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.