Chapter 4

"She's been in there for two days without food."

Sarah's voice drifted through the prison walls. I kept my eyes closed, conserving energy. The silver cuffs had left angry red marks on my wrists, but the pain had become background noise.

"Alpha's orders," the guard replied. "No visitors. No food until she confesses."

"This is insane! Ava would never hurt anyone!"

"Tell that to Luna Madison."

Luna. They were already calling her Luna.

Footsteps faded away. Sarah was gone. My only ally, turned away again.

I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling. Two days. One day left before Marcus's deadline. One day to decide between staying here to rot or joining the father I'd never known existed.

The door clanged open. Michael stood there, tall and imposing in his Alpha authority. Behind him, Madison clung to his arm.

"Ready to confess?" His voice was cold, professional.

I didn't move from the floor. "To crimes I didn't commit?"

"The evidence—"

"Is fake." I met his eyes. "But you don't care about that, do you? You've already decided I'm guilty."

Madison pressed closer to him. "She's manipulating you, baby. Don't let her—"

"Quiet." The word came out with more force than I intended. The lights flickered.

Michael stepped forward, eyes narrowing. "What was that?"

"Nothing." I closed my eyes again. "Just leave me alone."

"Not until you tell me where the rogues are. Who you're working with."

I laughed. It sounded hollow even to me. "You want the truth? The real truth?"

"Stop playing games, Ava."

"My biological father is Marcus Blackstone."

Silence. Then Madison's sharp intake of breath.

"That's impossible," Michael said. "Marcus Blackstone died twenty years ago."

"He's very much alive. He orchestrated all of this. Madison's fake kidnapping, the forged documents, everything." I opened my eyes. "He has video proof that Madison was never tortured. She was in a hotel room, putting on makeup bruises."

"Lies!" Madison shrieked. "She's desperate, making things up—"

"Am I?" I stood slowly, the chains clanking. "Then why are my cuffs burning me? Silver only burns Alphas with pure bloodlines."

Michael's eyes went to my wrists. The evidence was undeniable—angry red welts where the silver touched.

"That's... that's not possible. You're an omega."

"I'm Marcus Blackstone's daughter. I've never been an omega. Just really good at hiding what I am."

"If this is true," Michael stepped closer, "then you're a danger to everyone."

"I'm only a danger to people who betray me." I looked directly at Madison. "How much did he pay you?"

Madison went pale. "I don't know what you're—"

"How much did Marcus pay you to destroy my life?"

"You're insane!" But her voice shook.

Michael looked between us, confusion breaking through his cold mask. "Madison?"

"Don't listen to her! She's trying to turn you against me!"

The lights flickered again. Stronger this time. Something was building inside me, something I'd suppressed my entire life.

"One question, Michael." I met his eyes. "If I'm such a master manipulator, why am I the one in chains while she's wearing my engagement ring?"

He looked down. Madison was indeed wearing my ring. The one he'd given me six months ago.

"I... she needed protection. A symbol of pack protection."

"My ring. On her finger. Two days after our wedding was supposed to happen." I laughed, but it came out wrong. Dark. "At least my father was right about one thing."

"What?"

"You never really loved me. I was just convenient. A replacement. Someone to warm your bed until she decided to come back."

"That's not—"

The lights exploded.

Glass rained down as every bulb in the prison shattered simultaneously. Madison screamed. Michael pushed her behind him, taking a defensive stance.

In the darkness, my eyes glowed. Not the usual amber of a shifted wolf.

Red. Blood red.

"What are you?" Michael whispered.

"I'm what you made me." Power coursed through my veins, twenty years of suppression finally breaking free. "I'm the monster you were so quick to believe in."

The silver cuffs creaked. Metal shouldn't bend from pressure alone, but these did. They snapped like paper.

"Guards!" Michael shouted.

They came running, but stopped dead when they saw me. I stood in the center of the cell, cuffs destroyed at my feet, eyes glowing red in the darkness.

"Impossible," one guard breathed. "Only true Alphas can break silver."

"Shoot her!" Madison screamed. "She's dangerous!"

"Yes," I said quietly. "I am."

The temperature dropped twenty degrees. Frost spread across the walls. Another gift from my bloodline—elemental manipulation.

"Ava," Michael's voice was different now. Uncertain. "Don't do this."

"Do what? Escape from false imprisonment? Defend myself against lies?" I stepped toward the cell door. It swung open without me touching it. "Or do you mean don't become the villain you've already painted me as?"

"Please," he said. "We can talk about this."

"Now you want to talk? After two days of starving me? After giving her my ring? After choosing her over me without a single question?"

I walked past the guards. They didn't try to stop me. Couldn't. The Alpha power rolling off me was too strong.

"You can't leave," Michael said. "You're still a member of this pack."

"Am I?" I turned to face him. "Because from where I stand, I've been rejected. Humiliated. Betrayed. By my mate. By my pack. By everyone except—"

"Except your psychopath father?" Madison found her voice. "You're just like him! A killer!"

"Not yet." I smiled, and she flinched. "But keep pushing me, Madison. See what happens."

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a promise."

Michael moved between us. "Ava, if you leave now, if you go to him, you'll be declaring war on this pack."

"I'm not declaring anything. I'm just done. Done trying to prove myself to people who were waiting for me to fail. Done loving someone who threw me away like garbage."

"I didn't—"

"You did." My voice cracked. "The moment she walked in, you forgot every promise you made me. Every moment we shared. Every time you said you loved me."

"I do love you!"

"No." I shook my head. "You loved the weak, grateful omega who worshipped you. But that girl is dead. You killed her when you chose to believe I was a monster."

I walked toward the exit. Behind me, Madison whispered, "If you leave, he'll never forgive you."

I paused at the door. "Good. Because I'll never forgive him either."

The night air hit my skin like freedom. I breathed deep, tasting possibilities I'd never allowed myself to imagine.

A howl echoed in the distance. Not a pack howl.

Marcus. Calling me home.

I had one day left to decide, but standing there, feeling power flow through my veins while the man I loved stood silent behind me, the choice was already made.

I ran toward the forest, toward the howl, toward a father I didn't know but who had never pretended I was anything less than powerful.

Behind me, Michael roared my name.

But I didn't look back.

Not even when I heard him whisper, "What have I done?"