Chapter 5

“Lilith, it was you, wasn’t it?” Anna’s voice cracked like thunder. Her eyes were wild with betrayal as she pointed a shaking finger at her former best friend. “You’re the only one who knows my phone password!”

Lilith blanched but forced out a brittle laugh. “Anna, please don’t be ridiculous. Why would I do that? Don’t let her twist things between us.”

But her trembling hands betrayed her. As the crowd around us thickened, students filing in for class, whispers igniting like sparks, I fanned the flames with a smile.

“Well then,” I said casually, “if she’s innocent, let’s check her phone. Shouldn’t take more than a second.”

Lilith flinched. She instinctively hid her phone behind her back. The guilt in her eyes said it all. Anna lunged.

“Give. Me. The. Phone!”

“It’s my private property! You can’t just—Anna, stop!”

They crashed into each other like a storm, limbs flailing, screeching in high-pitched chaos. Not a single person moved to stop them. Of course not. It was free entertainment—two queen bees of the school clawing each other’s faces off. Everyone pulled out their phones. The buzz of social media posts starting to go viral already filled the air.

Finally, a teacher stormed in and yanked them apart. Humiliated, makeup smeared, hair wild, both girls fled the lecture hall, dragging their little posse behind them.

I stayed. Calm. Composed. Amused.

After class, I wandered into the cafeteria, scrolled through my phone, and watched the fire I’d lit spread across the campus forum. There were TikTok, screenshots, live-commentary breakdowns, and slow-mo edits with dramatic music. Pure gold.

And then—everything vanished.

Posts deleted. Videos scrubbed. Top gossip accounts? Silenced.

I didn’t even need to check. It had to be Alpha Shawn, my supposed father and the powerful head of the Snow Moon Pack. Classic cover-up. What a predictable move.

Right on cue, Avery’s name flashed on my screen.

Calling.

Ignored. Blocked. Reported. I wasn’t in the mood to hear his sanctimonious yelling.

By evening, I headed back to the estate—and the second I stepped inside, I felt it. Danger.

Before I could shift into my wolf form, a kick landed hard against my lower back, slamming me to the floor. My breath caught in my throat. The pain radiated in brutal waves.

“Avery,” I growled.

He stood over me, radiating fury, his designer suit wrinkled with rage. “You dare show your face after what you did? Get your ass to the hospital and apologize to Lilith. Now!”

I slowly stood, brushing dust from my skirt, my back throbbing. “Apologize? Why should I? I wasn’t the one blackmailing people with private videos, and I didn’t start that fight. Your precious Lilith did that all by herself.”

“You’re still talking back?” His voice cracked like a whip. “She’s fragile! A delicate girl. If not for you, she wouldn’t have ended up in that mess!”

He raised his hand to hit me again.

Big mistake.

I let the wolf take over for a heartbeat—just enough to flip him. My foot connected with his chest, and the proud Alpha heir went flying into the coffee table, glass shattering around him.

The look of stunned disbelief on his face? Priceless.

He scrambled up and grabbed a chair, his fury blinding him. “I’ll kill you!”

Another mistake.

I dodged. Then, flicked a tiny silver needle toward his neck pressure point I knew well. His body seized. Pain contorted his face as the chair slipped from his fingers and smashed down on his own foot.

He screamed and collapsed, writhing, before passing out cold on the floor.

“Disgraceful,” I muttered, stepping over him.

That’s when Shawn burst in.

“Mia!” His eyes landed on his unconscious son, then flicked to me. I knelt beside Avery, faking concern while stealthily pulling my needle back from his neck.

“He tried to attack me and just… dropped,” I said sweetly.

Shawn shoved me aside and checked on his son, disbelief in his eyes. “He’s strong. Healthy. There’s no way he fainted like this for no reason.”

I met his glare evenly. “Then maybe he should stop trying to beat up girls. Especially his own sister.”

Shawn’s jaw clenched. “If I find out you had anything to do with this—”

“You’ll what?” I whispered. “Hurt your own daughter again?”

He left, seething, carrying Avery with him. But just before he disappeared down the hall, he turned back and said, “Mia… I’m disappointed in you.”

Good. Be disappointed.

Because the next time I retaliate, you won’t be conscious to complain about it.

—

My instincts were right. Minutes later, Shawn called in his lapdogs: Warrior Gildon and his thick-headed sidekick, Red Hair, were sent to drag me to the hospital to beg for Lilith’s forgiveness.

They didn’t even make it through the door.

Instead, they were ambushed and hauled into the villa across the street, where the sickening crunch of fists meeting bone echoed for ten straight minutes.

Then, silence.

Zack—future Beta of the Golden Claw Pack—emerged, smoothing his suit and adjusting his gold-rimmed glasses. Calm, precise, terrifying.

“Clean this mess up,” he said to the others. “No blood. The young master doesn’t like mess.”

He made his way upstairs to Kane, the Alpha of Golden Claw Pack, who was seated in front of a massive window.

“Young Master, they’ve been dealt with.”

Kane didn’t look away from the view. His eyes were fixed on my bedroom window.

“Should we seize Snow Moon Pack’s assets and gift them to Luna?” Zack asked.

Kane shook his head. “No. She’s got her own plans. I’ll just help from the shadows.”

Zack nodded obediently, though he didn’t understand.

But Kane didn’t need him to understand. Only obey.

—

Meanwhile, I tossed restlessly in bed, the ache in my neck refusing to fade.

They’d made one thing very clear: I couldn’t keep dodging Avery and Shawn. They wouldn’t stop until they broke me.

So, I decided to strike first.

I opened my laptop and typed in a short string of code. Seconds later, I was inside the recruitment database for Shawn’s company.

Bingo.

Reid Carter. 23. Passport photo plain as day—average looks, uncertain smile. But I knew the truth. In just a year, he’d become a ruthless genius in real estate, feared in the financial world. A strategic mastermind.

In my last life, he joined the company and rose like a phoenix, eventually becoming Avery’s right-hand man—and the Beta candidate of Snow Moon Pack.

Not this time.

This time, he was going to work for me.

I added him on Instagram and typed my first message:

“I hear you’re brilliant. Want a job offer that’ll change your life?”

*********