Chapter 2

Anna’s POV

How could she be this afraid inside her own pack?

A feeling of unease settled deep in my stomach.

I let her drag me through the main hall and up to the Alpha’s chamber on the top floor.

Mother stopped outside the door, taking a moment to steady her breathing. Then she turned and straightened my clothes.

“Anna, whatever your father says after we go inside, don’t argue with him. Just apologize, and it will all be over. Do you understand?”

Apologize? What had I done?

I quickly went over everything I had done during the past few days, but nothing came to mind.

Mother pushed open the door, and we stepped inside.

Father sat at the head of a long table. He barely lifted his eyes toward us. “Kneel.”

That was all he said.

Mother tightened her grip on my arm and pulled me down with her.

A few seconds later, two other wolves entered the room.

One was Father’s eldest son, Eric—the son he had with his former Luna, his true mate.

The other was Father’s sister, Aunt Mary.

Eric limped into the room. Before turning toward Father, he looked at me with a wicked smile.

His lips silently formed the words, “You’re finished.”

Then he faced Father and bowed. “Father…”

He was about to kneel when Father stopped him. “You don’t need to kneel. Come sit beside me.”

Eric limped toward the chair beside Father and sat down.

Then he looked at me again, a smug smile spreading across his face.

I narrowed my eyes at him.

What a hypocrite.

Eric always acted obedient and respectful in front of Father, but everyone else knew he was an arrogant bully.

He was the one who constantly mocked Mother and me, calling us nothing more than trash and whores.

Even though we were both Father’s children, Eric believed he was better than me simply because his mother had also been an Alpha.

I didn’t agree, but Mother constantly told me to swallow my anger, never allowing me to fight back.

While Eric and I were still glaring at each other, Father suddenly slammed his hand against the table. “Anna, how dare you!”

Mother trembled beside me, lowering her head even further.

I stared at him in confusion. “Father—”

Before I could finish, Eric turned toward him.

“Father, she has to pay for what she did to me. Otherwise, how can there be order in our pack? I’m your son—the symbol of your strength. If Mother knew what happened, she would never rest in peace.”

The more Eric spoke, the deeper the line between Father’s brows became.

The moment Eric mentioned the late Luna, Father finally snapped.

He released his Alpha aura, forcing my body to bend lower. “Apologize to your brother. Right now!”

I bit down hard on my lip, almost tasting blood. “I…I don’t even know what I did wrong.”

Father pulled back his Alpha aura, and the crushing weight on my body finally eased.

I slowly raised my head. “What did I do wrong this time?”

Aunt Mary stepped closer. Unlike Father, her voice was calm and polite. “Anna, did you deliberately start a fight with Eric on the pack’s training grounds yesterday?”

The memory immediately returned.

I had challenged Eric to a fair fight after hearing him call my mother a shameless bed climber and me a worthless stray again.

Ever since I turned eighteen and met my wolf, controlling my temper had become harder.

Normally, I would have pretended not to hear him. But yesterday, I made a different choice.

I challenged Eric.

And he accepted.

It had been a fair fight. I admitted that I had held the upper hand for most of it, but I assumed Eric was holding back. When he left the training ground, he had seemed perfectly fine.

My gaze dropped to the leg he refused to put weight on.

Had I really injured him? Was I strong enough to hurt an Alpha?

Father slammed his palm against the table. “Speak!”

Mother nudged me anxiously. “Anna, did you do it? Did you hurt your brother?”

I looked Father in the eyes. “I challenged Eric to a fight, but it happened on the training ground. And I didn’t—”

Father cut me off, “How dare you challenge the future Alpha of this pack? Do you truly believe you are worthy of being his opponent?”

The contempt in my own father’s voice washed over me like a bucket of ice water, leaving me cold and furious.

“I challenged him because I heard what he said about Mother. He claimed she only knew how to lure wolves with her body. He threatened to strip her naked and drag her into the pack house for everyone to see!”

Mother whimpered beside me, her entire body trembling.

I wanted to pull her into my arms and tell her not to be afraid. I wanted to promise that I would never let anyone do that to her.

But Father’s Alpha aura still pinned me to the ground.

I couldn’t move an inch.

“Tell him, Eric,” I shouted. “I dare you to repeat everything you said yesterday. Say it to Father’s face!”

Eric let out a cold laugh.

“Was I wrong? Your mother knows nothing except how to climb into a man’s bed. She has never contributed anything to this pack. She isn’t worthy of standing beside Father. At best, she should be used as a pack breeder. But I doubt she could even manage that, because she’s nothing but a worthless Omega.”

I yelled. “Fight me again! If you have so much energy to insult my mother, then get up and face me now!”

Slap!

The sharp sound echoed through the room.

I looked up.

Mother’s hand was still raised, and tears trembled in her eyes. “Stop, Anna! You cannot speak like that in front of your father.”

The sting across my cheek was nothing compared to the pain tearing through my heart.

My own mother—who had never once raised a hand against me—had just slapped me in front of my worst enemy.

I didn’t want to cry, but the tears were already gathering in my eyes.

For a moment, the entire room fell silent.

Mother didn’t back down. She stared at me sternly.

“Anna, have I taught you nothing? When you do something wrong, you apologize. You hurt Eric during that fight. It is only right that you say you’re sorry.”

My lips trembled beyond my control. I couldn’t tell whether it was from anger or heartbreak.

“I didn’t do anything wrong. He started it. Why should I apologize?”

Father’s Alpha aura crashed down on me again. “Enough!”

He slowly rose from his chair and walked toward Mother and me.

When he stopped in front of us, his voice was cold. “If you refuse to apologize, you and your mother will be banished from this pack immediately.”

Mother crawled toward him and clung to his feet.

“Please, my Alpha. Anna won’t do it again. She is your blood too. Please don’t cast us out. You know we wouldn’t survive two days outside the pack.”