LOGINROSENTINEEating alone at the long table felt like being dropped into a well and left there, the silence echoing back at me no matter how I tried to fill it with clinks of silverware or the halfhearted scraping of my fork against the plate.I used to sit by myself all the time back in my old pack, barely noticing the emptiness, but ever since I’d stumbled into the warmth of shared meals here, I’d gotten used to having someone across from me while having random conversations.Now, I was eating alone again, and that made the loneliness seep in, slowly, painfully.“Do you not like the food, Lady Rosentine?” Hana’s asked, jolting me from my thoughts.“Ah, no, I like it. I just have a lot on my mind.” I tried to smile, a real one, not wanting to add another worry to her plate.It was a relief, honestly, that she hadn’t changed around me. Just like Beta Owen, she still treated me the same. She’d even told me herself she didn’t believe the rumors swirling through the pack, and she’d promised
ROSENTINEI already knew that I wouldn’t be able to sleep, so I spent most of my time staring up at the ceiling. No matter how many times I tried to force my mind to quiet, it wouldn’t calm down, not even for a moment.“I want to eat something sweet,” I muttered, the craving suddenly getting stronger, enough to get me out of bed.Carefully, I reached for my shawl and draped it over my shoulders before stepping outside. However, Michael, the warrior standing guard at my door, immediately blocked my path.“Where are you going?” he asked, his voice stern.“I’m hungry, so I’m going to the kitchen,” I replied, expecting resistance, but instead, he simply stepped aside. He then followed me, silent as a shadow.The house was quiet too; most lights were off, but the moonlight spilled in from the windows, painting the hallway in silver and softening the dark just a little. It was enough to make me see everything.“Careful,” Michael said when we reached the stairs. I glanced back at him and nod
ROSENTINE“Are you alright?” Beta Owen asked, breaking the long silence between us as we walked. I blinked and met his gaze, managing a smile as I nodded.Deep down, though, I felt anything but okay.So much was happening at once, and my thoughts just kept looping and never settling. I knew Alpha Bastian had mentioned that the reason he chose me was because I resembled his mate, but it had never crossed my mind, not even for a second, that he meant my sister.Even now, I couldn’t really wrap my head around any of it. I was really glad to see my sister alive, but seeing her fragile and sick really broke my heart. I couldn’t help but feel ashamed and guilty.It almost felt wrong to even think about getting close to her again, since no matter how I tried to look at it, I was part of the reason she’d ended up like that.“This is too much,” I muttered as I stopped walking, closed my eyes, and tried to breathe, but it caught in my throat, raw and rough. Just then, everything blurred as tear
ROSALIAThe sight of Rosentine sent a storm of emotions churning inside me. She’d grown up well; she was prettier than I remembered, and the healthy glow she possessed only made it sting more.Somehow, seeing her like this fueled my old, bitter longing to ruin her the way she’d ruined me.She started crying right away, but my eyes slid past her to Bastian. He was staring, a little too hard, at her hand laced with Owen’s. The way his jaw tensed, the flicker in his gaze—it was obvious.He cared for her, not just because she was carrying our child, but because he’d gotten attached. I guessed that all the information I got last night was true.“Aren’t you going to give me a hug?” I said, forcing my voice to sound warm and familiar, the way it used to when we were little. I opened my arms, and Rosentine didn’t think twice; she rushed towards me and clung to me, sobbing into my shoulder.The smell of her hair, the shuddering of her breath, all of it sent me back to the day she’d betrayed me
ROSENTINE“Let go,” Devin snarled, yanking my wrist hard enough that I thought for a second something might snap. Pain shot up my arm, sharp and throbbing, but I only winced instead of saying something.“Hey! What are you doing?” A voice boomed from the corridor, causing us to both turn and see Beta Owen striding towards us, his expression serious.“She grabbed me—” Devin started, but the Beta barely looked at him. Instead, his eyes landed on me, scanning my face as I held my wrist.“Are you okay?” he asked, and I only nodded before he turned his attention back to the warrior. “You. What do you think you’re doing? How can you use your strength like that against a pregnant woman?”“I’m fine,” I said, my voice thin as I pulled at his sleeve, desperate for this not to spiral. “Please. I just want to ask him about my sister. He knows something.”My words lingered in the air, and a wave of anxiety washed over me. Something was off; something had happened while I was unconscious—I could fee
ROSENTINEThe pounding in my head kept getting worse and worse as time went by. I slowly opened my eyes, wincing as the sudden brightness stung. I blinked several times, squinting as the light finally settled into something bearable.That’s when I realized that I wasn’t in my room. Rather, I was lying in a bed, tucked beneath thick sheets inside Mrs. Jane’s clinic.I tried to sit up, moving slowly so my head wouldn’t split in two. As soon as I leaned against the headboard, I noticed that my clothes weren’t what I’d worn last night.And just like that, the memories crashed in, sharp and cold. My chest tightened. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking as my mind replayed the moment I’d been ignored, as if it wanted to brand the humiliation into my bones.It hurt me the same old way, the way it did back when I was a kid, and no one in the pack would look at me, not even my parents. Like I was made of air. Like, I didn’t matter.“You’re awake?” Mrs. Jane’s voice broke through my thoughts, causing







