Isla POV

The heavy leather-bound Dowry Ledger hit the mahogany table with a solid thud, accompanied by a locked wooden box containing my land deeds and bank certificates.

Effa Rose stood trembling beside the table, her round face pale. As a wolfless maid, the world outside the Pack borders was nothing but a death sentence to her. "My Lady," she whispered, her voice cracking. "If we leave... where will we go? What if we become Rogues? We have no Warriors to protect us."

At the word *Rogues*, a phantom scent of rotting flesh and metallic blood filled my nose. My mind violently dragged me back to the ruins of the Silvermoon Pack—the torn bodies of my brothers, the lifeless eyes of my father. Deep within my soul, my dormant White Wolf let out a low, resonant growl. It wasn't a sound of fear; it was a vow of absolute, unyielding resolve.

I reached out and gently squeezed Effa's trembling shoulder. "Anywhere is better than a Pack that reeks of betrayal, Effa. But do not worry. We are not sneaking out into the woods like banished criminals."

She looked up, wiping her red eyes. "Then how?"

"I am the daughter of Alpha Arthur Crawford," I said, my voice steady and cold as ice. "My father bled for this kingdom. I will not let Justin Hayes discard me in the shadows. We are going to the Royal Capital. I will demand an audience with Alpha King Adrian Reynolds, and I will Accept the Rejection in front of the King himself. I will sever this bond legally, publicly, and I am taking every last cent of my ten million dollars with me."

Effa gasped, her hands flying to her mouth, but the sheer terror in her eyes slowly morphed into a glimmer of awe.

By the time evening fell, the sky outside the window had turned the color of bruised blood, and a bitter autumn wind rattled the glass panes. A sharp knock interrupted the silence. Gilda Brock, Bertha's maid, stood in the doorway, reeking of cheap face powder.

"Luna Bertha requests your presence in her quarters," Gilda announced, her chin tilted up with unearned arrogance.

I didn't bother replying. I simply walked past her, my posture perfectly straight.

The moment I stepped into Luna Bertha's quarters, the suffocating scent of decaying leaves—Bertha's natural scent—mixed with the heavy, bitter stench of medicinal herbs assaulted my senses.

The room was crowded. Brent Hayes, Justin's older brother, stood near the wall, his weak Inner Wolf practically invisible. Beside him was his wife, Amanda, a timid Omega who kept her eyes glued to the floor. Sitting on the velvet sofa was Kaci, Justin's sixteen-year-old sister. Having just experienced her first Shift, she radiated the sour scent of unripe fruit and glared at me with newfound, puffed-up arrogance.

Only Elder Alda, the matriarch of the second branch, sat quietly in the corner. Her cold mint scent was completely detached, her sharp eyes observing the room with silent disdain.

Bertha was propped up against a mountain of pillows on her massive bed. Her skin was sallow, her hands resembling skeletal claws. Yet, she forced a sickeningly sweet smile as I approached.

"Isla, my dear," Bertha croaked, reaching out to grab my hand.

I let her take it, feeling the cold, greedy clamminess of her skin. She needed me. Or rather, she needed my dowry to keep buying those ten-thousand-dollar Lycanthrope Elixirs to keep her failing heart beating.

"I know Justin's news must have been a shock," Bertha began, her tone dripping with fake sympathy. "But you must be reasonable, child. With the Silvermoon Pack gone... a wolfless girl like you has no backing. You need the protection of the Bloodfang Pack to survive. Justin is an Alpha; he needs a strong warrior by his side. You must be generous and welcome Brenna. It is for the greater good of our family."

My White Wolf gagged in absolute disgust. They really thought I was a pathetic, helpless orphan clinging to their scraps. They thought they could use my slaughtered family as a weapon to force me into submission.

I didn't cry. I didn't lower my head.

Instead, I smoothly and firmly pulled my hand out of Bertha's skeletal grip. The temperature in the room seemed to drop.

I looked down at her, my expression entirely unreadable. "Tell me, Bertha," I said, my voice cutting through the heavy silence like a silver blade. "Have you already met Gamma Brenna in private?"

Bertha's fake, motherly smile instantly froze. She was completely caught off guard by the direct, razor-sharp question.

"I... well, I..." Bertha stammered, her eyes darting nervously toward Brent and Kaci. She cleared her throat, trying to recover her poise. "She is a bit rough around the edges, of course. She lacks the proper etiquette of a noble Luna, but her military merits—"

She was already making excuses for the woman who was supposed to replace me. The sheer audacity of this family was almost laughable.

Isla POV

"She lacks the proper etiquette of a noble Luna, but her military merits—" Bertha stammered, before abruptly clearing her throat. She forced her posture upright against the mountain of pillows, trying to project an authority she no longer possessed.

"The Alpha King himself issued a Royal Decree, Isla," Bertha continued, her tone shifting from fake sympathy to a thinly veiled command. "You cannot fight the King's will. Justin and Brenna will be Co-Lunas. There is no hierarchy between you two. You will continue to manage the Pack's internal affairs and finances, while she handles the military. It is a perfect balance."

*Manage the finances?* She meant *fund* the Pack with my ten-million-dollar dowry.

Deep within my soul, my White Wolf let out a vicious, mocking snarl. A mate-bond was sacred, forged by the Moon Goddess herself. There was no such thing as sharing an Alpha. They were trying to dress up Justin's betrayal as a noble sacrifice, all while keeping their greedy claws buried deep in my pockets.

"A perfect balance," I repeated, my voice devoid of any warmth. I stood perfectly still in the fading evening light, my eyes locking onto Bertha's. "If Gamma Brenna is to be Luna, then she and Justin can bear the full weight of this Pack. Tomorrow morning, I will hand over the Pack's ledger and the estate keys to Amanda."

Amanda, standing quietly by the wall, gasped loudly. Her timid Omega wolf shrank, and her bitter coptis scent spiked with sheer terror.

"M-Me? No, Isla, I can't!" Amanda panicked, her eyes darting wildly between me and Bertha. "The vault... there isn't even a hundred thousand dollars in there! How will we pay the Warriors? How will we afford Mother's Lycanthrope Elixirs?"

Bertha's face twisted into an ugly, dark sneer. The illusion of the loving mother-in-law vanished completely. "You selfish, narrow-minded girl!" she hissed, pointing a trembling, skeletal finger at me. "Is this how a true Luna acts? Jealous and petty? You are unworthy of an Alpha's mate-bond!"

The exertion was too much for her failing heart. Bertha hunched over, hacking violently, her chest heaving as she gasped for air.

"Don't you dare speak to my mother like that!"

Kaci marched forward, her round face flushed a violent red. Having just experienced her first Shift, she reeked of sour, unripe fruit. She puffed out her chest, trying to project her newly awakened Inner Wolf's dominance to intimidate me.

"You're just a wolfless orphan!" Kaci spat, her eyes glaring with unearned arrogance. "The Silvermoon Pack is dead! You should be begging us to let you stay. When Justin gets back, he's going to Reject you and throw you out to the Rogues!"

I slowly turned my gaze to the sixteen-year-old girl. I didn't yell. I didn't Shift. But deep within my core, I let a fraction of my ancient, dormant White Wolf aura slip through my icy stare.

Kaci's eyes widened. She instinctively took a step back, her fragile new wolf whimpering in sudden, inexplicable terror beneath her skin.

"Throw me out?" I tilted my head, my eyes raking over her trembling form. "Before you threaten me with the Rogues, Kaci, I suggest you take off that apricot-yellow couture gown."

Kaci blinked, entirely thrown off balance. "W-What?"

"And the pearl necklace," I continued, my voice ringing with absolute, razor-sharp authority. "And the diamond earrings. Every thread on your back, every jewel on your skin, was paid for by my dowry. Take them off. Return them to my quarters by tonight."

"You can't do that!" Kaci shrieked, her face burning with profound humiliation.

"I just did," I replied coldly. "I will not have my family's wealth draped over an ungrateful pup."

Kaci trembled with rage, tears of fury welling in her eyes. "Fine! I'll throw them at your face!" she screamed, though she didn't dare step any closer to me.

The room descended into a suffocating, tense silence. Brent stared at the floor, Amanda was practically shaking, and Bertha was still coughing weakly against her pillows.

Only Elder Alda, sitting quietly in the corner, allowed a faint, mocking smile to touch her lips. Her cold mint scent remained entirely undisturbed as she watched the main branch's pathetic facade crumble to dust.

Isla POV

"Let's go, Effa," I said, my voice cutting through the tense, suffocating silence of the room. I turned my back on the pathetic display of the Hayes family.

"You will regret this, Isla!" Luna Bertha hacked, her voice a venomous, desperate rasp against her pillows. "Your Silvermoon Pack is ashes! A wolfless girl like you won't last a day out there. You'll become a Rogue, hunted and starved! You'll come crawling back on your knees, begging Justin to take you back!"

Deep within my soul, my dormant White Wolf let out a dark, mocking huff. I didn't even pause my stride. I walked out of the Luna's Quarters, leaving the stench of decaying leaves and their delusional arrogance behind.

The next day, the midday autumn sun beat down relentlessly on the towering iron gates of the Royal Pack House. I stood perfectly still for over two hours, the oppressive aura of the Royal Guards washing over me.

Beside me, Effa was trembling. Her round face was pale, streaked with sweat and tears. As a wolfless maid, the terror of losing Pack protection was breaking her.

"My Lady, please," Effa sobbed quietly, tugging at my sleeve. "The Alpha King won't see us. If we leave the Bloodfang Pack, we'll be Rogues. We'll be killed. Maybe... maybe sharing the Alpha isn't so bad? Gamma Brenna Wilson can fight, and you can just live quietly..."

"Stop," I commanded, my tone absolute. I turned my icy blue eyes to her, instantly silencing her tears. "A true wolf does not accept a polluted mate-bond. I would rather die with my pride intact than share a male with another she-wolf. We are not becoming Rogues, Effa. We are taking our lives back."

Just then, the heavy oak doors of the Royal Study cracked open slightly. The guards had left it ajar when delivering my third request for an audience. From within, the low, urgent voice of Head Beta Alton Marsh drifted out.

"Your Majesty, please," Alton pleaded, his faint ink scent carrying a trace of anxiety. "Alpha Justin Hayes and Gamma Brenna's border skirmishes are nothing compared to the blood Alpha Arthur Crawford spilled for this kingdom. You cannot leave his only surviving daughter standing in the sun like a beggar."

A heavy silence followed, thick with the Alpha King's intimidating amber and ambergris scent.

"And need I remind you, Sire," Alton's voice dropped to a somber whisper, "of the true cost of the border war? To cover Justin's foolish retreat, Elder Alpha Emmet Wood was critically wounded by Silver. Gamma Brody Wood lost an arm to a Silver blade. And young Gamma Kael Wood... a Silver spear through the heart. We have hidden these devastating losses from the public to maintain morale, but we know the truth. Justin's 'glory' is built on the corpses of her family."

My breath hitched. My grandfather... my uncles. Dead. Maimed. Because of Justin.

The icy resolve in my veins turned into a roaring inferno. My White Wolf clawed at my chest, howling for blood.

"Enough, Alton," Alpha King Adrian Reynolds sighed, his voice heavy with sudden, crushing guilt. "You are right. I owe Arthur, and I owe the Woods. Bring her in. I will compensate her. I will give her royal titles, gold, whatever she wants to accept this marriage."

The heavy doors swung wide open.

I stepped into the opulent Royal Study, the suffocating pressure of the Alpha King's aura pressing down on me. Alpha King Adrian sat behind his massive desk, his handsome face softening with a mixture of pity and guilt.

He thought I was here to cry. He thought I was here to beg him to revoke the Royal Decree, and he was prepared to buy my submission with royal gold.

He had no idea I was here to burn it all down.