"Diana, please don't do this," my sister-in-law pleaded as she held me tightly. "The Pack Council will judge this fairly. As long as the Howell Pack stands behind you, those men will answer for what they've done."

The wardens seemed more annoyed than remorseful.

One of them sneered from where he stood under guard.

"If you'd raised your pups properly, they would never have ended up in the Iron Fang Den."

"This is how young wolves are trained. Discipline requires pain. We never expected your daughters to be so weak."

My whole body trembled with rage.

I pointed at them, wishing I could rip them apart with my own claws.

A metallic taste filled my mouth.

Blood spilled from my lips.

Darkness swallowed me whole.

When I opened my eyes again, I was lying inside the Howell Pack's ancestral lodge.

My sister-in-law stood beside the bed, her eyes swollen from crying.

"You're awake," she whispered. "Don't worry. The Pack Council has already begun its investigation. We won't let those beasts escape justice."

I stared blankly at the carved wooden ceiling.

"Please," I murmured. "Let me leave. I have nothing left."

Deep down, I understood the truth.

Those wardens deserved punishment.

But they had only carried out the sentence.

The one who had condemned our daughters to that place was Jordon.

Their own father.

He was the one who had truly killed them.

My sister-in-law lowered her head.

After a long silence, she nodded.

"All right."

"I'll speak with Grandfather."

The moment she left, the tears I had been holding back finally broke free.

Years of grief poured out with them.

I had come to the Howell Pack when I was eight years old.

Jordon had been the same age.

Alpha Howell and my grandfather had once fought side by side in the Great Pack War.

My grandfather had saved the Alpha's life, and the two had sworn a blood oath of brotherhood.

After my parents died during a rogue attack, my grandfather became my only family.

When he later passed beyond the Moon Goddess's embrace, I was left completely alone.

Alpha Howell brought me into the Howell Pack and raised me as one of his own.

Over the years, he and my sister-in-law had shown me nothing but kindness.

They had truly treated me as family.

So during the seven years of my mating bond with Jordon, no matter how coldly he treated me, I endured everything.

I raised our daughters.

I cared for our home.

I asked for nothing in return.

I believed that even if my mate never loved me, my life still had meaning because I had my little girls.

Now...

They were gone.

Some time later, my sister-in-law returned.

"Grandfather wishes to see you."

When I entered the Alpha's chamber, the old Alpha sat quietly beside the hearth.

The sorrow in his eyes nearly broke me.

"Diana," he said gently, "you have always been a good child."

"Your sister has told me everything."

"We will return your daughter's ashes to the Moon tomorrow."

"When it is over, you may leave this pack if that is your wish."

"My grandson is unworthy of you."

"You should not waste another day of your life because of him."

I said nothing.

I simply bowed deeply before the old Alpha.

Tears struck the wooden floor beneath me.

I would always be grateful to the Howell Pack for giving an orphan a home.

But I could never forgive Jordon.

He was the one who had sent our daughter to her death.

When I returned to my chamber, Jordon was already waiting.

The moment he saw me, a mocking smile crossed his face.

"So you couldn't wait to run to Grandfather and complain?"

"Diana, do you really think winning Grandfather's sympathy or my sister's support will make me care about you?"

The instant our eyes met, every shred of grief inside me became hatred.

It crashed over me like a tidal wave.

In that moment, I wanted only one thing.

To watch the man who had murdered our daughter fall into the abyss he had created with his own hands.

At the same time, my daughters' voices echoed through my mind.

"Mother, we love Father so much. He's the strongest Alpha in the whole pack."

"Mother, we miss Father. Will he come home to see us tonight?"

"We love Mother most in the world... and Father second."

Then came the final words they had ever spoken to me.

"Mother, please don't argue with Father because of us."

"We weren't good pups. This is our fault."

They had whispered those words as they lay dying in my arms after I reached the Iron Fang Den.

I drew a slow breath.

Without sparing Jordon a glance, I walked past him and sat quietly on the edge of the bed.

My silence only seemed to anger him.

He strode over, grabbed my shoulders, and threw me back onto the bed.

One hand pinned both of my wrists above my head.

"What is this now?" he demanded. "Didn't you have your sister summon me back?"

Before I could react, he lowered his head, trying to claim my lips.

Disgust surged through me.

Unable to break free, I bit down hard.

Jordon cursed and jerked away, touching his bleeding lip.

"Diana, have you lost your mind?"

"I can't stand the sight of you."

"You fool Grandfather with that innocent face, then drag me back here only to pretend you don't want me."

"Pathetic."

He laughed bitterly.

"Your daughters turned out exactly like you."

"Soft. Weak. Manipulative."

I bit my own lip until I tasted blood.

Then I interrupted him quietly.

"Our daughters are dead."

His expression stiffened.

For the briefest moment, disbelief crossed his face.

Then he scoffed.

"So you've learned Annette is carrying my pup, and now you've decided to invent something this outrageous?"

"Diana, you've become completely unreasonable."

He turned and walked toward the door.

Before leaving, he glanced back coldly.

"Since you're the one refusing me, don't run to Grandfather later and complain that I ignore you."

"It'll only make me despise you even more."

The chamber fell silent after he left.

I stumbled into the washroom.

Again and again, I scrubbed my mouth until my lips bled, desperate to erase the lingering taste of my mate.

There had once been a time when we truly loved each other.

On the night of my Coming of Age Ceremony, eighteen-year-old Jordon had stood beneath the Moon Goddess's sacred tree, his ears flushed with embarrassment.

"Diana," he had whispered.

"I don't want to be only your childhood companion anymore."

"I want to become your mate."

His voice had trembled, but the determination in his golden eyes had melted my heart.

For years afterward, he cherished me with a devotion that seemed endless.

I loved him just as deeply.

When we were both twenty-two, Alpha Howell called us into the ancestral hall.

"You've both reached the age to choose your mates," he said gently.

"Diana's grandfather once saved my life."

"I cannot bear to see her leave this pack."

He looked at us with a warm smile.

"What would you think of becoming true mates?"

Everything changed after that.

Almost overnight, Jordon became distant.

The tenderness in his eyes vanished as though it had never existed.

No matter how many times I asked what had happened, he refused to answer.

A year after our mating ceremony, I conceived our twin daughters.

From that day on, Jordon rarely returned to the packhouse.

He spent his nights outside, openly accompanying his former lover without caring who saw them.

I questioned him once.

He only looked at me as though I were beneath contempt.

"You got everything you wanted."

"You became the Luna of the Howell Pack."

"You gave the pack heirs."

"So why are you still making a scene?"

"Stop pretending you're the victim."

"It makes me sick."

After that day, I never asked him for an explanation again.

I poured every remaining piece of my heart into raising our daughters.

I truly believed...

As long as they were with me, it was enough.

I finally accepted the truth.

Jordon no longer loved me.

He no longer loved our daughters, either.

The only comfort I had ever known was watching my little girls grow beneath the Moon Goddess's light.

Now even that had been taken from me.

At dawn the following day, my daughters' bodies were returned to the sacred fire.

When the rites were complete, I stood outside the Moon Shrine with two tiny ash urns cradled in my arms.

When they were born, they had been so small, sleeping peacefully against my chest.

Five years later, they had become smaller still.

So light that it felt as though the wind itself could carry them away.

My eyes burned, but I bit my lip until it bled, refusing to cry.

My sister-in-law watched me with quiet concern.

"If you want to cry, then cry," she whispered. "You don't have to carry all of this alone."

I did not answer.

Instead, I turned to Alpha Howell, who was preparing to leave for the ancestral burial grounds.

"Grandfather."

"My daughters will not rest in the Howell Pack's sacred tomb."

"I want them to bear only my name."

"They are not Howell heirs."

"They are my daughters."

"Daughters of Diana Joseph."

The old Alpha looked at me for a long time.

Then anger flashed across his weathered face.

"Where is that worthless grandson of mine?"

"On a day like this, where has he gone?"

My sister-in-law lowered her head.

"I can't reach him. His crystal communicator has been silenced."

The old Alpha closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, his voice was calm.

"You carried those pups beneath your heart."

"You brought them into this world."

"You have the right to decide."

I knelt before him and bowed three times.

I would always be grateful for everything the Howell Pack had given me.

But my daughters owed them nothing.

Not even in death would I allow them to suffer another injustice.

After the old Alpha departed, my sister-in-law gently helped me to my feet.

"I'm sorry, Diana."

I smiled faintly.

Without another word, I gathered my daughters' urns and returned to the packhouse alone.

I wanted to collect their belongings.

That place had never truly been a home.

I refused to leave the last traces of my girls inside those cold stone walls.

The moment I pushed open the door, quiet laughter drifted from the master's chamber.

A woman's gentle voice reached my ears.

"The healer said I should be careful with the pup."

Jordon answered with unmistakable tenderness.

"Don't worry."

"I'll protect both of you."

Their soft laughter echoed through the hall.

I stood frozen outside the chamber.

Every word felt like another blade driven into my heart.

I waited in silence until the door finally opened.

Annette stepped out first.

The moment she saw me, satisfaction flickered across her face.

"Oh, Diana."

"We didn't realize you were home."

"I told Jordon I shouldn't come here, but he insisted."

"What could I do?"

Jordon slipped an arm around her waist without the slightest hesitation.

"Why explain anything to her?"

He looked at Annette with a warmth I had not seen in years.

"Come on."

"The healer is expecting us."

"We need to make sure our pup is healthy."

From beginning to end, he never looked at me.

His entire world revolved around the she-wolf beside him.

I silently stepped aside to let them pass.

As Jordon walked by, his eyes finally fell upon the two small urns in my arms.

He frowned in disgust.

"What are you carrying?"

"Throw that filthy junk away."

Without waiting for an answer, he left with Annette.

The front door closed behind them.

I lowered my head and gently stroked the smooth wooden urns.

"He wasn't talking about you," I whispered, my voice breaking.

"Don't be sad."

"You are Mother's precious daughters."

"You were never... and will never be... worthless."