The tool

Novaretta,

It was almost evening when I returned home. I drove as fast as the roads allowed. I had left everything behind at the Valedor pack house. None of it mattered now. All I wanted was the one place I still believed would stand with me.

The moment I stepped into the Starwood Alpha pack house, something felt wrong. The air was colder and heavier than it should have been. Dad usually spent his evenings with old friends. Mom would be in the kitchen baking, the house filled with the scent of sugar. Tonight the house was silent.

I walked into the living room and found them waiting. Dad sat on the couch with a grim expression. Mom held her cat on her lap, her fingers stroking the fur in slow motions that trembled with rage.

“Mom. Dad.” I called out as I rushed forward. For one fleeting second I hoped they would look surprised, ask why I had come, and pull me into their arms.

Instead they looked at me with pure disappointment.

“Nova. I just spoke with Cedric.” Dad’s voice was cold as ice. “Did you refuse to accept his child as your own?”

My eyes widened. “He told you that?”

“Of course he did.” Dad rose to his feet and stared down at me. “Why did you reject the child?”

My breath hitched. “You are not upset that he cheated on me. You are upset because I refused to claim his bastard?”

Guilt flickered across his face for a brief moment before the cold mask returned. “Upset about what? The Starwood and the Valedor have always been the strongest alliance on this continent. You are the bridge between them. Now you stand here crying over a single child? Are you truly considering breaking the mate bond and handing your position to some unknown woman?”

I stepped back, staring at the two people who had once sworn I was their entire world. “I do not understand. You want me to stay with that cheating bastard just to protect a title?”

“How dare you speak of your Alpha that way?” My mother’s voice snapped through the room. “And what is wrong with him having a child with another woman? He did it for your sake. At least you will never have to suffer a dangerous pregnancy.”

“Mom?” The word broke in my throat. “You truly see nothing wrong with this?”

“No. He is an Alpha. It is normal for a man of his standing to keep a few women on the side. And look at yourself. You have changed. Not a single man would glance at you with real affection now. At least Cedric is still willing to keep your position high.”

My knees gave out. I sank to the floor. I had driven here with the desperate hope that they would take my side. I had been the one living in a fantasy.

I lifted my head and met their gazes. “What do you think of me? A tool to keep two packs tied together?”

Dad’s eyes grew colder. “What else? A daughter who became someone’s Luna, worked for them, and brought us connections. What more did you ever think you were meant for?”

Something inside my chest cracked. This was not the life they had raised me to believe in.

“And what do you gain if I continue letting them walk over me? If I let them use me like a tool?”

Dad sat back down and looked at me with no affection left. “Nova, you are our only child. Without you we have nothing. But that does not mean we can keep spoiling you. If you leave this position we lose millions. For our sake, suck it up. Return to the pack and be a proper Luna. If you come home for good, God knows who would ever accept you again. You are a lost case now. We cannot even use you to form another alliance.”

So that was the truth. All these years I had been nothing more than a useful piece on their board.

I rose slowly to my feet and let out a cold laugh. “You called me your only child. You called me your princess and swore you would always have my back. Yet the moment your own interests are threatened, I become nothing but a tool for your connections.”

“Do not say that.” My mother snapped. “Everything we do is for you. You will inherit this entire pack one day. But you are weak. Soft. Cedric is a man with a real mind. If you stay with him, one day someone like him will sit on our throne.”

“You want him to take the throne?”

“What else? He is the man we chose. Do you think we allowed the marriage simply because he is a Valedor? We chose him as the next Alpha of Starwood.”

My heart sank. “You never planned to give me the throne at all?”

My mother scoffed. “Are you truly that foolish? A pack needs a male mind to rule. Not an emotional woman who cannot even tolerate her husband fathering a child elsewhere.”

A choked laugh left my lips. “Very well, Mom. Then it should be fine to bring Dad’s first love back into this house as well. I heard she is living a miserable life with her current mate.”

My mother’s face was drained of color. “What did you just say?”

She snarled and stood. “I will kill you for that.”

I said nothing more. Exhaustion had hollowed me out.

Then my father’s voice cut through the silence. “Enough. I have already called the chauffeur. Nova, if you do not return to your pack tonight, I will outcast you. I will disown you.”

“Disown me?” The words left me in a broken whisper as tears streamed down my face.

“Yes. I have no need of a daughter who turns disobedient.”

I swallowed hard. “All right then. From this day forward, I, Novaretta, in the name of the Moon Guardian, reject the surname Starwood. I am no longer your daughter.”

Mom shot to her feet. Dad, still holding the phone, froze.

“What? What did you just do?” Mom choked.

“I disown you both. You are no longer my parents. Live with your beloved Cedric, the future Alpha you always wanted.”

I did not wait for their answer. I turned and ran from the pack house. My father was ruthless and stubborn. He would never simply let me go. The speed with which he had been ready to discard me for Cedric’s sake told me there was something larger at stake, something he was willing to sacrifice his own child to obtain.

Right now I had no one left. Cedric needed me as an unpaid servant to keep the pack running. My parents needed me as a living bridge to protect their wealth and power. Both sides would hunt me down without mercy.

I would not let them succeed.