Chapter 2

ELARA POV:

That night, the Alpha Estate felt less like a home and more like a beautifully decorated prison. The air was thick with lies.

When Kaelen walked through the door, the scent of Seraphina was all over him. Not her perfume, but her unique wolf scent-a cloying mix of honey and nightshade that made my stomach churn. It was an intimate scent, one that only came from close, prolonged contact. The mark of another female on my mate.

My inner wolf, a part of me I barely knew, recoiled with a snarl.

"There you are," he said, his voice smooth as polished stone. He moved to wrap his arms around me.

I took a step back. It wasn't a choice; it was a reflex. My body, my very soul, refused his touch. The mate bond, which once craved his presence, now saw him as a source of poison.

Kaelen's smile faltered. He saw the rejection in my eyes. "Still upset about the amusement park? Don't be childish, Elara. I'll buy you that diamond necklace you were looking at. The most expensive one in the city."

He thought he could buy my forgiveness. He thought I was that shallow. That simple.

I forced a small, fragile smile. "I'm just tired. Long day." I played the part he expected me to play: the obedient, slightly sulky mate.

He bought it. He always did.

Later, as he slept soundly beside me, his breathing deep and even, I slipped out of our bed. The moonlight streamed through the window, illuminating the path to his private study. The one door in the entire estate that was always locked. Not with a key, but with a heavy, ornate lock made of pure silver.

Silver. The one substance that could burn our kind, blocking our strength and healing. Whatever was behind that door, he was hiding it from other werewolves.

I stood before the keypad next to the lock, my heart hammering against my ribs. I took a shaky breath and typed in the numbers. My birthday. The day I was supposed to have my first Shift. The same day as his son's birthday.

0-8-2-1.

A soft click echoed in the silent hallway. The silver lock retracted.

The door swung open.

The study was dark and smelled of old books and his scent-cedar and winter frost. I didn't turn on the light. I didn't need to. My werewolf vision cut through the darkness.

I went straight for his desk. In the bottom drawer, tucked beneath a stack of financial reports, was a leather-bound photo album. My hands trembled as I opened it.

The first picture was of Kaelen and a pregnant Seraphina, both of them glowing with happiness. The next was Kaelen holding a newborn baby. Page after page documented a life I never knew existed. Birthday parties, family vacations, Christmas mornings.

And then I saw it. A photo that made the air leave my lungs. It was a family portrait. Kaelen, Seraphina, and little Leo. Standing beside them, smiling, were my parents. The Former Alpha Richard and Former Luna Eleanor. My mother had her arm wrapped around Seraphina's shoulders.

They knew. They all knew. They had been part of this lie from the very beginning.

My grief turned to ice-cold fury. I moved to his laptop. It was password protected, of course. On a desperate hunch, I typed in the same numbers. My birthday.

Access granted.

I found everything. A folder labeled 'Leo' contained his birth certificate, home videos of his first steps, his first words. Another folder, labeled 'Finances,' laid the entire conspiracy bare.

For the last five years, my parents had been siphoning millions of dollars from the pack's public accounts. The money was being transferred to a shell corporation. The name of the company was Rhes Gallery.

They were using pack funds to finance a secret life for my mate and his other family. For my replacement.

My hands moved with a life of their own. I found a flash drive in his desk drawer and began copying everything. Every file, every photo, every transaction record. I encrypted the drive with a complex series of ancient werewolf runes, a language my father was proud of, but had never bothered to teach his real daughter. I had taught myself.

As the last file finished copying, a sharp, malicious thought pierced my mind. It wasn't my own. It was a projection, a violation. Seraphina was using Kaelen's connection to me, forcing an image into my head.

It was the family portrait with my parents in it.

Then came Seraphina's voice, dripping with venom and triumph.

*Heard you were feeling left out. Just a reminder of your place, little omega. You're just a convenient substitute. A placeholder with the right blood.*

Omega. The lowest rank. A term used for the weak, the submissive, the worthless.

That was it. That was the final push. The grief was gone. The hurt was gone. All that remained was a burning, all-consuming fire.

They wanted me to be a placeholder? Fine. I'd show them what happens when you try to cage a White Wolf.