Chapter 3: I Take Back My Pack

"If you want to throw away your future, do it alone! Don't drag the entire Silver Fang Pack into your madness!" my father roared as I stepped inside his private study, slamming the door shut behind me.

I crossed my arms tightly over my chest, glaring at his furious expression while maintaining my ground against his overwhelming Alpha presence that usually made everyone in the room tremble.

In my previous life, I would have cowered instantly under his gaze, offering apologies for daring to question his supreme authority over my life and future.

"You think you can just humiliate Alpha Aldric in front of the entire council and face no consequences whatsoever?" he demanded.

"I merely spoke the truth that everyone else was too cowardly to voice out loud," I replied calmly, tilting my head back as I met his enraged stare, "Our pack has been bleeding out slowly for years because you traded our dignity and independence for empty political promises."

"Our territory has been weakening because rogue attacks are increasing every single week, and we desperately needed Aldric's protection to survive!" he shouted, his face turning an angry shade as he lost his temper completely.

Before I could utter another word in defense of my actions, a sharp sting exploded across my left cheek, sending me stumbling sideways against the edge of his desk.

The taste of warm blood filled my mouth immediately, but I refused to let him see the tears stinging the corners of my eyes.

"You ungrateful, disobedient little brat!" he snarled, glaring down at me with absolute disgust burning deeply within his dark eyes.

"You have never even manifested a weak wolf, yet you think you have the absolute right to challenge my leadership decisions?"

I wiped the blood from my lip with the back of my hand, straightening my posture as a cold, bitter smile touched the corners of my mouth.

My father had used my lack of a wolf as a permanent weapon to control me my entire life, keeping me trapped forever in his suffocating shadow.

"My inability to shift does not give you eternal ownership over my life or my birthright," I whispered fiercely, stepping right up to his chest despite the physical pain throbbing across my bruised jaw. "Under the ancient laws of our ancestors, any blood heir can formally challenge a seated Alpha if his leadership threatens the pack's survival.

A burst of harsh laughter echoed from the hallway outside as several pack elders and armed guards overheard my bold declaration through the cracked door.

They gathered around the entrance, whispering mockingly among themselves while looking at me as if I had completely lost my mind.

"You want to challenge me for the Alpha title?" my father scoffed loudly, shaking his head in sheer disbelief at my apparent arrogance. "Very well, if a public humiliation is the only way to beat some sense into your stubborn skull, I accept your challenge right now."

The crowd of elders quickly parted to lead us out into the central training courtyard where formal pack disputes were traditionally settled.

"Do not expect me to hold back just because you are my daughter," he warned, shifting partially into a menacing brown wolf form with glowing yellow eyes. "I will teach you a lesson you will never forget, even if it means breaking every bone in your stubborn body."

I closed my eyes for a single heartbeat, taking a deep breath as I felt an unfamiliar, scorching heat suddenly awakening deep within my chest.

A strange pulsing sensation raced through my veins, carrying an ancient, overwhelming power that made the ground beneath my boots tremble violently.

When I opened my eyes, my father froze mid-stride, his menacing growl catching in his throat as the heavy pressure of my awakening aura crushed down on the watching crowd.

With a loud, tearing sound that echoed across the entire pack grounds, my body began to transform under the moonlight. Instead of the ordinary brown or gray wolves common to our pack, a magnificent white wolf emerged with fur as bright as fresh snow.

Gasps of absolute terror and sudden realization swept through the pack elders, many of whom dropped to their knees in instinctive submission. They instantly recognized the legendary white wolf bloodline that had been whispered about in ancient prophecies and thought extinct for an entire century.

My father tried to lunge forward with his claws bared, but the sheer weight of my divine presence slammed him hard against the dirt. I pinned him effortlessly beneath my heavy paws, letting out a fierce, earth-shaking howl that signaled the birth of a new era for Silver Fang.

The entire pack bowed their heads in unison, chanting my name while acknowledging my undisputed right to rule.

Even as I claimed my rightful victory, a cold realization settled over my mind because defeating my father was only the very first step of my survival.

Later that same night, I retreated to my father's private chambers to search through his locked financial records for any clues about our failing borders.

Hidden behind a heavy bookshelf, I discovered a secret compartment containing weathered documents that stopped my breath entirely.

The official parchment records proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that my mother, Serena, had never died during childbirth as my father had ruthlessly claimed.

Instead, he had secretly imprisoned her in the dark dungeons beneath the packhouse for nearly two decades to hide a terrible secret.

Anger flared through my chest, driving me down the winding stone stairs toward the cells while clutching a key.

I slammed open the rusted iron door of the deepest cell.

A weak voice comes from behind the locked dungeon door, breaking the silence. "Liora? My little girl... you've finally come to save me."

I freeze in my tracks, the voice I had dreamed of hearing my entire life belongs to the woman my father swore was dead.