LOGINPenelope POV
"We didn't know she was your daughter."
Chloe's voice shakes as the words burst out of her.
My father does not blink. His posture is a granite wall.
"Does her bloodline change the fact that you starved her?" My father's voice drops the temperature in the room by ten
Penelope POV"We didn't know she was your daughter."Chloe's voice shakes as the words burst out of her.My father does not blink. His posture is a granite wall."Does her bloodline change the fact that you starved her?" My father's voice drops the temperature in the room by ten degrees. "Are you telling me that her agony is my fault because I did not hand you a birth certificate?""That girl is a liar." Chloe points a crooked finger at me, her knuckles white. "Penelope lied to every single person in the Blue-Claw Pack.""Yes." I step forward, the soles of my boots clicking against the marble floor. "It is entirely my fault."Chloe blinks, her mout
Melvin POV"That fang is known as the Ancestor Fang."Penelope's voice cuts through the crowded ballroom like a razor blade slicing through wet paper.The sound makes my lungs lock up.I lift my head so fast a muscle snaps in my neck.Blood rushes straight to my ears.A heavy, sickening pulse drums against my temples.She knows.The bitch actually knows what it is.My boots feel glued to the polished floorboards.I stare at her.The velvet box sits in her hand, open, catching the glare of the heavy crystal chandeliers.That tooth is not just old bone.It is the foundation of the Blue-Claw Pack.Our ancestors bled for it.Our alphas swore oaths on it.And she is holding it like a piece of cheap costume jewellery."Wait!"The word rips out of my throat before I can stop it.
Penelope POV"Princess Penelope! How do you respond to the slander circulating about you online?"The reporter in the front row pushes his microphone forward, his eyes wide with hunger for a headline."And does your divorce from Julian signify a complete break between the Rogue Pack royal family and the Blue-Claw Pack?"The applause from the crowd dies instantly. The silence in the grand hall is sudden and heavy.I do not blink. I adjust my grip on the microphone. The metal is cool against my palm.Below the stage, Julian’s shoulders stiffen. His pupils shrink into sharp, black needles. He lifts his chin, locking his gaze directly onto my face.I do not look away.
Julian POV"Are you completely blind, Julian?"Hazel spat the words at my face, her fingers digging so hard into my forearm that her polished nails nearly drew blood.I did not blink. I could not move my eyes from the center of the grand stage."Look at her," Hazel whispered, her voice climbing into a sharp, frantic register that grated against my ears. "Look at the way she stands there. This is a scam. It has to be a scam. Santiago is running a game on everyone in this room. He is trying to save his own skin after the Westview fallout. There is no way that pathetic, mute bitch is a royal bloodline."My mind stayed entirely blank. The noise of the ballroom receded until it was just a dull, rhythmic thudding in my ears, like blood pumping
Melvin POV"You think you can just stand there and ignore me, Santiago?" I slam my fist onto the top of the cocktail table.The crystal flutes rattle against the glass surface. The champagne inside them sloshes over the rims, spilling onto the polished marble floor.Santiago does not even turn his head. He stands ten yards away in the center of the Eternal Palace, surrounded by the Alphas of the southern packs. He wears the heavy, gold-trimmed robes of the Lycan King. His broad back remains a solid, unmoving wall of muscle. He completely blocks me out from the circle of power."Melvin, lower your voice," Chloe whispers, her hand snapping sideways to grip my forearm. Her manicured nails dig straight through the fabric of my suit jacket, biting into my skin. "Everyone is looking. The cameras from
Penelope POV“What, here to give me another warning?”The laptop screen flickered against the dark walls of my office. Julian stared back at me, his jaw set so tight the skin around his mouth looked grey. His uniform was immaculate, every button on his collar done up to the throat.“That is not what I meant, Penelope,” he said.I leaned back in my chair and let out a dry, rattling laugh. “Didn’t you Blue-Claw Pack folks scheme all this just to take me down a peg?”Julian blinked once, his eyes cold and steady through the digital feed. “You went too far today. Violence only drives resentment deeper. Just return the item to Melvin, and I will take care of the rest. I will clean up the mess online.”My finge
Penelope POV"Look at him twist," Leif says.His voice rattles out of the comm crystal on my desk. It sounds thin and metallic, but the smug, lazy edge cuts through perfectly clear."The public platforms in Central City are eating it up. Every single major werewolf network just picked up the poolsid
Julian POV“Let go of me, you bloody idiot,” Hazel sobbed, her fingernails digging deep into the fabric of my wet jacket.I did not move. My arms locked around her shivering, soaked shoulders. Water from her hair dripped onto my boots, forming a dark puddle on the slick tiles of the Glory Hall pool
Penelope POV"Did you honestly think that pathetic little splash would break me?"I do not blink. I look down at Hazel. She is dripping on the concrete edge of the Glory Hall pool. Her cheap mascara runs in dark, ugly tracks down her cheeks. She wants a reaction. She wants me to scream, to deny it,
Julian POV"Get out of my way," Penelope said.Her voice did not shake. It did not carry the weight of our past three years of marriage. It was cold. It was the tone of a true Alpha commanding a stray dog on the street.The starlight silk of her gown brushed against my trousers as she stepped past m







