A Wrong Alpha Heiress's Return

Celeste's POVThe iron bell clangs three times.Its sound is a blade, and it cuts straight into my bones.That cold dread settles in-the same dread that coils in my spine whenever the "Guests" come.Seven days. Seven sunsets left.Seven days until my two-year mark in Angel Reform Academy-by the rules, I should "graduate." They should let me walk free.I whisper the number into the soapy water as I scrub Lyra's bloodstained uniform, knuckles raw, movements mechanical. Dirt is my shield; the scars lacing my arms, ribs, and jaw are the only reason I've stayed unchosen this long. "Undesirable," they call me. A word that, until now, has kept me alive. But Guests don't care about undesirable. Guests like breaking things.The common room hushes. Boots echo down the hall-heavy, polished, not Enforcers'. Every girl folds into herself, shoulders trembling. We know what Guests are: Alphas powerful enough to buy this whole place, faces hidden behind porcelain masks, scents erased with the warden

Celeste's POVMy bare feet scraped against the stone, every step echoing like a funeral drum.Only when the iron door clanged shut behind me-locking away two years of darkness-only when the sunlight burned against my skin like fire, did I realize I was outside.I was free.I had bled, starved, and nearly died a hundred times over trying to claw my way out of the Angel Reform Academy. And now… now I was standing under the sky again."Celeste?"The voice snapped me back, sharp as a whip.I turned and froze.A man leaned against a flashy crimson sports car, brown leather jacket catching the light, combat boots dusty from the road. His sunglasses dangled carelessly from his fingers as his sharp eyes raked over me in shock.Elias Frost.The boy who had once called me sister for eighteen years. My younger brother. My jailer now.I didn't want to believe it was him-not with that half-familiar face twisted in surprise, not with the disbelief dripping from his tone."You're really Celeste Fros

Celeste's POV"Celeste, you're so thin," Serena said brightly, as if admiring me. "If you dressed like before, you'd look even prettier. Not like me-I try every diet, and nothing works. Mother says I'm fine, but she keeps feeding me treats and ruins everything. I'm jealous. You got thin without even trying. I wish I could be like you."Her voice was sweet, dripping with envy disguised as admiration.And just like that, Luna Eveline released my hand, smiling faintly at Serena's words, as if convinced. As if my hollow cheeks and gray skin were the result of vanity, not torment.The warmth vanished. The frost returned.Inside me, the fragile swell of emotion froze solid once more. My hands slipped from theirs, falling limply to my sides.And the silence in my chest was louder than any scream.It was then someone noticed. A servant's gasp broke the hush. "Her feet-"Every gaze dropped to the floor.Bare feet. Bloodied. Split open from gravel and stone. Each step I'd taken back here had ca

Celeste's POVThe air caught in my lungs.Where once stood my sanctuary, the walls and shelves now gleamed with luxury. New dresses lined the racks, heels glittered beneath them, handbags sat in careful rows. My room had been gutted, remade into a shrine of silk and leather.None of it was mine.Callen's eyes flickered, and I saw the realization strike him. He scrambled for words. "You know Serena suffered years of hardship outside. Mother wanted to make it up to her, so she kept buying her things. When her own wardrobe overflowed, Mother decided to use this room. You weren't coming back… and it was practical. It wasn't Serena's idea at first, she even-""I don't blame Serena."My voice cut through his excuse. Cold. Empty.I didn't care about clothes or bags. They'd never belonged to me in the first place. Eighteen years of wearing another wolf's skin-those riches were a debt I had long since paid in blood.I no longer clung to them. All I wanted was a place to close my eyes without f

Celeste's POVCallen's face was all sharp lines and cold judgment as he adjusted the gleam of his golden-rimmed glasses."Grandfather has always been partial to you," he said, voice dripping with reproach. "He refused to believe you were the one who poisoned Serena. He demanded to hear it from your own lips. We told him you went abroad, but he wouldn't accept it. He even tried to go after you himself-only to fall at the threshold. Since then, he's refused to return to the Frost Estate. For two years, he's been confined to the hospital."My chest tightened, guilt cutting deeper than claws."If it weren't for you," Callen continued, his gaze cold, "Grandfather would never have fallen. He wouldn't have been trapped in a place like that for so long. Celeste, he's old. His body isn't what it used to be. You should know better than to keep worrying him with your recklessness."I had no words to counter him.When every member of the Frost Family stood at Serena's side, only Grandfather Carde