Chapter Seven

A Sister’s Venom

The night was heavy with silence, broken only by the rustle of leaves as I trailed behind Lucien toward the forest’s edge. My father’s warning still echoed in my mind, and Hannah’s tearful farewell clung to my heart like a wound that would never close. Each step away from the pack house felt like stepping off the edge of the world.

I should have been gone already. Should have kept walking, vanished into the dark. But fate, it seemed, wasn’t done with me.

“Running away?”

The voice froze me mid-step. Familiar. Soft as silk, sharp as a dagger.

Mona.

She stepped out from the shadows as though the night itself had chosen her side. Golden hair gleamed like spun sunlight under the moon, her eyes bright with triumph. She was dressed still in her celebration gown, ivory lace glowing like a mockery of innocence.

Lucien lingered a few paces away, arms crossed, watching in silence. He didn’t intervene. Of course he didn’t. This was my battle.

I straightened my spine, forcing my voice not to tremble. “What do you want?”

“To see you off,” she said sweetly. Her smile widened, too sharp for comfort. “Or maybe to twist the knife one last time.”

My throat burned. “You’ve already taken everything from me. My mate. My place in the pack. Even Father’s respect.”

“Not everything,” she corrected softly, tilting her head. “Not yet. But you’re leaving before I can finish the job, aren’t you?”

The casual cruelty in her tone sent fury clawing through me. My wolf stirred restlessly beneath my skin, pressing against the bars of my control.

“You were supposed to be my sister,” I spat. “My blood.”

“Blood?” Mona laughed — a sharp, crystalline sound. “Oh, Kimberly. That’s where you’re wrong. We may share a father, but you are not my equal. You never were.” She stepped closer, her perfume — roses with a note of poison — coiling around me. “You were born defective. Weak. A shadow clinging to my light. Everyone knew it. Everyone pitied you.”

I flinched despite myself. Her words were cruel, but worse than that — they echoed the whispers I’d overheard all my life.

Mona’s eyes glittered. She could smell the wound she’d hit. “And then, tonight, when Alpha Derrick chose me, the entire pack saw the truth. You were never worthy. Not as a daughter. Not as a Luna. Not even as a wolf.”

Something inside me cracked. Rage and sorrow collided until all that remained was a hollow ache.

“Why?” My voice was raw. “Why hate me so much? What did I ever do to you?”

Her smile vanished, replaced by something darker. “You existed.”

For a heartbeat, the world seemed to stop.

I saw her then — not as the sweet little sister I’d once protected, not as the innocent girl who crawled into my bed during thunderstorms, but as she truly was: ambitious, ruthless, and utterly consumed by envy.

“You don’t deserve him,” she continued, her tone icy now. “Derrick is mine. He always has been. I made sure of it. And when you’re gone, he’ll never think of you again.”

Her words struck like blades, but for the first time, I didn’t bleed. I let them burn instead, feeding the ember of fury glowing in my chest.

“You may have him,” I said quietly, steadily. “But you’ll never have me. And one day, Mona… you’ll regret what you’ve done.”

Her eyes narrowed, a flicker of unease breaking her perfect mask. “Threats don’t suit you, sister.”

“Neither does betrayal,” I shot back.

We stood locked in silence, two wolves circling without shifting. Her beauty gleamed like polished steel, but beneath it, I could smell the rot. She had won tonight, yes — but her victory was already curdling.

Finally, Mona sneered, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “Run, Kimberly. Run as far as you like. It won’t matter. No matter what you find out there, no matter what strength you think you gain, you’ll always be the rejected one. Always less. Always beneath me.”

She turned on her heel, her gown trailing like spilled moonlight, and disappeared back into the pack lands.

I stood trembling, fists clenched, nails biting into my palms until I drew blood. My wolf snarled inside me, not in despair, but in defiance.

A low chuckle drifted from the shadows. Lucien stepped forward, his eyes gleaming with amusement. “Sisters,” he mused. “The cruelest enemies of all.”

I turned to him, chest heaving, anger still burning like a furnace inside me. “Teach me,” I said hoarsely. “Teach me to make her pay.”

His smile widened, dark and dangerous. “Ah,” he murmured. “Now you’re ready.”

And just like that, I stepped fully into the darkn

ess — leaving Mona’s venom behind, but carrying its poison as fuel.