Dragging my suitcase out of the bedroom, I spotted Lucas and Sarah squatting in my home like they owned the place, and my brows tightened.

"Still not leaving?"

Lucas lit a cigarette, wearing the smug look of someone who had nothing to lose.

"Elena, you may have bought this house, but Betas don't have private property rights in the pack. As the future Alpha, I have the authority to requisition it."

Sarah giggled and leaned into him. "Elena, I need a proper environment to recover after being marked, and this house is perfect. You're the one who should leave—and don't forget the keys."

A bitter laugh slipped out of me. I pulled out a copy of the property deed and slapped it across his face, the edge slicing his cheek.

"Look closely—this is a human legal deed. This property is protected by law. Get out. Now."

Humiliated, Lucas shot to his feet, and his Alpha pheromone pressure burst out in a surge of anger.

With the purest royal bloodline of an Alpha Queen, his so-called pressure barely registered to me.

But I had to keep pretending.

I stepped back, one hand bracing against the wall as the color drained from my face. "Lucas, are you going to hit me?"

Satisfied by what he thought was submission, Lucas approached me.

"Elena, stop acting out. You'll stay and take care of Sarah. Consider this your evaluation period. If she's happy, I might take you back."

Sarah chimed in, "That's right. Make tonic soup for me every day, do the laundry, and don't bother us at night. I'll put in a good word for you with Lucas."

I stared at the shameless pair, and the fury I'd been holding back finally snapped free.

I swung my hand hard, the slap cracking across Lucas's face and splitting the corner of his mouth.

"You… you hit me?" he stammered, stunned.

"I hit you because you're a piece of shit."

I raised my hand toward Sarah next, but she shrieked and lunged at me, claws outstretched for my hair.

I sidestepped her and caught her wrist, but Lucas grabbed my arm and shoved me hard.

"Enough, Elena!"

Caught off guard, I slammed into the sharp corner of the entry cabinet.

Agony shot through my lower back. With my inhibitors suppressing my healing, the blow likely damaged something deep.

Lucas hesitated, a flicker of guilt in his eyes, but Sarah yanked him back.

"Lucas, she tried to kill me!"

His expression hardened instantly. "You started it. You've really disappointed me, Elena."

Swallowing the pain, I pulled out my phone. "Fine. Then let the police explain things to you."

Sarah's face drained of color. She snatched the phone from my hand and hurled it to the floor, smashing it.

"No police! If they come, your shot at becoming Alpha is over!"

Sarah shot me a venomous glare, then ran into the storage room and came out clutching a can of accelerant.

"If we can't stay here, then you won't either!"

She shouted at Lucas, "Lucas! If you don't teach her a lesson now, she'll walk all over you! Burn the house—once she's dead, you, as her fiancé, become the primary heir!"

Lucas froze for a moment, then stepped forward, blocking the only path between me and the door.

Sarah charged into the living room with the can of accelerant, moving like a lunatic.

She splashed the yellow liquid over everything flammable, and its harsh, chemical stench swallowed the air.

"Stop!"

I tried to stand, but the pain in my lower back dragged me straight to the floor again.

"Are you two insane? This is a residential area!"

Lucas fixed his gaze on me, shifting his stance until he blocked the only exit.

"Elena, don't blame me," he said coldly. "You forced our hand."

A twisted thrill lit Sarah's face as she pulled a small packet from her pocket and sprinkled its contents evenly over the accelerant.

It was wolfsbane—the powdered bloom.

When burned, its fumes were lethal to werewolves, suppressing healing and even preventing transformation.

"Lucas! That's wolfsbane!" I locked my eyes on his, trying to stir whatever conscience he might still have left. "Are you really going to stand there and let her kill me?"

For a brief second, panic flickered in Lucas's eyes.

"Too far?" Sarah snapped her head toward him, screeching. "Once she's dead, this house—and the millions in her bank account—are all yours!"

Greed and humiliation crushed whatever hesitation he had left.

He clenched his jaw, refusing to look at me, and forced out two words, "Light it."

Sarah's lips curled into a vicious grin as she flicked the lighter.

The accelerant ignited instantly, flames swallowing the curtains and racing across the furniture.

Purple-black smoke billowed upward, carrying the bitter almond scent unique to wolfsbane.

"Go!" Sarah grabbed Lucas and bolted for the door.

The heavy wooden security door slammed shut, followed by the sharp click of locks turning.

They were going to burn me alive in here.

I dragged my agonized body toward the door and pounded against it with all the strength I had left. Outside, I heard Sarah's triumphant laugh and their footsteps fading away. "Come on, let's go get ourselves an alibi."

Inside, the fire had spiraled completely out of control.

A wave of heat slammed into me, scorching the ends of my hair.

The purple-black smoke laced with wolfsbane filled the room fast, and I doubled over in a violent fit of coughing.

Every breath dragged the toxic fumes deeper into my lungs, cutting through my throat like a dozen tiny blades.

Was I really going to die here? Die at the hands of those two monsters?

No. I refused.

I was the Lycan King's only daughter—the future Queen. I couldn't die like this.

Through the haze creeping over my mind, my hand reached for the obsidian pendant resting against my chest.

It was my father's final safeguard for me—the royal distress beacon.

Once shattered, the Royal Guard within a hundred miles would come at any cost.

But it also meant my trial would end in absolute failure—and my identity would be fully revealed.

But I had no choice left.

The flames were already licking at my feet, curling the hem of my dress into blackened edges.

With the last scrap of strength I possessed, I crushed the pendant in my fist.

A blinding beam of gold tore through the smoke, shooting straight into the sky and forming the sigil of the Royal House against the night.

It was a cry for aid—and the first horn of vengeance.

Lucas. Sarah.

Your nightmare was only just beginning.

The golden light pierced straight through the roof, staining the entire sky with a solemn, ruthless glow.

The sheer force of the royal aura was so overwhelming that even the raging flames around me hesitated for a heartbeat.

Moments later, the heavy thrum of helicopter rotors rolled in from the distance.

At the same time, police sirens screamed closer and closer.

The human firefighters and officers arrived far quicker than I had expected.

"Over here! Someone's trapped inside!"

"Break the door! Move!"

The thuds of axes splitting the door echoed through the smoke.

Seconds later, the front door crashed to the ground.

Fresh air rushed in, thinning the deadly wolfsbane smoke.

Several firefighters in full gear burst through the flames and hauled my half-conscious body outside.

"The victim inhaled a massive amount of toxic fumes! Get the oxygen on her!"

They laid me on a stretcher, and I sucked in the clean air pushing through the mask as if it were life itself.

The wolfsbane was still rampaging through my system, but that crushing suffocation finally eased.

I cracked my eyes open and saw the villa surrounded by a crowd—firefighters, police officers, and far too many nosy neighbors.

At the very edge of the crowd, I spotted two all-too-familiar faces.

Lucas and Sarah.

They were lurking among the onlookers, pretending to be worried, heads craning for a better view.

The moment they saw me alive, their faces drained of all color.

The police were already questioning witnesses.

I yanked off my oxygen mask.

"I want to file a report. This was arson—attempted murder."

An officer hurried over.

"Ma'am, do you know who started the fire?"

I lifted my hand and pointed straight at the pair.

"It was them. Lucas Hale and Sarah Quinn."

The crowd erupted instantly.

Every gaze zeroed in on the two of them.

Realizing she couldn't hide, Sarah launched straight into theatrics.

She burst out of the crowd, dropped to her knees, and wailed like the world was ending.

"It wasn't us! She did this to herself! She wouldn't listen! We tried to stop her!"

Lucas snapped back into character, scrambling to save himself.

"Yeah, exactly! She's unstable! She went crazy because I refused to marry her! We're the victims here—this house was supposed to go to my son someday!"

The neighbors around us began whispering.

"No way… she looks completely normal."

"You never really know a person. People do crazy things when they're heartbroken."

The officer frowned and looked straight at me.

"Ma'am, is that true?"

I let out a sharp, humorless laugh, about to speak—when a violent gust tore through the sky above us.

A dozen black military helicopters dropped into low hover, each one marked with a golden wolf-head crest.

Ropes dropped.

Dozens of warriors—dressed in black tactical gear and heavily armed—descended from the sky.

Real Alpha elites. Each one strong enough to take on the entire Silver Moon Pack alone.

The crowd recoiled in shock, stumbling backward.

Even the officers reached instinctively for the weapons at their belts.

"Identify yourselves!"

The leading soldier was tall and severe, his expression carved from ice.

He ignored everyone else and strode straight to my stretcher.

Then, in full view of everyone watching, he dropped to one knee.

His right fist pressed to his chest, his proud head bowed low.

"Leon Drake, Captain of the 1st Royal Guard Squadron, paying respects to the Crown Princess."

Behind him, every black-clad warrior sank to one knee in perfect unison.

The world fell silent.

Lucas's jaw dropped so wide a whole egg could've fit inside; his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

Sarah collapsed onto the ground, trembling like a heap of melted wax.

C-Crown Princess?

The "orphan," the unwanted Beta they mocked—was the heir to the highest throne in the Lycan Kingdom?

I pushed myself upright on the stretcher.

Leon immediately stepped forward, steadying me with careful hands.

I looked at the two of them, already petrified, and a cold smile curved across my lips.

"Lucas. Sarah. Weren't you just saying I was an unwanted orphan? Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Elena Kingsley, first in line to the Lycan King's throne. And now… we can settle what's been long overdue."