The Confrontation.

The Beta’s hall was quiet, lit only by the pale glow of the moon spilling through tall, narrow windows. The silence pressed in around Liora as she waited, her heart pounding against her ribs like a caged bird desperate to escape. She had spent the last three nights replaying the whispers she overheard Kaelen and Ravena conspiring behind her back, plotting to betray her.

She hadn’t wanted to believe it.

She couldn’t believe it.

Every sweet word Kaelen had ever spoken to her still echoed in her mind. the vows, the laughter, the stolen touches beneath the stars. Surely it couldn’t all have been lies.

But as the heavy wooden doors opened and Kaelen stepped into the hall, she saw something in his eyes that chilled her to the bone. No warmth. No tenderness. Only an arrogant smirk and a gleam of cruel amusement.

“Kaelen…” her voice broke as tears welled in her eyes. “Tell me it isn’t true. Tell me what I heard was wrong.”

Kaelen’s boots clicked against the stone floor as he closed the distance between them, his posture relaxed, almost lazy. He looked like a predator approaching a trembling deer.

“True?” he drawled, his tone mocking. “And what truth are you clinging to, little Liora?”

Her fists clenched at her sides. “That you and Ravena… that you plan to betray me. That I was nothing but a pawn to you.”

Kaelen chuckled darkly, shaking his head as though she were a child speaking nonsense. “Oh, Liora. Still so innocent. Still so desperate to hold on to fairytales.”

Her voice rose, ragged with pain. “Don’t toy with me, Kaelen! You made me promises…so many promises. You said I was your future. That one day I’d stand beside you as Luna. Was it all a lie?”

For a moment, Kaelen’s expression softened, and Liora’s heart leapt with fragile hope. But then his lips twisted into a smirk, cruel and deliberate.

“Of course it was a lie.”

The words hit her like a blade through the chest. She staggered back, shaking her head. “No… no, you can’t mean that.”

Kaelen’s eyes gleamed as he closed in on her, his wolf aura radiating dominance, filling the hall with suffocating pressure. He tilted her chin up with a finger, forcing her to look into his silver eyes.

“You?” he said slowly, his voice dripping with venom. “You thought you could ever be my Luna? Don’t flatter yourself. You were never meant for the throne.”

Her tears spilled over, hot and unrelenting. “Then what was I to you, Kaelen? What was I?”

Kaelen leaned closer, his breath warm against her ear. His words fell like poisoned daggers.

“A trophy. Something beautiful to admire. Something to keep for my own satisfaction when I desire it.”

Liora’s knees buckled beneath her. She stumbled back, clutching her chest as though she could physically hold her heart together. “You monster,” she whispered, horror and disgust contorting her face.

But Kaelen wasn’t finished. Straightening, he let out a humorless laugh. “You’ll never be more than a concubine, Liora. A pretty little distraction. Ravena is my true mate. My Luna. My love. You? You’ll always be second place. A secret I indulge when no one is watching.”

Her sob tore through the air like a scream. “How could you? After everything we shared together..you threw me away for her?”

Kaelen sneered. “Ravena is stronger. She has shifted. She has power. You? You’re nothing but a weak little girl who can’t even call on her wolf. Why would the Moon Goddess ever choose someone like you?”

Liora’s tears slowed, her body trembling,but not just from grief. A flicker of anger lit within her chest, small but growing. Slowly, she lifted her head, her eyes red and swollen, but blazing with defiance.

“You’ll regret underestimating me, Kaelen.”

For the first time, Kaelen’s smirk faltered. His wolf bristled, sensing a threat in her words. His hand shot out, gripping her wrist tightly, his voice dropping into a low growl.

“Careful, Liora. You don’t want to challenge me. Accept your place, stay where I put you, or I’ll make sure you regret it.”

The door creaked open before she could reply. Ravena sauntered in, her golden hair shimmering in the moonlight, her eyes alight with satisfaction. She leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, smirking.

“Well, well,” Ravena purred. “Has our little dove finally realized the truth?”

Liora’s chest heaved as she turned to face her tormentor. “You… You knew all along. You both planned this together.”

Ravena laughed, a sound like honey laced with poison. “Of course I knew. Why do you think Kaelen’s been stringing you along? You were nothing but entertainment while he waited for the Moon Goddess to reveal his true mate..me.” She walked closer, her heels clicking on the stone, her wolf scent heavy and suffocating. “Did you really think someone like you could ever be Luna? Pathetic.”

Kaelen didn’t stop her. He didn’t defend Liora. He only stood there, watching with that same cruel glint in his eyes.

Liora’s chest ached, but she held her ground. Her voice cracked, but it carried strength. “You’ll both pay for this betrayal. One day, the Moon Goddess will show you who I truly am.”

Ravena rolled her eyes. “Dream on, weakling.”

Kaelen tightened his grip on Liora’s wrist until she winced. “Listen carefully, Liora. Stop fighting what you are. Accept your place as my concubine. That’s the only way you’ll survive in this pack.”

Her lips trembled, but she forced the words out anyway, her voice breaking yet powerful. “I would rather die than be your concubine.”

For a moment, silence filled the hall. Ravena’s smirk widened, but Kaelen’s jaw clenched. His silver eyes glinted with fury and obsession all at once.

“You’ll regret those words,” he hissed.

Before Liora could respond, a sound pierced the air, a low chilling howl that seemed to shake the very walls of the Beta’s hall.

Kaelen stiffened. Ravena froze.

It wasn’t a howl either of them recognized. It wasn’t from their pack.

The sound vibrated through Liora’s bones, and then her birthmark burned.

Her breath caught as pain lanced through her arm where the mark was hidden beneath her sleeve. It glowed faintly beneath her skin, unseen by Kaelen and Ravena but felt by her with an intensity that made her knees buckle.

She gasped, clutching her arm.

“What’s wrong with you now?” Ravena sneered.

But Kaelen’s eyes narrowed. He had felt the energy ripple through the air. His wolf stirred uneasily inside him, whispering danger, power… and something he could not control.

The glow intensified beneath Liora’s skin, and she bit her lip to keep from crying out. She stumbled backward, her gaze locking on Kaelen’s. For the first time, he looked uncertain.

“Liora…” he murmured, almost to himself. “What are you?”

The howl echoed again, louder this time, closer, rattling the windows, shaking dust from the rafters.

Ravena’s smirk faltered. “That… that isn’t from our pack.”

The burning in Liora’s mark became unbearable. Her breath came in ragged gasps, her body trembling violently. She fell to her knees, clutching her arm.

Kaelen took a step toward her, confusion warring with anger in his expression. His obsession pulled him closer even as his pride resisted.

And then….

The door burst open.

A gust of wind rushed into the hall, carrying with it the faint scent of wildflowers and silver mist. A figure stood silhouetted in the doorway, tall and cloaked, their wolf aura radiating power that made even Kaelen’s breath hitch.

The hall went still.

Kaelen’s smirk was gone, replaced with a tight line as his wolf bristled uneasily.

The air grew heavier, charged with power so ancient it made even the stone walls seem to tremble. Liora gasped as her mark flared again, glowing faintly beneath her sleeve like a brand. She pressed her arm against her chest, heart racing.

“Who dares!” Kaelen growled, his voice sharp, but the figure raised a hand.

“Silence, boy.”

The voice was low, calm, yet thunderous. It carried authority Kaelen had never encountered, a resonance that made his wolf recoil.

Kaelen’s jaw clenched. No one spoke to him like that,not even the Alpha. But his wolf refused to rise in challenge.

The cloaked figure’s glowing eyes swept across the room and landed on Liora. For a moment, the world seemed to fade, leaving only that piercing gaze connecting with hers.

Liora’s breath caught. She didn’t know this stranger, yet her soul trembled with recognition. Something inside her whispered: This one was sent for you.

Ravena broke the silence with a scoff, masking her unease. “Who are you to storm into this hall? Do you know who stands before you? Kaelen is the Beta heir…”

“and nothing more than a child playing with shadows.”

The words cut clean, cold, and final. Ravena’s face burned red, but before she could retort, the figure moved. In less than a heartbeat, they were at her side, close enough that her bravado faltered.

“Your arrogance stinks,” the stranger murmured, and Ravena stumbled back, her wolf shivering beneath the weight of the aura pressing down on her.

Kaelen bared his teeth, stepping in front of Ravena, though his hands trembled. “You dare insult me in my own hall? State your name, or I’ll…”

“You’ll do nothing.”