The Shattered Crown

Amelia's Pov

I had won the duel for the position of the Alpha seat against my stepbrother. Surely, my father must proclaim me as the new Alpha in

waiting. The thought curled a big smile on my lips, pride swelling in my chest.

My father approached the ring where Lennox and I were, his steps cutting through the roar of cheers and murmurs that erupted within the crowd. My gaze swept over them, then lifted toward the skies as I whispered in my heart:

"I did this for you, Mother. I won it for you. Your child is finally going to become the Alpha of IronClaw Pack like you've always wanted."

The words tugged at my heart, tears pricking at the corners of my eyes, threatening to spill. If only she were here. If only she had not died of high blood pressure that day when Father had beat her up for going against his mistress' orders.

What are you thinking about, Amelia? This is a happy occasion. Don’t ruin it with sad thoughts, my wolf whispered inside me. She was right. This was not the time for sorrow. I forced myself to shove the ache away, straightening my shoulders, head lifted high, anticipation burning bright as Father finally stepped into the ring.

voices rose like thunder, celebrating my cage as though it were a crown.

“You’re a good warrior, Amelia,” he began, his voice echoing across the grounds as he walked closer. My heart thudded in my chest, ready for the words I had been waiting for. But then his expression shifted. Cold. Unreadable. And so did mine.

“But you can’t become my heir, nor the Alpha of IronClaw Pack after me,” he declared. My breath caught. His voice was iron, unyielding. “Tradition demands women to be submissive, and for that, I will be giving you in an alliance to another pack. Your stepbrother will become Alpha in your stead.”

I froze. My ears rang as if his words were foreign, as though they couldn’t possibly belong in this world. I wiped at them, desperate, praying I had heard wrong. My eyes widened, bulging in disbelief, my chest heaving with shallow breaths. My lips parted soundlessly, searching for air as I stared at the man who called himself my father.

“This… this has to be a cruel joke, Father…” I muttered, my voice trembling, barely above a whisper. But he did not stop. He walked past me toward Draven who was still on the ground.

This isn’t real. This cannot be happening. This isn’t what you promised. This wasn’t the arrangement… I wanted to scream but none of the words escaped my lips.

“Luckily for our pack,” he continued, his tone now warm and almost triumphant, “the Alpha of Blood Moon Pack has accepted my proposal of marriage between you and his son. His pack will arrive by sunset tomorrow to begin the necessary rites for the mating ceremony, which shall take place in the evening.”

He turned from me, from my shattered world, to the crowd. And they, oh, they cheered. Their

Why was no one saying anything? Why was no one reminding him of what he had agreed to, in case he had somehow forgotten?

“This is not the tradition of IronClaw Pack, Father!” I shouted, running toward him just as I saw him raise my stepbrother’s hand. Instinctively, I knew what he was about to do, declare him the Alpha in waiting, his heir to the throne.

“And what would you know about traditions, Amelia? You are a she-wolf. Don’t piss me off,” he snarled, his voice like a lash across my skin.

From the corner of my eye, I caught sight of my stepmother. The mocking tilt of her lips, the cruel glint in her eyes, she was savoring my downfall. I could feel her daggers cutting into me without her saying a word, echoing the venom she had whispered to my mother before her death. How she would steal our pack from us. How Father would always choose her and her son over us. Why was he always blind to her poison? Why had he never learned?

“The major reason a duel is held is to decide who becomes Alpha! And whoever wins the duel becomes the Alpha in waiting. I am your Luna's child, the only one to be heir before you brought them to our homes. But I still went ahead and fought the duel like you wanted. Those are our laws!” My voice broke into the air, louder, sharper, desperate. “I won the duel! So by the traditions of IronClaw Pack, I should be the next Alpha in waiting, not him!”

For a fleeting moment, Father’s eyes flickered. Just for a breath, I thought he might remember his words, the promise he made before the duel. I thought the people would speak, that they would defend the law and defend me because I had won fairly.

Instead, the voices rose.

“She’s so disrespectful! A woman has no right to raise her voice at a man. I wonder who would ever accept to mate with her,” someone hissed from the crowd, their eyes sharp with disdain.

“This one isn’t soft or feminine like a woman should be. She has no submission in her!” another spat, and more voices joined, each one like an arrow in my chest.

“She doesn’t keep her head down like a proper she-wolf!”

“All she knows is fighting, not the way of the kitchens, not the way of a mate!”

“It’s her mother’s fault! That barren woman who gave birth to only her before dying!”

Their words swirled around me, cruel and suffocating. My throat burned, but I still turned to glare at my father, waiting, no, begging, for him to silence them, to defend me, to defend his late mate’s honor. But he didn’t.

Instead, a slap cracked across my face, so loud it silenced the crowd for a breath. My head whipped violently to the side, pain exploding across my cheek as my ears rang. The metallic tang of blood filled my mouth, sharp and bitter, as it dripped onto my tongue.

And still… no one spoke for me.

“Don’t work me up, Amelia, or I will sell you off as a breeder instead! You should be grateful I secured an alliance for you. How dare you question me?” Father snarled, his voice thunderous, his glare cutting through me like a blade.

He turned, barking an order at his warriors. In an instant, several of them rushed forward and though I fought and thrashed, it took five of them to hold me down. Even in my human form, my strength was undeniable.

So powerful that my stepbrother, five years older than me, couldn’t land most of his blows. So powerful that I had beaten him to a pulp in the duel without a single scratch marring my body.

“Let me go!” I screamed, writhing, my body thrashing against their grip. But they dragged me across the ring, pulling me toward my room as though I were nothing but a criminal.

My head whipped back toward the ring, fury burning through me hotter than fire. And in that moment, I watched my father lift Draven’s arm high for all to see, his voice booming over the crowd. He was announcing him as his heir.

Rage twisted through me, sharp and bitter. This had been his plan all along. He never meant for the duel to matter. He never meant to honor the laws. He had already chosen Draven before the fight even began.

Tears, hot stinging tears welled at the corners of my eyes and slipped free. I didn’t try to stop them. I didn’t bother to hold them back. Alphas weren’t supposed to cry, but what did it matter anymore? My father had made it clear I was never meant to be one.

“Draven will be coronated the new Alpha of IronClaw Pack in a few days!” Father declared, his words greeted by thunderous cheers and applause.

He would be coronated… while I, his true victor, would be handed off to a stranger. Married to a man I did not know. And I was expected to be grateful. Grateful that he chose an alliance instead of selling me off like cattle, like a breeder with no name.

Where had my life gone wrong? Why had the Moon Goddess denied my mother the son she had begged for all those years? Why had I been born a daughter instead of the son she prayed for?

If I had been a boy, would Father have dared to shame her by keeping an omega as his mistress? Would he have had the audacity to bring her into our home, to stand her before my mother with a son at her side, a boy he claimed as his own, proof that he had been unfaithful long before he admitted it?

The memory seared through me. Mother had been heavy with me in her womb when he announced Marissa as his Luna. He stood there, proud and shameless, declaring that she had fulfilled all the requirements an Alpha’s woman should. While my mother—his lawful mate—watched her throne stolen from beneath her feet.

Hot tears streaked my cheeks as I remembered the years that followed. The endless humiliation. The cruelty Marissa forced upon her. And the day it finally broke her—the day her heart could take no more. I was only eight when she slumped, her chest heavy with grief, her body giving in to the blood pressure that had been eating away at her.

She died… and Father did nothing. He let it happen. He had beaten her before she did.

Were his vows to my mother a lie? Were his promises to protect her, to honor her, to give the Alpha seat to the strongest and most deserving child, male or female, a lie too? Were all his words just empty air?