Chapter 13
My question was enough to render my Alpha father completely stunned. The mighty Alpha looked completely caught off guard. His mouth hung open slightly, his brows twitching in discomfort as if the truth hanging in the air was too sour to swallow.
Lexie-ever the snake in silk-stepped in gently with that careful, calculated voice of hers. “Avelyn, we’re the younger generation. We shouldn’t speak to Dad like that…”
I turned to her slowly, my glare sharp enough to skin flesh from bone. My wolf was awake now- watching, growling beneath the surface, and ready to strike. “Lexie shut up,” I said, my voice cold and razor-edged. “Now you want to talk about respect? Now you suddenly remember we’re younger and should bow our heads?”
I let out a harsh, humorless laugh and stepped closer until she could see the fire in my eyes- until my presence, now radiating dominance and fury, made her visibly shrink.
“Where was your shame, Lexie,” I snarled, “when you climbed into your brother-in-law’s bed like a bitch in heat?”
The silence that followed was absolute.
Lexie’s face turned as pale as the winter moon. Her lips parted, trembling, but no sound came out at first. She underestimated me. All her life, she had known me as the docile one-the unwanted daughter who never raised her voice, who barely growled even when cornered. But that Avelyn was gone.
“I… Ave, I-” she stammered, her voice faltering.
“Don’t call me that,” I snapped the words like claws dragging down her pride. “What kind of sister am I to you? We don’t even share blood. Let’s not pretend we’re anything more than two wolves raised in the same cage.”
I took another step forward, and she instinctively backed away. Good. Let her feel fear. Let her
remember what true blood tasted like.
“Your mother was a maid,” I continued, each sentence sharp as fangs, “and the only reason you were given the Moonveil’s name was out of pity. You were handed a title that never belonged tc you. Don’t let it go to your head.”
She gasped, wounded.
“If your mother hadn’t seduced her way into this family with her tricks and fake tears, you’d be folding laundry and scrubbing floors with the rest of the staff. And you dare to stand there like you’re a Luna-in-waiting?”
My voice dropped to a whisper, filled with venom.
“You are nothing, Lexie, even lower than an omega.”
My words landed like slaps-each one stripping her of the illusion she’d wrapped herself in for years. Around us, the air was charged with pack tension. The staff nearby stood frozen, not daring to move. Even the dominant wolves in the room, Robert and Darius included, were silent- surprised, maybe even… intimidated.
Who am I now?
Chapter 13
9:02 pm D
Not the invisible girl of the Moonveil Pack. Not the girl afraid of her wolf.
I was awakened.
Even Alpha Darius-who had once looked at me like I was a burden he had to bear-was watching me differently now. There was confusion in his expression… and something disturbingly close to desire. He stood, as if pulled by instinct, and moved toward me.
“Avelyn, I-”
“Touch me, and I’ll tear your hand off,” I hissed, slapping his hand away before it could graze my arm. My glare was ice. “Don’t you dare lay those filthy hands on me, Darius! Out of every she-wolf in the world, you chose her. Were you trying to humiliate me? Or do you just have a thing for traitors?”
He stumbled over his words, blinking like a fool. “No-Avelyn, it’s not what you think. She came
to me. I didn’t mean-”
Lexie cut in, panicked now. “Alpha Darius! What are you saying?! Don’t throw me under the carriage just because she’s here!”
He flinched, like waking up from a trance. And that was when it hit me.
He didn’t love either of us.
He just liked control.
He liked feeling wanted. Powerful. Worshipped. But he had never seen me-truly seen me.
As I stared at him, memories surged-how I once thought he’d saved me from a cruel marriage, how I’d convinced myself that maybe this pack was worth fighting for. I must’ve been blind. Or worse… desperate to belong.
Moments later, Luna Myra Moonveil’s voice sliced through the room, sharp and cold. “Avelyn. What do you mean Lexie slept with her brother-in-law? Are you accusing your sister of such disgrace?”
I turned my gaze on her, unwavering.
“I’m not accusing her. I’m stating what happened.”
I enunciated each word with the calm clarity of someone who no longer cared about pretending.
“Your precious, perfect little Lexie seduced my mate the moment she got back from Paris. I saw the messages. I smelled her scent on him. Or have you forgotten, Mother? Wolves don’t lie with their noses.”
Myra looked stunned-shocked into silence, for once. But Lexie broke before she could recover. Her knees buckled as she dropped to the floor, her face streaked with tears, her voice trembling
like a child denied sweets.
“Mom… Dad… I’m sorry. I’m sorry! I’ve embarrassed you all. I just… I couldn’t help it. I love him. I love Alpha Darius!”
Her wailing echoed like a siren, theatrical and desperate. Anyone who didn’t know better might’ve thought I was the villain in this scene. She was good at that-playing the broken girl. The innocent. The misunderstood.
But I wasn’t the same Avelyn she used to manipulate.
9:02 pm D DGM.
Myra’s eyes filled with tears. Her cold mask began to melt, and I watched her fold. Just like always.
“Oh, sweetie…” she whispered. “How could you be so foolish?”
Then, she turned to me, her voice tight with weariness. “Avelyn… I know your sister made a mistake. I won’t defend what she did. But can’t you let it go now? You’re older. Wiser. We’re a family. Do we really have to air our wounds like this?”
I smiled-not kindly, not cruelly, but with the sharp elegance of a she-wolf standing on her own
four feet for the first time.
Family…
I whispered to myself.
Should that word still mean something to me?
9:02 pm DDG M
