I spent over two weeks recuperating in the pack’s healing center, a place reserved for the most serious injuries and conditions. The scent of herbs and antiseptics clung to the air, but it was the quiet that weighed on me the most. My wolf, usually a presence in the back of my mind, was silent, as if mourning alongside me.

Bennett’s relentless attempts to reach me felt like claws scraping against my already raw nerves. His messages came in a flood, each one more insistent than the last.

"Kylie, I’ll come back to the pack house tonight. We need to talk."

"Where have you gone? You can’t just disappear like this!"

"Pregnant she-wolves shouldn’t vanish without a word. Think of the pup!"

"Let’s set a time to finalize the rejection papers. Liv and I need to move forward with the pack’s funding!"

"If you don’t respond soon, I’ll have to report you missing to the Alpha King!"

Eventually, he did report me, as if I were some rogue stray rather than his mate. But when the Alpha’s enforcers tracked me down, they found me in the healing center, my face pale and my body weak. They left without pressing further, their expressions unreadable.

On the day I was discharged, I sent him a single message: "Meet me at the pack’s council chamber at three this afternoon."

He called immediately, but I let it ring out, my fingers trembling as I silenced my phone.

It had been more than two weeks since we’d last seen each other. When I arrived, Bennett was already there, his broad shoulders tense under his tailored jacket. He looked the same—strong, commanding, every inch the Beta he was—but there was a lightness to him, as if a weight had been lifted. Liv stood beside him, her hand resting protectively on her slightly rounded belly. The sight of it twisted something deep inside me. Her pup was thriving, while mine… mine was gone.

"Your belly?" Bennett’s voice was sharp, his grip tightening on my wrist as his eyes dropped to my flat stomach. "What happened to the pup?"

I smiled bitterly, the pain of it cutting through me like a blade. "Gone."

"Gone? The pup was almost five months along! You just… you just got rid of it?" His voice rose, anger and disbelief warring in his tone. "Kylie, that’s heartless! Cruel! That was *our* pup!"

I yanked my arm free, disgust twisting my features. "Did I end it? No, Bennett. You did."

He exploded, his alpha tone cracking through the air like a whip. "Stop blaming me! I didn’t force you to terminate our pup!"

"Do you remember the day you pressured me into signing the rejection papers?" My voice was cold, each word a shard of ice. "My belly hit the corner of a table. There was so much blood. Where were you? Rushing off to be with Liv at her prenatal checkup!"

Bennett’s face paled, but he shook his head, denial etched into every line of his body. "Kylie, don’t make things up. A slight bump and the pup’s gone? That’s ridiculous!"

So, he knew. He knew I’d hit my stomach that day. My wolf stirred in the back of my mind, a low growl of anger and grief. *He’s lying,* she whispered. *He remembers.*

I pointed at Liv, my hand trembling with barely contained rage. "Ask her! Didn’t she see me being wheeled into surgery that day at the healing center?"

Bennett turned to Liv, who immediately shook her head, her eyes wide with feigned innocence. "You’re lying. I didn’t see anything! Honey, you have to believe me. If I’d seen something so crucial, I would’ve said something."

"She’s accusing me unfairly!" Liv’s voice was a whine, her hand clutching Bennett’s arm as if for support.

"I know, you wouldn’t do that," Bennett said, his voice softening as he looked at her. "She’s fabricating this."

I had no patience left. Without another word, I turned and walked into the council chamber to finalize the rejection papers. Bennett followed, his voice rising as he tried to argue, but I tuned him out. The formal vow echoed in the chamber, his voice cold and detached as he recited the words: "I, Bennett Reed, Beta of the Silver Moon Pack, reject you, Kylie Reed, as my mate."

I stood silent, my jaw clenched as the bond between us shattered, leaving a hollow ache in its place.

Once the papers were signed, Bennett wasted no time joining Liv to file for their mating license. While Liv looked elated, Bennett’s gaze kept drifting back to me, his face clouded with something I couldn’t quite place—regret? Guilt? It didn’t matter. Not anymore.

Before I left, I fixed him with a cold stare, my voice low and steady. "I’m curious, Bennett. How do you know this woman is the daughter of Robert Reed, Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack?"

Before he could answer, Liv tossed me a family register, her smile smug. "I’m not the daughter of an Alpha. Are you?"

Out of curiosity, I opened it, and my heart skipped a beat. There, listed as the head of household, was Robert Reed, with ‘daughter’ in the relationship column. My name wasn’t there. Instead, it was Liv’s.

I was dumbstruck. My brother and I shared a register with our mother, so I’d never seen my father’s. Who would’ve guessed his register showed another daughter?

Clutching the rejection papers tightly, I marched into the Silver Moon Pack’s headquarters to confront my father, the Alpha. The weight of the document felt like a stone in my hands, the words of Bennett’s betrayal still burning in my mind.

"Alpha," I began, my voice steady but laced with frustration, "who’s Liv Reed?"

Robert Reed, my father and the Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack, looked at me with a mix of confusion and concern. "Liv Reed? Who’s Liv Reed?"

"Don’t play dumb," I snapped, my temper flaring. "Are there no decent males left in this pack? Have you betrayed the Luna too?"

"Be honest with me—do you have a mistress? Is Liv your secret daughter? How could you betray the Luna like this? She stood by you when you were struggling, supported you through everything!"

"Kylie," my father’s voice was firm, his Alpha aura pressing down on me, though it was softened by the affection he held for his daughter. "The Luna is the only female I’ve ever loved. I’ve only got two pups—you and Hudson. Where did you get this idea of an illegitimate daughter from?"

"Bennett’s mate claims she’s the daughter of the Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack! Her birth certificate names you as the head of the household!"

"And you’re still denying it?"

"Show me the birth certificate, then!"

At my insistence, my father furrowed his brow, his expression darkening as he processed my words. Then, a look of realization crossed his face. "I know who Liv Reed is."

"She’s a pup I sponsored."

He summoned his Beta, who brought in Liv Reed’s files for me to review. Finally, the truth surfaced.

Liv’s real name was Liv Henry.

She was a pup my father had financially supported for over a decade.

During my father’s toughest times as Alpha, Liv’s father, Josiah Kelley, a rogue werewolf, had generously helped him. After Josiah and his mate died in an accident, my father felt morally compelled to support their orphaned pup.

Upon completing her training, Liv was accepted into the University of Manchester. Being a local resident could offer her greater benefits, from housing to tuition fee waivers. So, Liv asked my father to help her obtain local residency.

My father, treating her almost like family, used his influence as Alpha to add her name to his household registry.

Liv, deeply moved, insisted on changing her surname and regarded my father as her godfather, wanting to express gratitude for his kindness over the years.

In fact, my father had sponsored many pups over the years, and his encounters with Liv were infrequent, hence his initial confusion about her identity.

When I revealed that Liv was the female Bennett had been involved with, my father was so furious that he shattered a costly antique vase worth thousands.

"Alpha," I said, my voice cold, "they’ve already tied the mate bond. Soon, she’ll be at your door, wanting to chat about investment opportunities."

My father’s eyes flashed with anger, his Alpha aura thickening the air. "They’re dreaming!"

Sure enough, Liv soon called my father, announcing her mating and her wish to introduce her mate to him.

I was beside the Alpha when he took the call, his face pale with anger. Yet he held back his temper: "I’m not your biological father. You should take your mate to pay respects at Josiah’s grave, to meet your real father, before coming to see me."

There was a pause on Liv’s end before she spoke in a soft, pained voice. "Since my father passed away, you’ve felt like my real father, my only family."

"Alpha..." Her voice was thick with emotion, filled with gratitude and pleading, evoking sympathy.

But my father found it utterly absurd.

Just as he was about to erupt into a furious tirade, I quickly grabbed the phone, putting it on mute to calm him down. "Alpha, relax. Don’t forget our plan!"

He took several deep breaths, slowly regaining his composure. "Alright, I’ll text you the address. You can come with him when you’re ready."

Though we were unsure how Liv had convinced Bennett he was meeting her family, spinning such a tale was undeniably audacious.