For the first time, Yousef Webb didn’t accompany me out of the Crimson Fang Pack’s territory.

His beta, Kendrick Palmer, approached me with an apology. “The Luna has requested Alpha Yousef’s presence for an urgent matter. He regrets he cannot see you off today.”

“It’s fine,” I replied, though the scent of blooming roses in the garden felt suffocating, making my words come out strained and heavy.

My pack member, Lexi, grumbled under her breath beside me. “What’s gotten into him? He always walks you to the border, sharing stories and making you laugh. Surely he doesn’t believe those rogue rumors about you!”

I suppressed the sting of her words and gave her a calm order. “When we get back to the Silver Moon Pack, gather all my unregistered jewelry and sell it on the black market. Convert it into something easily carried, like cash.”

Lexi’s eyes widened in shock. “Miss, why would you do that?”

I massaged my throbbing temples, staring blankly at the fading sunlight outside the car window. “Just do as I say.”

I had always been treated with respect, thanks to my grandfather, the former Alpha of the Crimson Fang Pack. Even when the Lycan Princess tried to provoke me, the Lycan King had always intervened on my behalf. Something must be seriously wrong for Yousef and the Luna to disregard my reputation so blatantly. I needed to prepare for the worst.

Lexi nudged me awake from my light doze, her voice bright with relief. “Miss, Alpha Yousef is following us! I knew he wouldn’t believe those rumors about you!”

I told the driver to stop the car, and Yousef pulled up behind us on his motorcycle. We stood at a distance, the space between us feeling like an uncrossable chasm. When I stepped forward, he backed away; when I retreated, he closed the gap. The overwhelming sadness brought tears to my eyes, but I swallowed my accusations.

We had grown up together, inseparable for seventeen years. I had always known he was my destined mate, and I had given him my trust and loyalty without hesitation. His sudden change left me reeling. I didn’t understand why, but I knew something significant must have happened.

I dismissed my entourage and approached him. “Alpha Yousef, don’t you have anything to say to me?”

He sat on his motorcycle, gripping the handles, his voice icy. “No.”

I hesitated, my chest tightening. “Even if we set aside the mate bond, we’ve been friends for years. I’ve always been honest with you. Have you ever been honest with me?”

He remained silent, his dark eyes fixed on me. As the last rays of the sun disappeared and the sky turned indigo, he revved his engine and turned away, his back cold and aloof.

“Go home,” he said before riding off into the night.

My heart was restless, and sleep eluded me.

Yousef Webb refused to be honest with me, leaving me no choice but to uncover the truth on my own.

The message I sent to my grandfather through the pack’s mind link remained unanswered.

I had released the servants who had sworn lifelong loyalty to me, replacing their binding contracts with temporary ones, and sent them to the borderlands to gather information about my grandfather.

But within days, seven of them were killed, and the remaining two vanished without a trace.

On the ninth day of the month, Kendrick Palmer arrived at my doorstep, dressed in ceremonial red.

My father, Archie Lane, had faced criticism in the pack council because of Kendrick’s antics and took his frustration out on me.

“This mess is of your making. Clean it up yourself,” he growled, his Alpha tone sharp and commanding.

I felt powerless.

“Father, I’m an unmated female. Do you truly think it’s appropriate for me to confront a male in public like this?”

Blake Alexander, my stepmother, immediately seized the opportunity, pulling my half-sister Lexi Williams into the fray.

“The Eldest Daughter’s scandalous behavior is ruining our family’s reputation! She’s not worried because she’s already promised to the future Alpha, but my Lexi hasn’t even found a mate yet!”

She shoved Lexi, who stumbled and began to cry.

“Useless girl! Why are you just standing there? Get on your knees and beg your sister for mercy! Ask her to spare your future!”

Lexi covered her face, tears streaming down as she whimpered.

“Enough!” Archie roared, slamming his fist on the table. His chest heaved with anger as he glared at me.

“Get out and clean up this mess. Don’t bring this filth into my home. I should have let you perish with your mother when she died giving birth to you!”

He stormed out, and Blake stopped her wailing, pulling Lexi close and stroking her face tenderly.

But within moments, she was shouting at the servants again.

“Are you all blind? Can’t you see the Youngest Daughter is hurt? Fetch hot eggs and ice from the cellar! And where’s the healer? Useless, all of you!”

She cradled Lexi’s face, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“My dear, did I hurt you? My heart aches for you…”

Lexi buried her face in her mother’s chest, sobbing. “Mother, it hurts…”

The scene of their mother-daughter affection suffocated me, and I fled to the door.

Kendrick was still kneeling outside, shouting.

“Kendrick Palmer, son of Beta Kyle Johnston, humbly requests to mate with Chaya Lane, daughter of Alpha Archie Lane!”

His red attire had drawn a crowd, though I couldn’t tell how many were his accomplices.

But as he intended, curious onlookers had gathered.

When the door opened, Kendrick’s eyes lit up at the sight of me. He lunged forward, but I stepped back, and he fell to the ground.

Undeterred, he scrambled to his feet.

“Chaya, I’m here to claim you. You promised me you’d be mine.”

I glared at him, fury and hatred burning in my chest. I wanted nothing more than to end him right there.

“Kendrick, you claim we had a secret bond. Tell me, when did this bond form?

“You’re a Delta in the Silver Moon Pack, on duty at dawn, spending twenty-seven days a month on patrol, and only three days at home. Those three days just happen to be when I visit the pack shrine to honor my mother.”

I stepped closer, my eyes blazing. “Tell me, Kendrick, how could we have formed a bond when we never even saw each other?”

He faltered, then shouted, “It was at the packhouse! Don’t you remember, Chaya? Every time you visited, I came to see you. We were meant to be together! If you’d just agree, the future Alpha would release you, and you could be mine!”

I froze, then laughed, a cold, bitter sound that made him flinch.

“Are you saying,” I said, my voice dripping with venom, “that you hid in the Luna’s quarters to meet me?”

Before he could respond, I turned to the crowd.

“Summon the Gamma and Beta of the pack! This male dares to slander the Luna’s honor!”

The crowd fell silent.

One of my packmates, hidden among the onlookers, shouted,

“A Delta on patrol would need half an hour to reach the Luna’s quarters, passing through multiple checkpoints.

“The Luna’s quarters are guarded by the pack’s warriors. This scoundrel is trying to tarnish the Alpha’s daughter’s reputation to elevate himself! Despicable!”

Another voice chimed in.

“If every low-ranking male can slander a female’s name to force a bond, what hope do we have?”

The crowd erupted in anger.

“Chaya Lane!” Kendrick screamed, his face flushed with rage.

He grabbed a knife from one of the guards and lunged at me, pushing my protectors aside.

The crowd gasped as he closed in, wrapping his arms around me.

“Chaya, you betrayed me! You betrayed me!”

He laughed, then sobbed.

I felt my blood run cold, fear and shock paralyzing me.

Suddenly, he shoved me away, his voice wild and desperate.

“Chaya Lane, even if you deny our bond, I won’t break my promise. I swore I’d die if I couldn’t have you!”

Before I could react, he slashed the knife across his throat.

I screamed, scrambling to stop him, but he kicked me away.

Blood sprayed across my face and clothes as he collapsed.

In that moment, my heart shattered.

As darkness claimed me, one thought echoed in my mind.

It’s over.

Everything is over.

I awoke to complete darkness, the familiar scent of cedarwood filling my senses, and I realized with a dull ache in my chest that I was in the pack’s ancestral hall.

The door was locked from the outside.

I lay sprawled on the cold, hard floor, the sticky sensation of dried blood on my face making my entire body tremble.

All the reputation I had carefully built, the praise I had worked so hard to earn, had vanished the moment Yousef died.

Even if I presented mountains of evidence to prove my innocence, my name would forever be tainted.

A she-wolf’s honor was a towering mountain, a crystal-clear pool that could not be sullied.

Yousef was the drop of ink that had muddied my future.

Everything I had worked for was destroyed in an instant.

From this day forward, for the rest of my life, even after my death, Yousef’s name would be irrevocably tied to mine.

I would never escape this carefully woven trap of lies and blood.

I dared not cover my face to cry, afraid to touch the blood staining my skin.

I wanted to scream, to sob, to demand answers from Yousef and the Queen.

Why had they done this to me?

Why?

My mind raced, the weight of the Alpha’s aura pressing down on me, though I was alone in the hall. The silence was suffocating, broken only by the faint sound of my shallow breaths. I clenched my fists, claws digging into my palms, as I tried to steady myself.

But the questions, the injustice, burned in my chest like a fire I couldn’t extinguish. My wolf stirred faintly in the back of my mind, a low whimper of shared pain and confusion.

"Why?" I whispered into the void, my voice trembling with a mix of anger and despair. The word echoed off the walls, unanswered, as the darkness swallowed me whole.