Chapter 1

I couldn't stand the sight of them. I turned, needing to get out of there.

"Stop!" Marcus's roar exploded behind me. "Did I say you could leave? Livia just wanted to borrow that useless rock. Who do you think you're disrespecting?"

I stopped. I took a slow breath, forcing down my tremors, but didn't look back.

At his words, Livia’s eyes welled up. She squeezed out a few tears, her voice a perfect, trembling whisper.

"Marcus, don't yell at her..." Livia sniffled, playing the victim. "I just wanted a pretty pendant for tomorrow's dress. I had no idea the stone was so fragile. It broke the second I touched it... It really scared me."

That was all it took to ignite his protective instinct. He strode over, grabbed me by the collar, and yanked me back roughly.

"Did you hear that? You scared your mother!" Marcus glared at me with his golden Alpha eyes. "Apologize right now! Do you have zero respect for your mother? For the Luna of this pack?!"

He was choking me. And looking at his furious face, I found it all utterly hilarious.

"She is not my mother." I met his gaze without fear, my voice dead calm. "And someone like her will never be fit to be our Luna."

The air froze.

Smack!

A vicious slap struck my face. Marcus didn't hold back his werewolf strength. The Alpha ring on his finger tore open my cheek. Blinding pain hit me.

I stumbled and fell hard. Warm blood ran down three deep gouges and into my mouth.

"Listen to me. Livia did nothing wrong. You did." Marcus pointed a finger in my face. "Apologize now, or get off my territory! And never come back!"

I lay on the floor, letting my blood drip onto the rug. I looked up at the man I called my father.

When I was five, my real mother died of a sudden illness. I cried until I passed out at her grave. But less than three months later, this so-called father marched Livia right into the main house.

The funniest part? Livia was already pregnant with Jocelyn.

Six months later, just to make Livia happy, he changed the pack's name to erase my mother's legacy. He even bulldozed the estate she had loved so much.

He wiped out every trace of my mother. He erased all the blood and sweat she poured into building this territory.

For twenty years, I—the trueborn Alpha daughter—had been stripped of my birthright, treated worse than the lowest Omega, and left to rot in a drafty shack at the edge of our territory.

"Father," I looked right into his eyes. "My mother might be gone, but her bloodline made you. She gave you everything. That amulet was all I had left of her. Does that mean nothing to you?"

For a split second, he actually faltered.

Livia chimed in from the couch, "Honey, it's just a rock. It can't be that important."

"It's gone," I said to her. "Didn't you even think to ask before you destroyed it?"

Livia looked away, playing the victim again. My father's face settled back into pure rage. "It's just a damn rock! Suck it up and apologize!"

I smiled at him, savoring the words I was about to say.

"Father, that amulet was the key to the blessing ceremony. It's written clearly in your alliance treaty with Alpha Kaelen. The moonstone is required tomorrow to read the omens for the pact. Without it, the ceremony can't even start."

He froze. Then, he let out a scoffing growl. "Rowan, you're insanely jealous. Do you think you can scare me with a few cheap lies?"

"Tomorrow's ceremony and the alliance with Alpha Kaelen are in Jocelyn's hands!" Marcus lifted his chin arrogantly. "My Jocelyn is brilliant. She has everything perfectly prepared."

"Oh, really?" I raised an eyebrow, tilting my head in defiance. "If Jocelyn has it all under control, call her down right now. Let's see."

"Fine! I'll shut your jealous mouth once and for all!" Furious, Marcus pulled out his phone. To humiliate me, he put it on speaker.

Ring... Ring...

The dial tone echoed from the speaker. One ring, two, three. No answer.

Livia muttered, "She's probably doing final prep for the ceremony."

Right then, the front door opened. Jocelyn strutted in, looking smug in an outrageously expensive, diamond-studded couture gown.

"Daddy, why are you calling me in such a rush?" Jocelyn twirled in her dress, her tone sickly sweet. "I was just fitting my gown for tomorrow. Don't worry. I am going to slay."