A sharp knock at my door startled me from my thoughts. It was nearly midnight, and I'd been drafting my legal challenge against Nova for hours. My sister had barely spoken in days, and the weight of her suffering pressed against my chest like a physical wound.

"Adelina." Ryker's voice was low as he stepped inside, closing the door behind him. "We need to talk."

Something in his scent made my wolf bristle. It wasn't the comforting pine and cedar I'd grown to love over our years together. There was something else—something that made my skin crawl.

"What is it?" I asked, setting down my pen. "I'm preparing the final documents for tomorrow."

Ryker's jaw tightened as he pulled out his phone. "This is why you need to withdraw your challenge."

The screen illuminated his face in the dim light of my study. My blood turned to ice as I saw what was playing.

My sister—my innocent, broken sister—in compromising positions with multiple pack members. The videos were clearly edited, the lighting wrong, the angles suspicious. But they were convincing enough to destroy what little remained of her reputation.

"Where did you get these?" My voice shook with rage and disbelief.

"It doesn't matter." Ryker's eyes flashed Alpha gold. "What matters is what happens if you proceed with this challenge."

He stepped closer, his presence filling the room with suffocating dominance. "Think about what this would do to the pack, Adelina. A public legal battle between a future Luna and the pack healer? The resources it would consume, the division it would create."

"This isn't about the pack," I snarled. "This is about you protecting Nova."

His hand shot out, gripping my wrist—the one that still ached from the rogue attack. "I'm protecting all of us. Including your family."

I yanked my arm away. "By threatening me with doctored videos?"

"Are they doctored?" His smile was cold. "Or are they simply evidence of what everyone already believes?"

The betrayal cut deeper than any claw. My mate—my future Alpha—was threatening me with fabricated evidence to protect the woman destroying my family.

---

Three days later, my sister decided she'd had enough of hiding. "I'm going to the pack gathering," she announced, her voice stronger than it had been in weeks. "I need to defend myself."

"Sarah, no—" I tried to stop her, but she was already dressing, applying makeup to hide her exhaustion.

"I can't live like this anymore," she whispered. "Everyone deserves to hear the truth."

The gathering was already in full swing when we arrived at the pack house. Conversations hushed as we entered, dozens of eyes tracking our movement.

My sister straightened her shoulders and walked toward the center of the room. "I want to address the rumors," she announced, her voice carrying across the suddenly silent space.

That's when Nova's supporters emerged from the crowd.

"We have proof!" shouted Delta warrior Jake, holding up his phone. "Right here—dates, times, witnesses!"

Another warrior stepped forward. "I saw her with Alpha Marcus's son last month."

"Liar!" My sister's voice cracked. "I've never even spoken to him!"

But they were relentless, circling her like predators. Nova stood at the edge of the crowd, her expression one of false concern that didn't reach her eyes.

"Look at these messages," someone called out, projecting texts across the wall. "She asked me to keep it quiet."

My sister's face crumpled as she looked around at the hostile faces. The whispers grew louder, more vicious.

"Disgusting."

"Unnatural."

"No wonder her mother can't show her face anymore."

Something broke inside her then. I saw it happen—the moment her spirit shattered completely.

"No!" she screamed, covering her face as tears streamed down her cheeks. "It's not true! None of it is true!"

She pushed through the crowd, running blindly toward the exit. Laughter followed her—cruel, mocking laughter that echoed off the walls.

---

I found her note on her pillow.

*Adelina,*

*I can't bear this shame anymore. Every time someone looks at me, I see their judgment. I hear their whispers. I feel their disgust.*

*I've brought disgrace to our family. To you. To Mom.*

*I'm sorry for everything.*

*Please forgive me.*

*Sarah*

The sound that tore from my throat wasn't human. It wasn't wolf. It was something broken beyond repair.

My sister lay still on her bed, her face peaceful in a way it hadn't been for weeks. The pills beside her told me everything I needed to know.

As I cradled her body, my phone buzzed with a notification.

Nova's latest post:

"Tragic news tonight. We must remember that actions have consequences. The Moon Goddess judges us all for our sins. #RIP #PackConsequences"

She hadn't mentioned my sister by name. She didn't need to.

The phone slipped from my numb fingers as darkness closed in around me.

The funeral home smelled of lilies and formaldehyde, a combination that made my stomach churn. I stood beside my sister's closed casket, my fingers tracing the polished wood as I arranged the white roses around it. Three days had passed since I found her, yet the reality still hadn't fully sunk in.

"Adelina." Nova's saccharine voice sliced through the silence. "What a tragedy."

I spun around, my wolf surging forward with a snarl. "How dare you come here?"

Nova stood in the doorway, her healer's robes immaculate as always. "I came to offer my services for the burial rites. It's tradition for the pack healer to perform the sacred cleansing before interment."

My sister had been dead for three days, and Nova hadn't once offered to help with the healing rituals that would guide her spirit to the Moon Goddess. Now she stood here, acting as though she cared.

"The funeral is tomorrow," I said coldly. "You're too late."

"Oh, but I'm exactly on time." Nova stepped closer, her smile not reaching her eyes. "I've been considering whether to provide my services to your family."

The implication hung in the air between us.

"And?" I forced the word out through gritted teeth.

"I've decided that my sacred abilities are reserved for those who uphold the pack's honor." Her gaze flicked to my sister's casket. "A family with such a... tainted reputation doesn't deserve the blessing of a pack healer."

My wolf clawed at my insides, demanding I tear out Nova's throat. "Get out."

"Of course." She turned to leave, then paused. "Oh, and Adelina? Don't bother asking other pack healers. Word travels fast about families who bring shame to their packs."

After she left, I collapsed beside the casket, my body shaking with rage and grief. I had to find another healer—someone who would perform the rites my sister deserved.

---

My mother hadn't spoken more than ten words since the funeral. She moved through our quarters like a ghost, her eyes vacant, her once-proud posture now bent with grief.

"I need to talk to Ryker," she announced suddenly, five days after we buried my sister. "He needs to know what he's done."

"Mom, please—" I tried to stop her, but she was already walking toward the Alpha's quarters, her thin frame somehow filled with determination.

I followed her, dread pooling in my stomach. Ryker had been avoiding me since the funeral, but he couldn't refuse to see my mother.

He was in his office when we arrived, papers spread across his desk. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of us.

"Alpha," my mother said formally, her voice stronger than I'd heard it in days. "I need to understand why you protected Nova instead of our daughter."

Ryker's expression hardened. "Mrs. Sanders, I understand you're grieving—"

"Grieving?" My mother's voice cracked. "My baby is dead because of that woman's lies, and you helped her!"

Something dangerous flashed in Ryker's eyes. "You need to calm down."

"No!" My mother stepped closer. "You were supposed to protect us! You're Adelina's mate—"

"Enough." Ryker's voice dropped to that Alpha timbre that made wolves cower. His eyes glowed gold as he fixed my mother with a stare. "You're confused in your grief. Your daughter made her own choices."

I felt it then—the crushing weight of his Alpha power filling the room, pressing down on my mother's shoulders until she physically staggered.

"No," she whispered, her face draining of color. "That's not true."

"It is," Ryker insisted, his voice hypnotic. "Your family brought this shame on yourselves. You failed to raise your daughter properly."

My mother's knees buckled as his words hammered into her. I lunged forward to catch her, but Ryker's power pushed me back.

"Mom!" I cried as she collapsed, her breathing ragged.

Ryker stepped over her, his expression cold. "She needs rest. And you need to remember your place, Adelina."

---

The first attack left my mother confused and weak. The second, three days later when she tried again to confront him, left her unable to eat. By the seventh day, she couldn't get out of bed.

"Sarah?" she called weakly from her bedside. "Are you there, sweetheart?"

My heart broke as I took her hand. "It's Adelina, Mom."

"No, Sarah's here." My mother smiled at a spot near the window where my sister used to sit. "She's telling me about her day."

I followed her gaze, seeing nothing but empty air. "Mom, please—"

"You should rest too, Adelina." Her eyes drifted closed. "We're all so tired."

I found a healer from a distant pack willing to help—for a price. But by the time I returned with the herbs and rituals needed to clear my mother's mind, Ryker had visited again.

"She was getting better," I whispered fiercely as I watched my mother curl tighter into herself. "The healer said she was responding to treatment."

Ryker's expression didn't change. "Some wounds can't be healed, Adelina."

"Some wounds," I snarled, "are inflicted deliberately."

As I turned away from him to tend to my mother, I caught sight of Nova watching from the shadows. Her lips curved in a smile that chilled me to my core.

What had they done to my family? And how much worse would it get?