Chapter 2

"Elena, if you leave, what am I supposed to do?"

I stared at my mother, Margaret Walker, in disbelief.

"I can take care of you. The Obsidian pack has a hospital, and they're willing to give us official residency."

But she yanked her hand out of mine and turned to Liam. "Alpha, I want to stay with Silver Moon. Elena's acting on impulse. Please don't hold it against me."

She pulled away so hard the back of my hand slammed into the corner of a table.

I'd worked myself to the bone all these years, and she was the person I'd wanted to protect most. I wanted her to grow old somewhere neither humans nor wolves would push her out. So I'd treated every scrap Silver Moon tossed us as a debt I owed.

And now, to hold on to that so-called safety, she'd given me up first.

Liam nodded, satisfied. "At least Margaret knows her place."

Snickers broke out all around us.

"A half-wolf thinking she could lord it over purebreds."

"She only ever landed clients because of her face."

"Now she's old and busted. What's the point of keeping her around?"

Isabelle held out a handkerchief with fake sympathy. "Don't cry, old lady."

Before I could turn away, she swiped the makeup-remover-soaked handkerchief across the corner of my eye.

The concealer came off, exposing the claw scar across my cheekbone.

The crowd erupted.

Isabelle covered her mouth. "Oh my God, it's so ugly! You used to be able to charm the clients, but who's going to want to do business staring at that face now?"

I'd gotten that scar shielding Liam from an attack.

Half an inch closer, and I'd have lost my eye.

I knocked Isabelle's hand away, and Liam immediately pulled her behind him.

"Apologize to her."

I stared at him. "What did you say?"

"She just took over. She needs people to respect her authority." Liam let his Alpha aura loose. "Get on your knees and apologize, and we'll call it even."

Isabelle lifted her chin. "And leave your company access pass while you're at it. From now on, if you want into the project department, you'll have to ask me first."

She hadn't even made sense of a single project file, and she was already eager to show that everything I'd once had was now hers to hand out.

My mother tugged at my sleeve too. "Kneeling won't kill you. Don't drag me down with you."

I'd fought to secure resources for Silver Moon, taken a hit for Liam, and swallowed humiliation after humiliation for my mother's sake.

But when Isabelle wanted me on my knees, they all thought that was only right.

I knocked over the glass in front of Isabelle.

"You want me to kneel? Dream on!"

I turned and stormed out of the banquet hall.

Oscar was already waiting outside. He didn't ask a single question. He draped his jacket over my shoulders, shielding me from the stares that followed me out.

"Obsidian will never ask you to kneel in exchange for protection," he said.

My throat tightened, and I got into the car with him. The banquet hall doors slammed shut behind me, shutting out Liam's shouting and my mother's crying.

That night, the staff group chat was still celebrating Isabelle's promotion.

Bella Carter posted, "Finally, no more old hag breathing down our necks."

Noah Reed followed it up with a string of party emojis.

They earned some of the highest salaries in the territories because I'd fought for them. Yet they called everything I asked of them oppression.

Bella was among the first staff members I trained. When she screwed up, I was the one who apologized to the client for her. When Noah had trouble at home, I was the one who stood up to the Council of Elders to save his job.

And all they remembered was that I made them get their work done on time.

I stared at the screen for a long time. Then I left the group chat and blocked every last one of them.

From now on, their messes weren't my problem.