"Chole, bring your mother here. It's her elder sister-in-law's birthday-tell her to play the violin and sing. "

Father's alpha command booms through the air like a thunderclap.

I'm rooted to the spot before the imposing gates, every hair on my wolf form standing on end. The stench of this place, once a haven filled with the comforting aroma of Mother's warm hearth, now assaults my nostrils like a noxious fume.

In an instant, a flood of memories crashes over me, overwhelming my senses.

I recall Father's sporadic visits, the way his eyes would turn distant and cold whenever Mother entered the room, as if she were a specter from a past he desperately wanted to forget.

Clutching Mother's spirit tablet tightly to my chest, my hands shake violently.

Grief, raw and painful, claws at my heart. "She suffered for fifteen long moons, crying out for a healer! You refused to send help, leaving her to die alone!"

My voice breaks. "My mother is dead! Didn't the coffin-makers' howls of mourning reach your deaf ears?"

"Chloe Bennett, how dare you snarl back! Is this what your mother taught you? She thinks she can play dead to trick me. If she's not truly gone, I'll make both your pelts pay!"

Father's roar shakes the ground beneath my feet.

Just then, a chorus of howls rises outside, a chilling symphony of celebration.

"Answering Alpha Jonathan's call-here to celebrate Eleanor's natal moon."

"Eleanor, behold the gift I hunted for you!"

Another voice.

"Alpha Jonathan and Eleanor-truly the pack's envy!" The words are like daggers in my heart.

When my parents mated, the wolves were at war, and their union was seen as a symbol of hope and unity.

But now, it seems that love was nothing more than a casualty of power and politics.

Mother never showed her face in pack gatherings, declining every invitation with a gentle smile. Her true blood, the blood of a powerful seer, was a closely guarded secret, known only to a few trusted allies.

But after Alex White-our widowed cousin-returned, everything changed.

Alex's health failed, and Father summoned royal healers from far and wide, sparing no expense to save her.

Healers with rare gifts and ancient knowledge flocked to the manor.

But when Mother needed wolfsbane herb for her heart ailment, Father snarled: "All herb is for your aunt. Wasting it on your mother's worthless hide?"

Mother and I lived like lowly manor wolves, our every need ignored or dismissed.

When Alex and her daughter Elena caught a chill, Father hunted down the rarest cures, his wolf's instincts guiding him to the most powerful herbs and potions.

Servants treated us like strays, bowing only to Alex as if she were the true luna.

My wolf's anger boiling over.

But Mother always held me back.

"Chloe, do not blame your father. I hid the truth from him. When he learns, he'll return."

What truth could make her endure such cruelty?

Even as her lips turned white with pain, and her breathing grew shallow and labored, she whispered: "Understand your father, Chloe. When I'm gone, he's your only kin. Promise to thrive."

I saw the tear fall from her eye as she smiled her last, a smile that held a lifetime of love and sacrifice.

Years of coldness ended with her final breath, but the pain of her loss will haunt me forever.

As pack members stream in with howls of celebration, Father glares at me, his alpha snarl low and menacing.

"Half a moon-turn. I want your mother on that stage, or both of you are banished." "Jonathan Bennett, how dare you dishonor my mother! She's your bonded mate-"

Agony rips through me. I choke on sobs, words failing.

"Chloe Bennett, one last time: fetch your mother."

I steady my voice, growling each word:

".My. Mother. Is. Dead. Are you satisfied?"

"Now you can mate openly with your mistress Alex White. No one to stand in your way."

Father goes silent, then roars: "Your mother failed to teach respect! I am your alpha Daddy-filial piety comes first. How dare you snarl at me?"

"Alpha Daddy?" I laugh bitterly.

"Her first moon of passing, and you demand she rise from her grave to entertain your paramour. You're no father of mine."

"Enough! To the ancestral manor for punishment, or I disown you." He spins on his hee.

Days later, a silver missive arrives: my accounts are frozen.

Rations shrink; firewood is withheld.

But I care not-I've planned my escape.

After Mother's death, I found her hidden trove.

She'd been a renowned lore singer on the canal, earning hundreds of silver moons per performance.

These she saved for my mating dowry, hidden from Father's greedy nose.

Enough to heal her, yet she gambled-gambled on Father's return.

She lost, dying without seeing his face.

I steal back to the ancestral manor, snatching her spirit tablet.

She wasted her days in these stone walls; I'll free her.

Tucking the wood plaque in my satchel, each step feels like dragging a deadweight.

One satchel holds all my memories of this manor.

I leave, never to return.

Without the alpha's protection, I must shed my past, embrace my inner wolf, and rise.

The imperial manor opens a she-wolf academy, inviting noble pack daughters.

Each moon, elders grant hunting rights to a few from lowborn manors.

As I pull open the academy's oak doors, the noisy manor falls silent.

Classmates eye me with scorn, their noses wrinkling as if I reek of gutter water.

Before I can scent the air, Elena Bennett strides forward, swiping my desk . Parchments spill like autumn leaves.

"You stole Father's amulet! Your kind always slinks off with pack treasures-return it!"

So she's taken my place as his pup already.

Without proof, she brands me a thief.

As I open my mouth, her maid shoves me with a growl: "A lowborn like you dares study with us? You can't even afford study expenses-how buy such a jewel?"

I steady my voice: "If I'm guilty, show me the evidence."

Elena steps closer, eyes watering: "You wear rags-no noble blood here. Where would you get such gold?"

A brute yanks my collar, hurling me to the floor.

My temple cracks against a stone bench, blood scenting the air.

Elena's sobs grow louder, but her gaze holds a mocking pity: "I know your manor starves. You've never seen real treasure-"

Powerless as I feel, I bare no fangs.

The final exam is a moon away; I can't be banished now.

Just then, Aslan enters-Beta's daughter, top of the class, known for fair judgment. Hope flares in my chest.

"Aslan, judge by pack law! I'm innocent."

She studies me, then Elena, nose twitching to catch our scents.

"Where's your proof? Or hers?"

Her words nail me to the floor.

No wolf will howl for a lowborn like me.

Elena strides forward with a wolfish swagger, nose wrinkling in disdain as she snatches the emulet from my throat.

"A rare warmstone even the treasure manor can't price."

She dangles it by its leather thong, voice dripping scorn.

"Chloe Bennett, your manor couldn't buy a shard of this in ten generations."

My heart sinks .

I lunge to reclaim it, but some wolves pin me down.

"Give it back! My mother gave this on my natal moon!"

I snarl, but Elena pockets the stone.

"Knew you couldn't afford it, but stealing? How low can a stray go?"

Her words echo through the manor, packmates baring their teeth in mockery.

"Your mother birthed you to steal? In our pack, thievery means the silver collar."

Dizziness hits me, Mother's face flashing in my mind.

This is her last gift-I'll rip out throats before letting it go.

"Elena Bennett, you can take my father-but this is mine."

wolves form a protective ring around Elena.

"Who do you think you are, challenging alpha's daughter?"

"Filth like you taint our manor-come, let the elder judge!"

Noble she-wolves fall on me, claws and teeth bared.

Pain blooms across my pelt, but I fight only to reclaim the stone.

Battered and bleeding, they drag me to the elder's manor.

Father sits in the alpha's chair.

The moment my attackers see him, they bow low, circling Elena like loyal pups.

"Alpha Jonathan, this stray stole your daughter's amulet!"

"Her kind has no honor-"

I meet Father's gaze, panting:

"The amulet is mine. Mother gave it on my fifteenth moon, inscribed with my name. You know this."

The Beta's daughter sneers: "Your mother? What lowborn whelp would Alpha Jonathan acknowledge?"

"Ridiculous-do you think an alpha defends thieves?"

Father's eyes flicker between me and Elena.

I drop to my knees: "It's my mother's last gift. She's gone-please make her return it."

My voice breaks, but I hold his gaze.

Dropping to my knees in a submissive bow, I catch Father off-guard.

"A gutter whelp calling alpha 'father'? She dreams of moonlit thrones!"

"The alpha allows her in our manor, and she repays us with theft? Banish this stray!"

"Send her to tend rabbit manors."

"Whelp! Is this how your mother taught you? Thieving, then demanding your alpha's father 's protection?"

The manor falls silent, ears twitching. *"Is she truly alpha's pup?"*

Father's next words freeze my blood: *"She's a foundling, taken in out of pack duty. My failures as alpha led to this disgrace."*

His face twists into a stranger's snarl.

"Ah, a foundling! alpha's honor is safe-such filth can't be his blood."

"Of course-look at Elena, a true luna in the making. This stray dares challenge her?"

Elena steps forward: *"You claim the emlulet's from your mother. Is she still howling, or did she slink back to the gutter?"*

Rage rips through me.

*"You motherless whelp! Your dam was a widow, making you a mangy bastard!"*

A chair smashes against my spine as I crumple.

Across the manor, Father coos to Elena, ignoring my blood pooling on the stone.

"Just a foundling, thinking she can rise above her station."

He turns away, letting the beating continue until the elder intervenes.