Aliana POV:

I sat in the dark of our bedroom. The digital clock read 11:45 PM.

I heard the heavy front door open downstairs. Footsteps echoed on the marble stairs.

I scrambled into bed, pulling the duvet up. I had to play the part. The dying obstacle.

The door opened.

"Aliana?" Ivan's voice was soft, laced with that fake concern that made my skin crawl.

He walked to the side of the bed. Then, the smell hit me. *Rotting peaches and sex.* And underneath it, the scent of a child-milk and dirt.

He leaned down. For a horrifying second, I thought he would kiss me. Instead, he sniffed my hair.

"Still sleeping," he muttered. "Good."

He walked into the bathroom. The shower turned on.

*My eyes snapped open.*

*Move,* the voice inside me commanded. *Hunt.*

I slipped out of bed. I went to the hallway.

Ivan's study was his sanctuary. Secured by a bio-metric lock and a keypad.

I stood before the heavy mahogany door.

"He thinks you're stupid," the voice in my head hissed.

I stared at the keypad. Ivan was arrogant. He wouldn't use a random number.

I punched in the date: *05-12-18*. Leo's birthday.

The light blinked green. *Bingo.*

I slipped inside. I went straight to his computer. It was logged in.

*I didn't waste time looking for a folder labeled "Evil Plans." Ivan wasn't a cartoon villain; he was a businessman. I needed to follow the money.*

*I opened his financial records. My degree in finance, which Ivan always mocked as "cute," was finally useful.*

*I scanned the outgoing transfers from the last five years. There were the usual expenses, but one recurring payment stood out. A shell company called "Apex Consulting," registered in the Gray Zone.*

*I cross-referenced the company registration number. It was a dummy corp. But the shipping manifests associated with it were real.*

*"Aconitum delivery. Concentrated extract," I whispered, reading the invoice. Aconitum. Wolfsbane.*

*Then I checked the personal accounts. Huge withdrawals. Cash.*

*I found a hidden sub-folder in his cloud drive masked as tax returns. Inside weren't taxes. They were falsified medical reports from a clinic in the Rogue territories.*

*Subject: Leo Reese. Bloodline Potency: S-Class Alpha.*

*And a paternity test.* *Father: Alpha Ivan Hughes. Status: Positive.*

*My father was bankrolling the poison. Ivan was laundering the money to Kiera.*

I felt bile rise in my throat. I pulled a small, silver USB drive from my pajama pocket.

I copied everything. *The financial trail, the shipping manifests, the fake DNA tests.*

The progress bar crawled. *98%... 99%... Complete.*

I yanked the drive out just as I heard the shower turn off down the hall.

I wiped the recent history, turned off the monitor, and slipped out.

I made it back to the bedroom just as the bathroom door handle turned. I dove into bed.

Ivan emerged, smelling of soap and mint. He climbed into bed beside me.

His phone buzzed. He checked it, a small chuckle escaping his lips.

After he fell asleep, I reached over and took his phone.

The message was from an unsaved number. A photo of Kiera riding on Ivan's shoulders at the Pack's amusement park.

Caption: *An Alpha only belongs to a female who can breed warriors. Put the mule down, Ivan.*

*I stared at the screen. A mule. Sterile. Useless.*

*I carefully forwarded the text to a burner email address I'd set up years ago, then deleted the sent log.*

I placed the phone back.

Tomorrow was the Pack Gathering. The entire Silver Moon Pack would be there.

It was the perfect stage.

I closed my eyes. *My blood felt hot, like liquid fire. The poison was losing the war.*

Aliana POV:

The next morning, I told Ivan I was going to the spa.

"Good," he said, not looking up from his tablet. "Fix yourself up. You look... pale."

I drove straight to the warehouse district. Debi met me at the back door of the Reese Gallery.

*Debi wasn't a miracle worker, but she was resourceful.*

*"I got the maintenance uniforms," she said, tossing me a bundle of gray fabric. "And I bribed the regular cleaning crew to take a long lunch. We have twenty minutes."*

*"What about the scent?" I asked.*

*"Old fashioned way," she said, handing me a jar of industrial grease and ammonia. "Smear this on your neck and wrists. It'll burn, but it'll cover the lily scent."*

I applied the foul mixture. It stung my eyes, but I smelled like a garage floor. Perfect.

I pulled on the gray jumpsuit and tucked my hair under a cap.

I slipped inside through the service entrance.

The gallery was preparing for a private viewing. Kiera's office door was ajar.

I pushed my mop bucket inside. The room was opulent. And familiar.

The rug was Persian-my mother's. The vase was Ming-my father's.

They were stripping my inheritance to furnish his mistress's life.

*I pulled a tiny listening device from my pocket-something Debi had procured from a PI contact. I stuck it under the heavy oak desk.*

"The cleaner is here, Miss Reese," a voice said.

I froze.

Kiera walked in, followed closely by Ivan.

I turned my back, scrubbing a spot on the wall furiously.

"It smells disgusting in here," Kiera wrinkled her nose. "Like cheap chemicals."

"It's just the cleaning supplies, babe," Ivan said. His voice was thick with lust.

I glanced at the reflection in a painting. Ivan had Kiera pressed against the desk.

"I hate waiting," Kiera moaned. "When will she be gone? Truly gone?"

"Soon," Ivan growled. "*I upped the dose in her morning tea. Her heart will give out during the Gathering. It will look like a tragedy. The weak Luna, overwhelmed by the excitement.*"

My heart hammered. *They were executing me today.*

"And then?"

"Then I reject her corpse to break the bond formally. And I mark you. Leo becomes the heir."

"I love it when you talk power," Kiera giggled.

Ivan paused. He lifted his head, sniffing the air.

"Wait."

I stopped scrubbing.

"What is it?"

"That smell..." Ivan stepped away from the desk. "Under the bleach. It smells... familiar."

He took a step toward me.

The Alpha Command radiated off him.

"You," he barked at my back. "Turn around."

I couldn't move. If I turned, he would see my eyes.

"I said, turn around!"

His voice was a physical weight. *My wolf snarled, wanting to rip his throat out.*

*Do not bow.*

Just as Ivan reached for my shoulder, *a loud crash echoed from the hallway. Debi. She must have knocked something over to create a distraction.*

Ivan spun around. "What the hell?"

"My sculpture!" Kiera shrieked, running out.

In the chaos, I grabbed my bucket and slipped out the side door.

I ran to the car, stripping off the jumpsuit.

Debi was waiting, engine running.

*"I tipped over a display stand," she grinned nervously. "Did you get it?"*

*I tapped the receiver in my ear. "Every word. They're planning to kill me tonight."*

I looked at my hands. They were steady.

"Drive, Debi," I said. "We have a show to prepare for."

Aliana POV:

Debi's apartment smelled of sage and old takeout.

"Sit," she commanded.

She took the USB drive and plugged it into her laptop. *"I have a friend in forensics who owes me a favor. I'm sending him the chemical data from the shipping manifests. He can confirm the toxicity levels."*

*She then grabbed a syringe.*

*"I need to run a blood panel, Ali. Basic alchemy. If there's Wolfsbane in your system, the reagent will turn black."*

I extended my arm.

Debi placed the blood sample into a glass vial with a clear liquid. She swirled it.

It turned pitch black immediately.

"That's lethal," Debi whispered. "You should be dead."

*But then, the black liquid began to bubble. It hissed, turning a violent, glowing white.*

Debi gasped. "Ali... look."

*"It's metabolizing it," she said, her voice shaking. "Your blood is eating the poison. That's not normal Alpha blood. That's..."*

"The White Wolf," I whispered.

"It's real," Debi said. "*Your parents knew. That's why they had to suppress it. A White Wolf isn't just a Luna. You're a Supreme. You outrank everyone.*"

The realization hit me. *I wasn't broken. I was a nuclear weapon they were trying to keep offline.*

"They fear you," Debi said. "And tonight, they're going to finish the job."

"Let them try," I said. I reached for a stack of papers on Debi's desk.

A Severance of Ties document.

"I'm signing it," I said.

"If you sign that, you become a Rogue in the eyes of the law."

"I don't want their names," I said.

I signed my name. Not *Aliana Hughes*. Not *Aliana Donovan*.

Just *Hope*.

*"I've got a private charter lined up," Debi said. "My cousin runs cargo to the North. He can take you. Wheels up at 9 PM."*

"Plenty of time to burn their world down," I said.

I drove back to the mansion one last time.

I went to the master bedroom. I packed a single bag. Just jeans, boots, and my grandmother's locket.

I walked into the bathroom. On the counter sat a silver goblet.

A note was propped against it. *Drink this before you come, darling. - Mom*

I lifted the goblet. It smelled of mint tea, masking the bitter almond scent.

My phone buzzed. *I opened the security app on my phone. I'd installed a backdoor into the camera system weeks ago when Ivan was bragging about the new 4K upgrades.*

Ivan, Kiera, Leo, and my parents were in the VIP suite. Laughing.

"She'll be dead by the fireworks," I heard my father say.

I stared at the screen.

I lifted the goblet to my lips. I took a tiny sip. Just enough to coat my tongue.

Then I poured the rest down the sink.

I went to the toilet and purged. *I needed the symptoms-the pallor, the sweat-but not the death.*

*Debi had given me a stimulant shot to counteract the residual effects.* I jammed it into my thigh.

Fire raced through my veins.

My bones creaked. *Pop.*

*It's time,* my wolf roared.

"Not yet," I gritted out. "Hold it."

I stood up. I looked like death warmed over. Perfect.

I grabbed the present I had prepared. A box wrapped in black paper.

Inside was a digital audio player and the photos.

I called a courier service. *"Priority delivery. VIP Suite at Silver Moon Park. Don't stop for anyone."*

I walked out of the house.

I was done being Aliana the Victim.

Tonight, I was the Executioner.