Kimberly POV:

My coat. She was wearing my coat.

But it wasn't just the clothes. It was the air around her. She had sprayed herself with high-grade pheromones, a synthetic mimicry of an Alpha female's scent. To a low-ranked wolf like Ms. Albright, Evalena probably smelled like royalty. Austyn had clearly been laying the groundwork for this coup for months, slowly replacing my image with hers while I was overseas.

To me, she smelled like a sewer covered in air freshener. She was a Rogue-a wolf without a pack, usually criminal or exiled-masking her rot.

"Get away from the child, Kimberly," Evalena sighed, acting the part of the weary matriarch perfectly. "You're scaring the poor thing."

"Scaring her?" I tightened my grip on Lily, who was trembling violently against my leg. "This teacher was about to whip a five-year-old with wolfsbane."

Evalena tutted, walking further into the room. She glanced at the riding crop on the floor and then at Ms. Albright. "Ms. Albright was merely instilling discipline. We can't have thieves in the pack, can we?"

"She stole Master Jaylin's toy!" Ms. Albright chimed in, puffing out her chest. She looked at Evalena with pure adoration. "Thank goodness you're here, Luna. This woman... she broke down the door. She's violent."

Luna. The word tasted like bile.

"I am the Luna of this pack," I said, my voice low. "I am Kimberly Miller. This is my territory."

Evalena laughed. It was a practiced, tinkling sound that made my skin crawl. "Oh, honey. See? I told you she was having an episode. Austyn warned us she gets like this when she forgets her medication. Delusions of grandeur are a side effect."

She tapped her temple significantly, looking at the other parents who had gathered in the hallway, drawn by the noise.

"Poor thing," a mother whispered loudly. "I heard she's been in a Swiss asylum for months."

"I heard Austyn only kept her around because he felt sorry for her," another whispered.

I looked around the room. Their eyes were filled with pity and disgust. Austyn. He had done this. He used my absence to rewrite history. Three months was plenty of time to poison the well when you hold the checkbook. He had turned me into a charity case in my own kingdom.

Ms. Albright stepped forward, her eyes glowing with a faint Beta yellow. Betas were the enforcers of order, stronger than regular wolves but weaker than Alphas. She thought she could intimidate me.

"Let go of the girl," Ms. Albright growled, grabbing my shoulder. "You are not fit to be here."

She shoved me. She actually shoved me.

My back hit the chalkboard. Lily whimpered.

My Inner Wolf snarled, clawing at the cage of my mind. Rip her throat out. Show them.

I could have flattened the entire building with a single release of my Alpha Aura. But Lily was right there. High-level Alpha pressure could burst the eardrums of a pup that hadn't shifted yet.

I swallowed the rage. I forced my muscles to relax, though my veins felt like they were filled with lava.

"Don't touch me," I said. The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.

Ms. Albright hesitated, her hand hovering. For a second, instinct warned her. But then she looked at Evalena, her fake Luna, and found courage in stupidity.

"I will have the guards drag you out," Ms. Albright threatened.

"Yes," Evalena said, checking her nails. "Call Austyn. Tell him his... houseguest is causing a scene again."

"I'm right here."

The voice came from the hallway.

The crowd of parents parted like the Red Sea. Austyn walked in. He was wearing a tailored Italian suit I had bought him. He looked handsome, in a superficial way-blonde hair, square jaw. But I knew the truth. He was a weak Alpha, barely stronger than a Beta. He relied on my strength, channeled through our mating bond, to command the pack.

"Daddy!" A boy's voice rang out.

Jaylin pushed through the crowd and ran to Austyn. In his hand, he clutched the Starlight Moonstone Beast. He was dragging it by its ear across the dirty floor.

My heart shattered.

Austyn looked at me. For a split second, I saw terror in his eyes. He knew who I was. He knew what I could do. But then his gaze flicked to the crowd, calculating. He had the numbers. He had the narrative. He thought my suppression of my aura meant I had lost it.

But then he looked at Evalena. She gave him a small, encouraging nod, touching the heavy emerald necklace around her throat.

My grandmother's necklace.

Austyn took a deep breath, his face hardening into a mask of arrogant pity.

"Kimberly," he said, his voice smooth and practiced. "I thought we agreed you would stay at the facility until you were well."

Kimberly POV:

The betrayal didn't feel like a knife. It felt like a hollow space opening up in my chest, sucking all the air out of the room.

"Facility?" I repeated, the word tasting like ash. "Is that what you told them? That I was in a mental facility? I was in Zurich, Austyn. Securing the banking rights that pay for that suit you're wearing."

Austyn chuckled sadly, shaking his head at the crowd. "See? She creates these elaborate fantasies. Zurich. Banking rights. Kim, you haven't left the state in a year. You've been... unwell."

The parents murmured in sympathy. "So sad," someone whispered. "She really believes it."

Jaylin tugged on Austyn's jacket. "Daddy, that girl tried to steal my toy. Make her go away."

Daddy.

I looked at the boy. Then I looked at Austyn. The resemblance was undeniable. The same nose. The same set of the eyes. Jaylin wasn't a distant nephew. He was five years old. Lily was five years old.

He had cheated on me the entire time. And he was brazen enough to bring the proof into my home because he thought I was too weak to stop him.

"Is he yours?" I asked. My voice was quiet, but it carried through the room.

Austyn stiffened. He placed a hand on Jaylin's head. "He is my nephew, Kimberly. You know this. Don't drag a child into your delusions."

"Liar," I hissed.

I stepped away from the wall, pulling Lily with me. "And you," I pointed at Evalena. "Take off that necklace. It belongs to the Alpha female of the Miller line. It burns the skin of anyone unworthy."

Evalena flinched, her hand flying to the emerald. I saw a flash of red irritation on her neck beneath the stone. It was burning her, leaving angry welts against her skin, but she was enduring the pain just to maintain the charade.

"Austyn gave this to me," Evalena said, pouting. "It's a symbol of his love."

Austyn walked over to her. He put his arm around her waist, pulling her close. The sight of them touching-his hand on the fur coat I owned, her body pressed against the husband I had elevated from poverty-made my vision swim with red.

"Kimberly," Austyn said, his voice dropping an octave, trying to use an Alpha Command on me. "Go home. Now."

It was pathetic. His command felt like a gentle breeze against a stone wall. He had no power over me. He never did.

"You are commanding me?" I let out a dry, humorless laugh. "You forget who holds the leash, Austyn."

"She's threatening the Alpha!" Ms. Albright shrieked.

"She's dangerous!" Evalena cried out, burying her face in Austyn's chest. "Austyn, protect us! She's crazy!"

"This is my Mate!" Austyn shouted, gesturing to Evalena.

The room went silent.

My heart stopped. The Mate Bond-the sacred, biological connection that tied two wolf souls together-screamed in agony. To deny your true mate publicly, to claim another... it was the ultimate blasphemy against the Moon Goddess.

"What did you say?" I whispered.

"I said Evalena is my Mate," Austyn declared, his voice shaking slightly but loud enough for everyone to hear. "The bond with you was a mistake, Kimberly. A glitch. Evalena is my true soulmate."

He was rewriting the bond. He was counting on the pack's ignorance. He thought because I had suppressed my aura for years to let him shine, that I had actually lost it.

"She's not your mate," I said, stepping forward. "She is a Rogue in a stolen coat."

"Get back!" Austyn snarled.

I didn't stop. I moved faster than their eyes could track. I reached out and grabbed the emerald necklace around Evalena's neck.

"No!" she screamed.

I yanked. The gold chain snapped with a sharp crack.

Evalena stumbled back, clutching her neck. The stone was in my hand. It pulsed with a warm, green light, recognizing its true master. The burn marks on Evalena's neck were visible now-angry, blistered red skin where the holy stone had rejected her flesh.

"Look!" I held up the stone. "It rejects her!"

"She attacked the Luna!" Ms. Albright yelled. "Guards! Warriors! Help!"

The door burst open again. Three pack warriors rushed in, their eyes glowing. They saw me holding the necklace, and Evalena crying on the floor.

They didn't see the truth. They only saw what they had been told to see.

They lowered their spears, aiming them at my chest.

Kimberly POV:

The warriors circled me. I recognized them. I had paid for their training. I had signed the checks for their armor. Now, they looked at me like I was a rabid dog.

"Drop the weapon," the lead warrior growled.

"It's a necklace, you idiot," I snapped.

"Get on your knees!" another shouted, his muscles bunching as he prepared to shift. But I saw the hesitation in his eyes. His wolf was whining, pacing inside him. He could smell something-my scent wasn't that of a Beta or a crazy woman. It was ozone and storm clouds.

The injustice of it tasted like copper in my mouth. This was my pack. My bloodline ran through the soil beneath this school. My ancestors had built these walls. And yet, a crowd of sheep was ready to tear me apart because a wolf in a cheap suit told them to.

I looked at Austyn. He was smiling. It was a small, cruel thing. He thought he had won. He thought if he humiliated me enough, if he turned the whole world against me, I would break. I would leave. I would disappear, leaving him with my money and his mistress.

"Please," Evalena sobbed, playing the victim perfectly. "Just make her leave, Austyn. I don't want her hurt. I'm too kind for that."

"You hear that?" Austyn said, projecting his voice. "The Luna shows mercy. Even after this woman attacked her." He looked at me with mock sadness. "Kimberly, apologize to the Luna, and I will let you walk out of here. I will even give you some money for the bus."

The crowd murmured their approval. What a benevolent Alpha. What a kind Luna.

I looked down at Lily. She was silent now, her eyes wide and terrified. She was watching me. She was waiting to see if her mother was a victim or a warrior.

I couldn't protect her by hiding anymore. I couldn't save her by being the quiet, supportive wife.

I closed my eyes. I reached deep inside, past the hurt, past the betrayal, down to the ancient, primal core of my being.

I felt the White Wolf stir. She was huge. She was ancient. And she was furious.

Show them, she whispered. Burn it all down.

I opened my eyes.

A gasp ran through the room.

My eyes were no longer brown. They weren't even the usual Alpha red. They were gold. Molten, swirling gold that glowed with an inner light.

The air in the room grew heavy. Gravity seemed to double. The warriors took a step back, their instincts screaming at them to run. Captain Vance dropped his spear, his knees buckling involuntarily.

"Apologize?" I asked. My voice had changed. It echoed, sounding like two voices speaking at once-human and wolf.

I took a step toward Austyn.

"You want me to apologize to a Rogue whore and a traitor?"

"Watch your mouth!" Ms. Albright shrieked, though she was trembling. "How dare you speak to the Alpha like that!"

"He is not an Alpha," I said.

I took another step. The floor tiles cracked beneath my heel.

"He is a stray I picked up off the street. A weakling I dressed in silk. A coward who needs a woman's money to feel like a man."

Austyn's face turned purple. "Kill her!" he screamed at the warriors. "She's gone rogue! She's a threat to the pack! Kill her now!"

The warriors hesitated. They could feel it. The pressure radiating off me was immense. It was the pressure of a Supreme Alpha. Their wolves had forced them into a submissive crouch; they physically couldn't attack me.

"Daddy!" Jaylin yelled. He picked up a rock from a potted plant decoration near the door. "Stop being mean to my daddy!"

He threw the rock.

It wasn't a big rock. It wouldn't have hurt me. But his aim was bad.

It flew past me and hit Lily squarely on the forehead.

A small cut opened up. A drop of bright red blood trickled down her face.

Lily cried out.

Time stopped.

I looked at the blood on my daughter's face.

Something inside me snapped. The last chain holding back my power shattered.