is

eir retribution, the very first thing I

her hands fluttering nervously as she clutched my arm. Her fing

with years of worry, lines of sadness I had never truly seen until now. "Mother," I said, my v

how he planned to use her money to buy my cousin a title so she could take my pl

t, a soft, wounded sound escaping her lips. Tears, the tears I had refused to shed, str

r pain. "Because they see us as a vault to b

ice, muffled by the wood, announced, "The Alpha has retu

a wife preparing to meet her husband. A flicker of hope, of foolish, desperate hope

hat last illusion was

more about his fragile ego than his own family, sat at the head of the table. His handsome face was grim, his milit

their voices a venomous symphony as they painted me a

nto his plate, the clang echoing in the tense silence. He loved the weal

oment my mothe

, his voice laced with the authority of an Alpha. "You dare to disrespect your gran

ink," my mother began, rushin

ff without a second thought. "This is your

bition dancing in her eyes. I could smell the lack of genuine sorrow in her scent, it was entirely masked by deceit. She loved A

y fault. If you really want the title so badly, if you want to be with the Alpha heir... I will go beg Alston. I will give

ks. She looked like a heartbroken angel, a martyr

omfort her daughter. "The heir chose you! You cannot

f warmth before turning to me with icy contempt. "Lo

me to be shamed into submission

Carson, the snake who had spent years dripping poison into our grandmother's e

and bitter, e

palm on the table, making the fine china jump. "Wha

s gaze directly, the air around me turning frigid. "Apo

e she was a toddler. The jewels in her ears, the roof over her head, the very food on this table, all of it came from my mother's coffers. You all look down on us, yet you gorge yourselves on our wealth with abs

guarded moment, her mask slipped, and I s

t was all for her. "Do you see now, Mother? In this hou

e smug triumph on the faces of her in laws. The last flicker

olled from him, the weight of his Alpha authority pressing down on the room. My wolf stirred restlessly inside me, instinctively wanting to submit, to bare my throat. B

t

struck my mother with the force of a physical assault, shatt

breath. The mo

king onto my father's wide gaze. "If our property

ed out my phone. I dialed a number f

e Liquidation protocol. I am formally requesting the return of all assets loaned by

d slipped the phone

d for the first time, a glimmer of fear. Belia's jaw had gone slack. Cydney looked as if she had swallowed acid. And Carson, Cars