were merely sleeping. But I knew better. I could feel it in my bones, in the screaming silence of my wolf.

"Mom," I whispered, reaching out with trembling fingers as though I could somehow bridge the distance between us.

Elena made another desperate attempt to push past the warriors. "Alpha, please! I'm sworn to protect all pack members. Let me help them!"

"Protect?" Drew's laugh was hollow, devoid of humor. "Like Evelyn protected Lana?"

My brother's moans had grown weaker, his face ashen as blood continued to pool beneath him. The concrete around him was slick with crimson, his breathing shallow and labored.

"Matthew," I called out, my voice breaking. "Stay with me!"

His eyes fluttered open briefly, finding mine across the distance. "Evelyn," he whispered, his voice barely audible above the wind. "What's happening?"

I had no answer for him. No explanation that could make sense of this nightmare.

Elena's shoulders sagged in defeat as two more warriors flanked her, preventing any further attempts to reach my family. Tears streamed down her face as she watched helplessly, her healer's instincts warring with her loyalty to her Alpha.

"Time's running out," Drew said casually, checking his watch. "Your mother's heart is failing, Evelyn. Your brother is bleeding out. Tell me where Lana is, and this ends now."

I looked up at my mother again, watching as a single tear slid down her cheek—the last moisture her body would ever produce. Her chest rose one final time, then fell still.

"Mom," I whispered, but she was beyond hearing me now.

Something inside me shifted then—a fundamental change so profound that I felt it in every cell of my body. The constant, agonizing tear-stream down my face suddenly stopped, as though a dam had been built inside me.

My wolf, Luna, who had been howling in anguish for what felt like an eternity, went deathly silent. The absence of her cries was more terrifying than her screams had been.

I rose slowly to my feet, my movements mechanical and precise. The warriors around me shifted uncomfortably, sensing the change but unable to identify its source.

"Drew," I said, my voice eerily calm.

He turned to me, a flicker of something—triumph? relief?—crossing his features. "Ready to tell me where she is?"

I looked at him—really looked at him—for the first time since he'd dragged me from the dungeon. This man I had loved for seven years. This Alpha I had helped build an empire for. This mate who had just murdered my mother and maimed my brother.

"No," I said simply.

His expression hardened. "What did you say?"

"I said no." My voice was steady now, devoid of emotion. "I will never tell you anything again."

The wind howled around us, whipping my hair across my face as I stared into the eyes of the man I once would have died for. Those amber eyes that had once looked at me with love now seemed like the eyes of a stranger.

Or perhaps I was the one who had changed.

"Your mother is dead," Drew said, gesturing to the still form above us. "Your brother will join her unless you cooperate."

I felt nothing. Where overwhelming grief had been moments before, there was now only a cold, heartless void. And in that void, something new was taking root—something dark and terrible and patient.

"I know," I replied, my voice terrifyingly calm. "You killed her. You did this."

Drew's eyes widened slightly at the change in me, at the absolute lack of emotion in my voice. For the first time since Lana's arrival, I saw uncertainty flicker across his face.

What he didn't realize was that the woman he had known—the woman who had loved him beyond reason—had died alongside my mother. In her place stood someone new. Someone who would never forgive. Someone who would never forget.

Someone who would make him pay for every second of this day.