The day they dragged me back to SilverCrest Pack House, I learned I was supposed to be royalty. Born with Alpha blood. Stolen at birth. Raised in the gutter by Rogues. I expected claws and teeth when I crossed the threshold. Violence. Rejection. Instead, my biological parents—Alpha Matthias and his Luna Vivienne—went still as corpses when they saw me. Their eyes turned wet and red-rimmed. They claimed me in front of the entire pack, their voices breaking over the words. Even she was kind. Seraphina, The Beta-born wolf they'd raised as their daughter for seventeen years. The one who'd lived my life. She called me "sister" with that honey-sweet voice. Taught me which fork to use at formal pack dinners. Showed me how to curtsy before visiting Alphas. I wanted to claw her perfect face off. But I smiled instead. Tried to play along. It didn't work. Every time I knocked over a wine glass or stepped on my dress hem during training, I heard the Omegas snickering. Saw the warriors exchange glances. “Look at the Rogue trash trying to act civilized.” “She'll never be one of us.” Poor Alpha Matthias, stuck with that as his bloodline. One day, I snapped. My claws came out. I backhanded a servant so hard she hit the marble floor, blood streaming from her split lip. My mother's—Luna Vivienne's—scent turned from roses to thorns. "What do you want from us?" Her wolf was close to the surface, amber bleeding into her eyes. My voice shook. My wolf howled inside my skull. "You compare me to her every single day! You all whisper that I'm crude, feral, not fit to be seen in polite company!" I pointed at Seraphina, who stood frozen by the grand staircase. "She stole seventeen years of my life! She's been living as a Princess while I ate garbage and got beaten by Rogues! And now you expect me to be the family joke?" I looked between my parents. My Alpha father, towering and silver-haired. My Luna mother, beautiful and cold as winter. "This pack house isn't big enough for both of us." Alpha Matthias's jaw worked. His command voice was absent, just exhaustion. "This isn't Seraphina's fault—" "Then whose fault is it?" I snarled. "Mine for being born?" "Choose," I said, my wolf rising in my throat. "Her or me." --- Silence. Heavy as stone. "Lyra..." My mother reached for me. I jerked away so violently I nearly shifted. "Don't touch me!" That's when my father's patience shattered. His hand connected with my face—an Alpha's strength behind it. No holding back. I staggered, tasted copper. My cheek bone cracked. My composure cracked. Seventeen years of rage and pain came flooding up. I swept my arm across the antique tea service. Porcelain exploded against the floor. "Everything good in this pack goes to her first! I get her leftovers—the things she doesn't want! Because you think I'm too stupid to know the difference!" Last month, they'd given me fabric for a dress. Omega-made, simple blue cloth. I'd been pathetically grateful. Then I'd overheard two servants in the garden. "Did you see how excited the little Rogue got over that fabric?" "She doesn't know any better. It's what Lady Seraphina rejected last week. Not even good enough for the Omega seamstresses." The memory burned. "I'm the real Alpha's daughter," I choked out. "But I'm just here to make her look better by comparison, aren't I?" "Lyra, enough!" My mother's wolf was fully present now, her power washing over the room. "The servants talk too much. We'll punish them. You want better things? Tell me. I'll give you anything." My father tried to sound reasonable. His Alpha tone was forced calm. "Go to the vault. Take what you want. Why destroy the peace of this house over servants' gossip?" Seraphina—silent until now—stepped forward. Tears glittered in her violet eyes. "I didn't know... Sister, if you want anything of mine, please take it. It's all yours." She reached for my hand, her touch gentle. I slapped it away. "I don't want your scraps." My wolf was in my voice now, making it deeper. Rougher. "Everything here should've been mine. You lived my life. Stole my parents. Took my destiny." I met her eyes. Hers were wet. Mine were dry as bone. "I want you gone. Out of SilverCrest Pack. Forever." The words echoed in the great hall. Seraphina went pale as death. Swayed on her feet. My mother pulled her close, held her like something precious. Her eyes on me were full of disappointment. They loved her. Not me. I looked around at the assembled pack members. Warriors, Omegas, Betas. All watching me like I was the villain in this story. Maybe I was. I laughed—sharp and bitter. Then I ran. Straight for the pack's sacred well in the courtyard. The one that connected to the underground springs. Deep enough to drown in. I didn't hesitate. Just vaulted over the stone rim.
Hands grabbed me mid-leap. Pack warriors hauled me back from the edge, their grips bruising even through my struggling. "Let me go!" I thrashed, kicked, bit. "This house—her or me! HER OR ME!" My mother wrenched me from the guards. Crushed me against her chest. Her scent was wrong. Too floral. Not the milk-and-warmth smell I'd imagined my whole childhood. "My Lyra," she gasped. "Please. Calm down. Don't do this—" I couldn't hear her over the roaring in my head. Then Seraphina was there. Tugging at my mother's sleeve with delicate fingers. "Luna Vivienne..." Her voice broke. "Don't torture yourself." She smiled, but it looked like dying. "I'll leave. I'll go." The world stopped. I stopped fighting. Stared at her. She stared back. Her eyes held sadness, resignation, and something that looked like pity. "Sister, this is my fault. All of it. I... I took your place for seventeen years. I don't blame you for hating me." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I'll go. Just promise me you'll stop hurting yourself. Stop making Alpha Matthias and Luna Vivienne suffer. Please." The sincerity in her tone made me feel like a monster. Like I was the one who'd done something wrong. My father exhaled slowly. Didn't argue. Seraphina bowed to me—a full submission, neck bared. Then she walked to her chambers to pack. --- She left the next morning. No ceremony. Just a small carriage and two servants. I watched from my window as she disappeared down the forest road. Did I win? I moved into her rooms that afternoon. Had the servants throw out everything that smelled like her—lavender and honey. Replaced it with my own things. The Rogues who'd raised me taught me one thing: take what you can, when you can. So I took. I also had the two gossipping servants whipped. Twenty lashes each. Then I sold their families to a lumber camp on the northern border. The message was clear: Disrespect me, and you disappear. The pack went quiet after that. No one dared whisper when I passed. But my parents... they grew colder. Conversations died when I entered rooms. My father's eyes slid past me at dinner. My mother's smiles became plastic. I told myself I just needed to try harder. So I did. I trained until my muscles screamed. Studied pack law until my eyes bled. Learned the formal ceremonies, the ancient rites, the proper way to address visiting Alphas. I convinced myself that if I just became good enough, they'd love me the way they loved her. The slap came at a gathering of highborn pack daughters. I'd dressed carefully. Practiced my posture. Smiled at the right times. One of them—a Delta's daughter named Clarissa—examined me like I was a stain. "So you're the one who drove Seraphina out of SilverCrest Pack." Her lips curved. "The 'true' Alpha daughter." My spine went rigid. "She left willingly." Clarissa laughed. Cold as winter. "The whole territory knows the truth. Alpha Matthias brought home a feral Rogue who made his life hell. You bullied the sweet, refined girl he'd raised and forced her out." Her words were claws in my gut. "You're the embarrassment," she continued. "Highborn packs value breeding and education over bloodline. Seraphina was perfect—a credit to Carter. You?" She let the question hang. "You're just a mistake." I was shaking. My wolf wanted blood. Clarissa leaned close. Whispered like she was sharing a secret. "You think they just... let her go? Alpha Matthias arranged everything. Bought her a house. Set up a trust fund." She paused for effect. "This morning, he went to the High Council. Secured her a mate bond with the Heir Apparent. Alpha Heir Rowan himself." My world tilted. "So enjoy being the 'real' daughter," Clarissa said sweetly. "While Seraphina becomes the future Alpha Queen."
Finding her new residence was easy. I stood across the street, hood pulled low, and watched a luxury car pull up. Midnight black, council plates. The man who stepped out radiated power. Alpha Heir Rowan. Tall, golden-haired, perfect. My parents emerged from Seraphina's new townhouse—paid for with Carter money—wearing smiles I'd never seen before. Genuine joy. "Our greatest worry, finally resolved." My father's voice carried on the wind. "Alpha Heir Rowan is honorable," my mother agreed. "Seraphina's future is secure now. She deserves this happiness after everything." She squeezed Seraphina's hand. "My darling girl, if anyone in the High Council mistreats you, you tell us immediately. SilverCrest Pack will always be your home. We are always your family." Seraphina's voice was thick with tears. "Father... Mother... I'll miss you so much." "We're not far, sweet one. You can visit whenever you wish." The scene was a portrait of familial love. It made me want to vomit. They were closing the gate when I stepped into the light. All three froze. Their smiles died. I pulled back my hood. "Alpha Queen," I said. Voice flat. "Quite the promotion." My father's expression hardened. My mother opened her mouth. I cut her off. "I specifically said she needed to leave. I specifically forbade you from contact." My laugh was sharp enough to draw blood. "But I guess Alpha commands only apply to servants. Not to you." "Lyra!" My mother's wolf flashed gold in her eyes. "You're being unreasonable!" She pulled Seraphina behind her like I was a threat. "She was raised in luxury. The High Council is brutal. How could we send her to suffer there?" I stared at her. "Mother." The word felt foreign. "Let me clarify something." My wolf rose in my chest. "I came from the brutal place. The one where Rogues beat children for fun. Where I ate rats to survive. Where I have scars on my back from being whipped with silver chains." My voice dropped to a whisper. "If I could survive that hell, why can't precious Seraphina handle the council?" I'd lived seventeen years in filth. Been starved, beaten, degraded. The male Rogue who'd taken me had gambled away food money. Beat me unconscious when drunk. The female Rogue had worked me like a slave. Called me worthless. Reminded me daily I was nothing. No dignity. No safety. No love. And now my birth parents pitied her for having to face politics. Tears—angry, bitter tears—burned down my face. "I survived alone. No one cared. No one helped. But she has to go where she belongs, and suddenly you're heartbroken?" I'd known they wouldn't actually send her back to the Rogues. But some pathetic part of me hoped they'd at least pretend. Hide her away. Make an effort. Instead, they flaunted their love for her. Didn't even try to hide it. My mother looked stricken. "Lyra... I'm sorry... Those seventeen years... I thought of you every day. But I couldn't find you—" "But I'm HERE now!" My wolf's howl leaked into my voice. "The past is the past—isn't that what you always say? So why can't you move forward?" I pointed at the townhouse. At the expensive furniture visible through the windows. "You set her up perfectly. New house. Trust fund. A mate bond with the Heir Apparent." My voice cracked. "While I'm just the family scandal. The feral bitch who doesn't know her place." A crowd was gathering. Wolves from neighboring packs, watching the spectacle. My father's face flushed with fury. The Alpha didn't tolerate public scenes. "Enough," he snarled. Command voice activated. "You've embarrassed this family enough." He turned to his Beta guards. "Take her home. She's confined to pack lands until I say otherwise." They grabbed my arms. Dragged me away while the crowd whispered. Disgraceful. Poor Alpha Matthias. That Rogue girl is out of control. --- Back at SilverCrest Pack’s territory my attendant—an old Omega named Martha—looked at me with something like pity. "Young Alpha..." She sighed. "Why do this to yourself?" I didn't answer. Just stared at my reflection in the dark window. Martha's voice was soft. Knowing. "Lady Seraphina was raised by the Alpha and Luna for seventeen years. That bond... it doesn't just vanish because of bloodline." She moved closer. "You fighting them only makes them see you as the problem. If you want what's yours, you need to be smarter. Take what you can actually hold, not what you wish they'd give you." Her words were ice water on my rage. She was right. I couldn't force them to love me. But I could force them to give me what I deserved.
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