For eight long lunar cycles, Alpha Jace had treated me with the coldness of a winter's night.

Mason, his cub, had bared his fangs at me in hatred, his every growl a warning to leave the pack.

I'd been nothing but a lone wolf in a foreign land, my attempts to integrate met with snarls and turned backs.​

As I lay in the infirmary, bandages soaked in my blood, Alpha Jace finally deigned to visit.

His golden - rimmed eyes scanned my broken form without a flicker of emotion. "The pup's death was on your negligence," he growled.

"Mason's rage is justified. Endure it. Your mother's discharge? I've arranged a secluded den in the mountains. Consider it payment for your service."​

"Save it, Alpha. Our mating agreement expires in a moon cycle. Once it does, I'll vanish from your territory like a wisp of smoke."​

His hackles rose.

"Don't test my patience, she - wolf. Your protests are meaningless. The den will be prepared."

With a final, disdainful snort, he turned on his heel and stalked out.​

Alone in the sterile infirmary, I let out a mournful howl .​

In the days that followed, my wounds throbbed in time with the ache in my heart.

While I fought for survival, Alpha Jace and Mason ignored my existence.

Instead, the air was thick with the cloying scent of their happiness, broadcasted through Diana Whitmore's social posts.​

Photos showed Alpha Jace, sleek in his suit, his alpha presence dominating the restaurant.

Mason leaned against his father's leg, his eyes shining with adoration.

Diana, a beautiful she - wolf in a flowing gown, nestled close. The caption, read: "Dining with my pack, contentment is a warm hearth."​

I stared at the images.

When the moon next reached its fullest, I'd leave this pack behind.

On the day of my discharge, I signed the release papers with a trembling hand. Limping back to Fairfax Manor, my injured leg dragging heavily.

Pushing open the creaking door, I was hit with the stench of emptiness.

Alpha Jace and Mason were nowhere to be found.

I made my way to my room,. At the bottom of a hidden wardrobe, I unearthed a wooden box. Inside, the money and documents I'd painstakingly saved over eight lunar cycles glinted like a beacon of hope.​

Just as I started packing, the door slammed open.

Mason stood there, eyes glowing with hostility. "What are you doing, interloper?"

"Packing my things. " ​

His growl echoed through the room.

""The monsoon's stench is in the air. Father says you're to sort Mother's things. Let anything mildew, and I'll make your last few days here a living hell. And don't forget-my coming - of - age runs with the next full moon. You'll craft a feast ."

With a final menacing snarl, he stalked away.​

Three grueling days later, the banquet was ready.

But I flung open the wardrobe, a horrified howl caught in my throat.

My once - polished, elegant shoes, each pair a symbol of the little dignity I clung to in this pack, now lay in mangled shreds.

The leather was torn asunder, the heels snapped like twigs, and the scent of Mason's malevolent glee still lingered in the air.​

Mason swaggered in. A cruel smirk twisted his lips.

"No shoes to strut in, huh?" he sneered.

"You'll slink through the party bare - feet, just like the lowly cur you are!"​

Just as I stood there, surrounded by the ruins of my footwear and drowning in despair, a foreign scent prickled my nostrils.

Diana Whitmore sauntered into the room. "Poor thing," she crooned

"I caught wind of your little footwear fiasco. Fear not, I've something that'll turn heads."

With a flourish, she produced a pair of light green mermaid - style shoes.

The material rippled like the surface of a magical pond, and they were encrusted with countless rhinestones that sparkled with an otherworldly glow.

"Hurry and slip them on," she urged. "The banquet's about to begin, and you wouldn't want to keep the future alpha waiting, now would you?"​

As I limped into the banquet hall wearing the shoes, the air grew thick with palpable tension.

The chatter and growls that had filled the room moments ago died away, replaced by an eerie, heavy silence.

The entire pack's eyes, glowing with an array of yellow, green, and blue hues, locked onto me.

Before I could even begin to process the suffocating atmosphere, a deafening snarl shattered the silence.

Mason, his fur standing on end like spikes and his eyes ablaze with furious, possessive fire, lunged towards me.

"Who dared to let you defile my mother's shoes?!"

I down, my werewolf eyes narrowing to slits.

A low growl rumbled in my chest as I recognized the shoes.

They weren't just any footwear-they were imbued with my sister Hannah's lingering scent.

Diana stood a few paces away, a victorious snarl playing on her lips.

Before I could react, Mason lunged at me.

With a powerful shove, I was sent flying down the stairs.

The impact was brutal, and I could feel the sharp pain of my skull cracking against the cold, hard marble.

Blood gushed from the wound.​

As the bodyguards hauled me up, my vision blurred by the blood trickling into my eyes, I heard Mason's enraged howl echo through the hall.

"Strip those shoes off her! That lowly wolf isn't fit to even touch my mother's things!"

Rough hands grabbed at my feet, and the shoes were torn away with such force that my skin was left raw and bleeding.

I was left barefoot, my toes curling against the cold floor as I shivered and curled into a ball, feeling more vulnerable than ever.​

The whispers of the pack members around me were like a swarm of angry bees.

Each murmured word, each pointed finger, felt like a physical bite.​

Just then, Alpha Jace pushed through the crowd, his golden - rimmed eyes blazing with anger.

"What is the meaning of this chaos?" he roared.​

Mason immediately rushed to his father's side, his eyes wide and filled with false innocence.

"Dad! She deliberately stole Mom's shoes! She's trying to replace her in our pack!" Alpha Jace's expression darkened, and his gaze turned to me.

The warmth that I had occasionally glimpsed in his eyes was gone, replaced by a cold, hard stare. His scent turned bitter, filled with disappointment and anger.

"Ellie Lancaster, I thought you understood your place in this pack. You're nothing but an outsider who was lucky enough to be allowed in. No one can ever replace Hannah in my heart. You should have known your place from the moment you married in!"​

I opened my mouth to defend myself, but a thick, suffocating fog seemed to fill my throat.

Just then, Diana sauntered over, her hips swaying with a confidence that made my blood boil.

She was dressed in a light green gown that clung to her curves, and her hair and makeup were an exact replica of my sister's.​

The pack members around us gasped in awe.

"They look so alike... It's as if Hannah has returned from the dead," .​

I watched in horror as Alpha Jace's eyes widened in shock.

His scent changed, becoming sweeter, filled with a longing that I had never seen directed at me. Mason, his eyes red with tears, threw himself into Diana's arms.

"Aunt Diana, I wish you were my mom! I don't want Ellie anymore!"

Diana wrapped her arms around him, stroking his head soothingly.

Alpha Jace stared at her, transfixed.

After a long moment, he suddenly lunged forward and pulled her into a tight embrace.

The love and adoration in his eyes were palpable.​

I stood there, frozen, as if encased in a block of ice.

Eight long years I had spent in this pack, pouring my heart and soul into taking care of them, only to be cast aside like a worthless piece of prey.

I had endured Mason's hatred, Alpha Jace's coldness, all in the hope that one day I would be accepted.

But Diana, with her resemblance to my sister, had effortlessly stolen everything I had ever wanted.​

On the night.

The pack's sleek black car sliced through the downpour, its tires hissing against the rain - soaked asphalt.

I sat in the passenger seat.​

From the back seat, Diana's voice dripped with false sweetness.

"Jace, the way you defended me tonight... It made me feel so safe."

Alpha Jace's reply was a soft growl, a tender rumble I'd never heard directed at me in eight long years. "You're precious to me, Diana. I won't let anyone hurt you."​

I stared out at the blurred world beyond the window, the raindrops streaking like tears down the glass.

Suddenly, the acrid stench of burning rubber filled the car.

A deafening screech of brakes pierced the night, and my werewolf hearing almost shattered under the intensity.

"Bang-!"

The impact was a violent explosion of force, sending my world into a dizzying spin.

The airbag deployed with a thunderous pop, slamming into my face.

I tasted blood, a warm, coppery flood filling my mouth.​

Through the spider - webbed cracks in the windshield, I watched in horror as Alpha Jace ripped open the door.

His powerful arms cradled Diana protectively, her head nestled against his chest.

The rain lashed at them, but he didn't seem to notice.

His eyes, usually so cold towards me, were filled with a fierce protectiveness I'd only ever seen reserved for his late mate.

Mason bounded out of the car, his young form agile and quick, following his father into the storm without a backward glance.​

The rain poured in through the shattered window, mixing with my blood.

It stung my wounds, the cold droplets a cruel contrast to the warmth that Alpha Jace now showed Diana.

In the hazy blur of pain, memories came flooding back.​

I was transported back to that fateful snowy night eight years ago.

Alpha Jace had loomed over me in our living room, his alpha aura suffocating.

His eyes, colder than the arctic wind, had pinned me in place.

"Eight - year term. You'll raise Mason, satisfy my needs, and if you dare to carry my pup, you'll abort it. No questions asked."

Then there was the time Mason had locked me in the basement, his growls of hatred echoing through the dark.

Alpha Jace had stood at the top of the stairs, his silhouette a menacing shadow.

"He's what Hannah sacrificed herself for. Endure it."

Back in the present, the chaos of the accident faded into the background as I heard voices from the hospital.

The healer's panicked howl cut through the air.

"Both patients are RH negative! The blood bank only has enough for one!"​

"Give it all to Diana. She must survive,"

Alpha Jace's voice was a cold, unwavering growl.​

"But Miss Lancaster..."​

"Let her die. She's served her purpose."​

Mason's wailing joined in.

"Mom hated the dark! Send Ellie down to keep her company!"​

When again, the sterile stench of antiseptic slammed into my nostrils, triggering a primal growl that died in my throat.

The ward was a cold, echoing tomb. My right leg throbbed beneath the thick cast, a heavy weight that sent jolts of pain shooting up my spine with even the slightest twitch.

The scent of my own rotting flesh seeped through the plaster, a sickening reminder of the injury that had rendered me helpless.

As the nurse approached with a tray of instruments.

She clicked her tongue, her eyes pitying.

"There's this Miss Whitmore," she murmured.

"She was in the same accident as you. Her mate and cub haven't left her side for a second. They've been growling at anyone who gets too close, guarding her like she's the alpha's most precious treasure. And look at you-half - dead, and not a single howl from your family."

I stared at the ceiling, tracing the cracks with my eyes as if they held the answers to my miserable existence.

The memory of Alpha Jace's cold command echoed in my mind: "Let her die. She's served her purpose."

"The mate and cub you speak of," I finally rasped, my voice as raw as the open wounds beneath my bandages, "they're mine.."