Blood beads slid down my palm, dripping onto the pure white fur rug, blooming like a mournful crimson flower.

At that moment, Selene returned.

She saw the blood on my hand and froze for a heartbeat before striding forward to grab my wrist.

"What happened to you? Have you lost your mind again!"

She pulled out the healer's kit, intending to bandage my wound, her brow furrowed with what seemed like genuine concern.

My entire body trembled. I wanted to howl, to demand answers, to lunge at her and tear her apart with my claws.

But I had no strength left.

"Just go. Go be with Darian."

"I don't need you here."

Her communication crystal chimed—Darian playing the wounded wolf again.

Selene answered without hesitation, then hurried away.

I reached out through the pack link to my liaison, ordering her to prepare transport.

"To the ancestral den!"

Time to reclaim what was mine.

When I arrived at the Stormclaw ancestral estate with the pup cradled in my arms, the entire pack erupted into chaos.

My grandfather and grandmother, the elder aunts and uncles, the pack elders—everyone gathered around us.

"Oh, my precious great-grandpup!"

Grandmother Aurora carefully took the child from my arms, her weathered face breaking into the widest smile I had seen in years.

"This pup was born during your time beyond the borders? That year you traveled to the distant territories?"

Grandfather Fenris was so moved his hands shook. He looked at me with eyes full of approval and pride.

"You actually kept a pup hidden from us! For three whole years!"

I explained that the pup had been sickly since birth, requiring care from healers in neutral territories far from pack lands. That was why we had kept him secret.

Now that he was healthy and strong, I had finally brought him home.

No one questioned this story.

No one knew that my heart had already died in that cold healers' den, alongside my unborn pup who never drew breath.

Grandfather scanned the empty entrance of the den, confusion crossing his features. "Where is Selene?"

"Busy, I suppose. I haven't seen much of her lately." My voice was carefully flat.

The rewards the elders bestowed upon me were staggering in their generosity.

Grandmother Aurora brought out her most treasured possessions—moon-silver rings passed down through generations, ancient territory maps inked on preserved hide, ceremonial daggers worth more than entire lesser packs' holdings. One ancestral relic after another, each beyond measure in value.

Grandfather Fenris transferred five percent of Stormclaw Holdings directly into my name, making me the youngest member of the Pack Council with a single declaration.

I smiled and accepted everything.

All of this was what I deserved.

It was what I had purchased with my pup's life.

No one knew that in the deepest corner of my private chambers, I had carved out a hidden space.

There were no expensive ceremonial robes or Alpha regalia stored there.

Only a small memorial tablet, carved from sacred blackwood.

No name was etched upon its surface.

Before the tablet lay a small rattle I had bought with my own hands but could never give, along with a few pitifully tiny garments meant for a newborn pup.

Every night, when the pack fell silent and the moons rose high, I would lock myself in that hidden corner.

I would hold that small tablet, running my fingers over its smooth surface again and again.

"Little one, your father is here."

"Little one, today your great-grandparents brought so many toys. If you were here, you would have them too."

"Little one, do you blame your father? Your father was useless, couldn't protect you..."

I never howled my grief aloud. I only let the tears fall silently, soaking into the wood I clutched against my chest.

The place where my heart should be felt like a wound that would never heal—cold wind rushing through the emptiness, the pain so sharp I could barely breathe.

That was the secret shared only between me and my lost pup.

Selene eventually returned to the ancestral den, but she did not dare approach me.

Grandfather Fenris, before the entire gathered pack, pointed his walking staff at her and snarled that she was a disgrace. Her mate and pup had returned home, yet she was nowhere to be found.

She was made to kneel in the ancestral shrine through the entire night, a punishment witnessed by all.

She probably could not understand how the Kael who once loved her desperately, who let her control him completely, had suddenly become this cold stranger.

She came to our shared sleeping chamber occasionally, but more often, she went to see that pup.

She would hold him close, tell him stories, her eyes revealing something unfamiliar—something others called "maternal instinct."

One evening, she stood behind me as I sat at the window, silent for a long while before finally speaking.

"Kael, about the pup-termination... I was wrong. I just... wasn't ready."

"Darian... he simply depends on me too much. Don't hold it against him." She added quickly.

I slowly lifted my head, gazing at our reflections in the darkened glass.

She looked radiant and polished. I appeared gaunt and worn.

"Hold it against him?" I let out a soft, hollow laugh.

"What right do I have to hold anything against anyone? I couldn't even protect my own pup."

Her expression twisted instantly, as if my words had struck a raw nerve.

"That was an accident!" Her voice rose sharply.

"Why must you keep dwelling on it? I've been trying my best to make amends!"

Make amends?

Territory and resources meant nothing to me.

I had no desire to argue with her any longer. I guided her toward the door.

"Kael Stormclaw, what exactly do you want?"

"What do I want?" I looked at her, my tone cutting. "I want you to stay far away from me."

In the end, she stormed out, slamming the heavy oak door behind her.

From that day forward, she rarely set foot in my quarters.

Between us, even that paper-thin pretense of a bond was no longer worth maintaining.

On the pup's naming day, the Stormclaw Pack held an extravagant territory feast.

The celebration took place on the sprawling grounds of the ancestral estate, beneath the light of the waxing moon. Distinguished wolves from every prominent pack in the region gathered—nearly every influential figure in our world had come.

I wore ceremonial white, tailored precisely to my frame, holding the young pup's hand as we stood beside my grandfather and grandmother, receiving blessings and envious glances from all present.

The pup had been formally named "Rowan" by my grandfather during the pack-naming rite—a wish for a peaceful, blessed life, and a quiet tribute to the pup I had lost.

Halfway through the feast, Grandfather Fenris walked onto the raised platform with his ceremonial staff, taking hold of the speaking stone.

The entire gathering fell silent at once.

"Tonight, on the occasion of my great-grandpup Rowan's hundred-day celebration, I wish to make an announcement." The Elder Alpha's voice rang clear and powerful.

"Under Stormclaw Holdings, we have established a new territory-brokerage division specializing in resource acquisition across the northern reaches. Current estimates place its worth at over a thousand territories in combined value."

"Tonight, I bestow this division upon Kael Stormclaw as my gift."

Thunderous howls of approval erupted.

I held Rowan close, offering a slight bow of gratitude, a composed smile on my face.

The crowd below burst into resounding howls and murmurs of astonishment.

Every wolf present looked at me with envy burning in their eyes.

A thousand-territory holding, given just like that—what extraordinary favor!

I was about to step onto the platform with Rowan to offer formal thanks.

Suddenly, the great doors of the feast hall were thrown open with tremendous force.

A male wolf in a white suit pushed past the border guards, charging in like a creature possessed.

It was Darian Ashenwolf.

He shoved through the crowd like a mad beast, heading straight for the main platform. Behind him followed Selene, her face pale as ash.

"Wait!"

Everyone froze at this sudden intrusion. The hall went deathly quiet.

Selene's expression shifted immediately. She rushed forward to intercept him.

"Darian! What are you doing here? Stop this madness!"

Darian threw her off with a violent shake. He raised a document clutched in his hand, his eyes bloodshot as he glared at me, his voice raw and anguished.

"I'm the one causing madness? Selene, look at him!"

"He's holding my pup, accepting the glory and status that should belong to me! He's the one making a mockery of everything!"

Darian let out a broken, bitter laugh. He pushed Selene aside and pulled a sealed scroll from his satchel, holding it high above his head.

"Today, I will show everyone exactly how the Ashbourne Pack has wronged me!"

He charged onto the raised platform at the center of the Council Hall, snatching the ceremonial speaking staff from the feast master's hands.

"Look carefully, all of you! This is a blood-scent lineage scroll!"

His voice carried through the great stone chamber, amplified by the ancient acoustics built into the den walls.

"The scroll states it plainly—Rowan Ashbourne and I share a ninety-nine point nine percent bloodline match!"

"I am his true sire!"

The entire hall erupted into chaos.

Every gaze turned toward me like the focused beam of moonlight through a hunter's lens.

Doubt. Contempt. Barely concealed satisfaction at my humiliation.

Elder Alpha Alaric's expression twisted into something terrible, and the pack elders beside him fixed me with eyes full of accusation.

Selene rushed onto the platform, trying to wrestle the scroll from Darian's grip, her voice soft and coaxing.

"Stop this now. We can discuss this back at the den, can't we?"

But Darian ignored her completely. His eyes were bloodshot, and he glared at me with raw hatred.

"Kael Stormclaw! You're nothing but a thief! You stole my pup and stand here pretending to be honorable—you have no shame!"

He pointed at me, his voice cracking with the force of his accusations.

The Mating Feast descended into utter disarray.

Selene lunged forward to cover Darian's mouth, but he shoved her away with brutal force.

"Selene, you only have one choice now—reject your bond with him and come with me!"

My pack liaison moved silently to my side, placing an ancient black lacquered chest at my feet.

I drew a deep breath and walked calmly onto the platform.

I took the blood-scent lineage scroll from Darian's hand without resistance, without even glancing at its contents.

Then I lifted the speaking staff and looked out at the sea of shocked faces below.

"That's correct."

I acknowledged it openly, a faint smile even touching my lips.

"Everything he said is true."

The chaos in the hall reached its peak.

At that moment, my liaison stepped onto the platform and placed a heavy sandalwood chest into my hands.

I opened the lid. Facing the assembled wolves, I looked at their stunned expressions and spoke slowly.

"Please, remain calm."

"Because tonight, I also have a revelation to share with you all."