bChapter /bb32 /b

bra’s /bPOV

“Get your hands boff /bbme/bb, /byou brainless muttsb! /bI’m byour /bGamma!” bGarron’s /bbvoice /bcracked through the morning air like a whip, but no one paused. His wrists bwere /bbshackled /bto the bars of the open truck, and the ng bof /bbsteel /bmocked every step of his pride.

“Still shoutingb, /bGarron?” Bex approached the truck with an almost cheerful bounce in his bstep/b. “Might want to save your breath. bIt’s /ba long bride/bb./bb” /b

Garron lunged forwardb, /brattling the bcuffs/bb. /b“You smug bastard! You’re just here to watch me squirm.”

“Nope,” bBex /bgrinned and climbed into the passenger seat. “I’m here to make sure your punishment isn’t cut short. Fair and bsquare/bb, /brememberb?/bb” /b

The truck lurched forward, turning onto the central avenue of the pack’s territory. Every shop, every bface /bturned as the loudspeaker atop the vehicle crackled to life.

“I, Gamma Garron of Direstone Keep Pack, formally confess to sabotaging the jointpetition by giving a falsified map Gamma ra. My actions put lives in danger. I brought dishonor to my pack-”

“Lies! Lies!” Garron screamed, pressing his forehead against the cold bars. “It wasn’t me! Turn that off, dammit!”

But the voice repeated, louder this time.

to

The crowd thickened. Someughed. Others took photos. Children pointed, and a few even threw bits of bread at the truck. like they were feeding a caged animal.

“I heard he’s bullied soldiers for years.”

“Didn’t someone say he took bribes from rogue traders once?”

“Serves him right.”

Garron slumped against the bars, face flushed with shame, voice fading into ragged curses.

From the top floor of the pack hotel, I stared down at the chaos below. Garron, for all his arrogance, now looked like a washed–out painting–pitiful and desperate.

“You knew it was him from the start, didn’t you?” I said without looking back.

Thorne’s reflection met mine in the window. “Eventually. But not before Triss took the fall.”

I turned around, my voice colder than I intended. “If I hadn’t pushed, she’d be rotting in a cell while he strutted around pretending to be the hero.”

““I wouldn’t have let that happen.”

“No?” I crossed my arms. “You think the truth would’ve risen on its own? That the pack would’ve cared enough to wait?”

Thorne’s jaw clenched. “You speak like someone who’s been through it.”

1 smiled bitterly. “Because I have.”

He stepped closer, eyes searching. “Then tell me. Tell me where those frostbites came from. Tell me why you keep looking 1/3

+33

at me like I’m a strangerb./b”

But before I could answerb, /bba /bfirm hand touched my shoulder.

“Let her bgo/b, Alpha.”

Cael’s voice bwas /blike ba /bbde /bdrawn in warning. He stepped bbetween /bus, guiding my hand out of Thorne’s grip.

“ra doesn’t bowe /byou exnations. She deserves bspace/bb. /bAnd bpeace/bb./bb” /b

Without another word, he wrapped an arm around me and led me baway/bb. /bI didn’t resist. I didn’t look back.

Garron’s punishment paradested five hoursb. /bBy the time the truck pulled back into the gates, his voice was ba /bwhisper, and his bwrists /bbwere /btorn red and raw.

But back in the Diaz household, the mood wasn’t one of reflection–it was rage.

“bShe’s /bruining everything!” Mi screamed, bursting into the kitchen like a hurricane.

Ruvan blinked over his tea. Orik didn’t flinch. Co set her cup down with a sigh.

“I told you, didn’t bI/b?b” /bMi snapped. “ra got Garron paraded like a criminal! How the hell did she manage that?”

A maid entered quietly with a teapot. Wrong move.

Mi grabbed the pot and slung it toward the girl, scalding liquid sshing across her cheek.

“OUT!” Mi shrieked. “OUT OF MY SIGHT!”

The maid fled, sobbing, hands cupped to her face.

“Unruly little brat,” Co muttered. “She’ll be fired by sundown.”

Then she turned her full attention back to Mi, her voice switching instantly to sugar. “Calm down, sweetie. Sit. We’ll figure something out.”

Mi refused. She paced like a caged tigress.

“That bitch is stealing Thorne back! We were so close–she’s crawling back into his heart!”

Orik finally spoke, picking at a biscuit. “ra’s only as powerful as the man behind her.”

“Cael,” Co murmured.

“Exactly.” Orik nodded. “We sever that tie, ra loses everything.”

“But how?” Co frowned. “Cael made her his Gamma.”

Orik smirked. “Come on, Mother. You don’t actually think she earned that title with talent, do you? Word on the street is Cael’s got his heart–and probably more–tangled up with her.”

Co’s brows lifted. “They’re loversb?/b”

“Everyone says so,” Orik shrugged. “And if Cael gets a taste of something better…b” /b

A silence fell.

bThen /bMi stepped forward, posture proudb, /blips curled in ba /bbsly /bsmile.

b“/bbThen /bbI’ll /bbbe /bthe better btaste/b.”

Co blinked. “You?b” /b

b“/bbWhy /blook belsewhere/bb?/bb” /bMi bsaid/bb, /bbher /bbvoice /boozing confidence. “No woman can outshine me when 1 set my sights. I’ll rip ra off her bpedestal /band btake /beverything she thinks she bhas/bb./bb” /b

Ruvan bfinally /blooked up. “And if bCael /bdoesn’t fall for it?”

“He will,” bMi /bhissed. “Men balways /bdo.”

I didn’t bhear /btheir plotting. bBut /bsomehow, bI /bcould bfeel /bit. The storm hadn’t bpassed/b. It was only shifting directions.

Chapter b83 /b