Chapter 4

At the first hint of gray light on the horizon, I dragged out the luggage I had packed long ago and prepared to leave.

The door had barely opened when a blast of cold wind rushed in.

Liam entered head-on, with Lily at his side.

His gaze locked onto my suitcase, and his anger detonated instantly.

"So that's why you're leaving me," he sneered. "Turns out you've already hooked up with the Alpha of the rival Black Claw Pack."

I froze, confusion and absurdity colliding. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Still pretending? If Lily hadn't told me, I'd still be kept in the dark."

He raised his hand and flung several photos straight at my face. The sharp edges scraped my skin, carrying a cold sting.

In the images, I was tightly held in the arms of the Alpha from the Fallen Blood Pack's enemy clan.

The angle was suggestive. The posture was intimate.

"That's not real," I blurted out instinctively.

"The evidence is right in front of you—how do you expect me to believe you?" Liam roared, his Alpha pressure spilling out of control.

Beside him, Lily's eyes reddened as she sobbed softly. "Liam, this is all my fault. I shouldn't have followed Tania… I shouldn't have taken those photos."

That sentence was like the final spark. It ignited Liam's fury completely.

"A traitor," he said in a low voice. "Deserves to pay the price."

In the next instant, he grabbed the back of my neck and slammed me to my knees.

My knees hit the tile with a dull crack, the shock driving straight into my bones. I barely had time to gasp before an invisible force pinned my back down hard.

He was using his Alpha mental suppression.

It felt as though my chest was being crushed in a vise. I opened my mouth, but no sound came out.

"Liam, I didn't—"

I forced out a few words, my vision already blurring.

"You didn't?" He looked down at me, his tone flat and merciless. "Then tell me—where did these photos come from?"

The pressure sank again.

I was forced lower, my forehead pressed to the floor, my fingers trembling uncontrollably. Not from pain. From despair.

In that moment, I finally understood. Liam didn't want my explanation. He was simply punishing someone he had already decided was guilty.

A sharp pain shot through my wrist.

Liam tore off the bracelet I was wearing. "You think you're worthy of wearing this?"

With a sharp crack, the black sapphire bracelet snapped, its smooth stones scattering across the floor.

It was the only thing my mother had left behind. After she died young, my father married Lily's mother.

Once, Liam had stroked those stones and said softly, "Tania, from now on, I'll be your family."

I stared blankly at the mess on the floor and bent down to pick up the broken sapphires.

A polished leather shoe suddenly came down, grinding several sapphires mercilessly into the cracks between the tiles.

"Stop pretending to be pitiful."

Liam's voice came from above, cold as tempered ice. He yanked me up by the arm, his grip so strong it nearly crushed my bones.

"Someone who betrays the pack like you—how could you ever be my Luna? Speak! How many secrets did you sell to the Black Claw Pack?!"

Every word he spoke was a verdict already decided—my answer didn't matter.

I didn't even know how to defend myself against crimes I had never committed.

It felt as if my heart were being trampled by the same foot that had crushed the sapphire stones—pain so intense it stole my voice.

Just then, the front door was blasted open by an overwhelming force.

"Get your hands off my daughter!"

Lily spun around in panic. "Dad?"

Liam released me at once, his pupils contracting sharply.

My father strode straight toward me. He bent down, wrapped my trembling body in his heavy, warm cloak, and then lifted me steadily into his arms.

"My darling daughter," his deep, steady voice brushed past my ear, "we're going home."