Chapter 2

KELLY

The torches along the corridor burned low, the smoke curling through the air like whispers of judgment.

I could still taste the bitter tang of betrayal in my mouth, as if Ezekiel’s words had poisoned me more thoroughly than any assassin’s blade ever could.

“You really have no remorse, do you? I've bled for you. I’ve defended your name before the Elders when they said you’d never be fit to lead.” I said.

He didn’t even look away. “Your years as Luna have been payment enough. You’ve lived in comfort. You’ve eaten from the Alpha’s table. What more do you want?”

The words struck harder than his palm ever could, if only I had not married him, if only I had met his brother, Kayden that night.

I wanted my mate back, my family, the man I thought I knew, but that man had long since turned to ash.

Eve came out from the other room behind him, arms folded, her silk robe brushing the floor. The same robe embroidered with my pack’s crest, mine.

She smiled that practiced smile of hers, the one that always preceded cruelty.

“Perhaps,” she said sweetly, “Kelly arranged those little attacks herself. Nothing wins sympathy like a wounded Luna.”

My wolf snarled inside me, weak but alive. “Careful, sister. You might choke on your own venom.”

Ezekiel’s gaze flicked between us, but there was no surprise in his eyes.

Only weariness, or maybe satisfaction. “Enough. You’ve had your reign, Kelly. The pack needs strength, not sentiment. Step aside.”

The silence that followed was heavy, the kind that comes before a storm. I could feel it shifting, the air thick with unspoken threat.

I met his gaze, refusing to bow. “Do you even remember what it means to be Alpha? When your people starved, I fed them. When rogues burned the borders, I stood beside you. You were nothing but a shadow until I made them see your worth.”

Something flickered across his face, guilt! Maybe but it vanished as quickly as it came.

“The past means nothing now,” he blurted out.

“Pathetic!” I fired back.

His hand came across my face before I saw it coming. A sharp crack echoed through the chamber.

My cheek burned, my pride bled.

For a heartbeat, no one moved.

Then a small voice shattered the stillness. “Daddy?”

Nevaeh stood at the doorway, clutching the edge of her nightdress.

The firelight painted her tears in gold. She had woken up, unknown to us.

Ezekiel froze, his posture shifting as if he’d been caught by the Moon Goddess herself. But the shame never came, only annoyance.

“Go back to your room,” he growled.

She didn’t. “Why did you hit Mommy?” Her words carried no fear, only confusion. Pure, dangerous innocence.

I wanted to shield her, to make her forget. But something in her eyes, Ezekiel’s fire mixed with my calm held me still.

“Your mother has forgotten her place,” Ezekiel said, his tone clipped.

Nevaeh frowned. “It’s not nice to hurt someone, the moon goddess would punish people who hurt other people.”

Eve laughed softly. “How touching. She even sounds like you.”

I ignored her.

My focus was on my daughter, on the way her little hands trembled, and how the air around her seemed to hum faintly, too faint for Ezekiel to notice.

Power. Wild, raw, untrained. My blood.

“Nevaeh, sweetheart,” I said gently, “go back to your room. Please.”

She sighed.

Something stirred in the air—low, thrumming, like a growl just under the skin of the world.

The torches flickered. Ezekiel’s eyes darted around, sensing it too.

I stepped forward, placing a hand on Nevaeh’s shoulder.

“Go, my love,” I whispered. “I’ll come soon.”

She hesitated, then backed away, her gaze never leaving her father.

The power ebbed with her steps, but the scent of it lingered, old magic, faintly metallic, like the curse that slept beneath my skin.

When the door closed behind her, Ezekiel exhaled sharply. “Control your brat before she embarrasses us further.”

My smile was bitter. “You should be careful what you call her, Alpha. There’s more of my blood in her than you realize.”

His jaw tightened. “I’ll have the guards escort you to your chambers. You’re to remain there until further notice.”

I bowed my head, not out of obedience, but strategy. “As you wish, my lord.”

He turned away, dismissing me like a servant.

But as I walked toward the door, I caught Eve’s reflection in the polished armor on the wall. Her hand rested on her belly again, protective and smug.

For a moment, I imagined ripping that smugness out of her throat. My wolf’s growl rumbled faintly inside me, weak but hungry.

“Soon,” she whispered inside my head. “Soon, we will wake.”

The torches dimmed as I left the hall.

Outside, the night air was sharp with moonlight. I pressed my palm against the wall, feeling the faint pulse of power under my skin, my curse, my inheritance.

Maybe the witch hadn’t cursed me to be weak.

Maybe she’d been waiting for the right pain to wake me.

For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.

The next day, I was at the garden with Nevaeh, when Ezekiel and Eve walked in.

Nevaeh took a step back. “I don’t want you,” she screamed flatly. “You smell wrong.”

Eve froze. Her lips trembled into a mock pout. “Wrong? Oh, my poor heart. You wound me.”

The room tensed. I could see the muscle jump in Ezekiel’s jaw, not from concern, but from embarrassment.

He hated being defied.

Especially by something so small.

Eve crouched, voice syrupy. “You don’t mean that, darling. Come here.”

Nevaeh’s eyes glinted, that same glimmer I’d seen when the candles went out at her party.

Then she did it. Bit down. A sharp cry rang out, and Eve jerked back, clutching her hand, blood welling at her pinky.

The guards stepped forward, uncertain.

Ezekiel’s voice thundered. “Enough!”

He moved so fast the air seemed to crackle. His shadow loomed over Nevaeh, his face twisted with fury.

“She’ll learn respect even if I have to burn it into her.”

I stepped between them before I even thought. “She’s a child! She doesn’t understand…”

“She understands rebellion,” he snarled. “And she learned it from you.”

He gestured to the guards. “Take her. Lock her in the east cell.”

The words hit me like a physical blow.

“Ezekiel, please, she’s still recovering from fever. You’ll kill her…”

Eve straightened, cradling her injured finger, her eyes glittering despite the tears she pretended to shed. “

And, of course, Ezekiel smiled. He always rewarded venom disguised as virtue.

“Fine. Lock this little brat inside her room and she's to be fed a little quantity of food just once per day.”

The guards hesitated, pity flickering in their eyes, but no one disobeyed an Alpha’s command.

Ezekiel turned and left without looking back.

Eve lingered just long enough to whisper, “Tell me, sister… How does it feel to be the weak one now?