At the annual party of Brian’s pack, his “best friend” Vanessa leaned against him, smirking. “Emma, you’re not actually an orphan, are you?” My heart skipped a beat. How did she know? I had never told anyone about my past. Before I could even process this, she kept going. “What, cat got your tongue? I heard your mother was a homewrecker who forced her way into a rich family, and you’ve been living as a sugar baby ever since you turned eighteen. You only hooked up with Brian recently, right?” “I know this is our first time meeting, but I know all about your dirty little secrets.” I stared at her. She didn’t actually know me. Vanessa gasped, quickly covering her mouth as if she had accidentally let something slip. She looked at Brian and stuck her tongue out playfully. “Oh my gosh, Brian. I totally forgot that daughters of mistresses hate talking about their past. Please don’t be mad at me.” The smile froze on Brian’s face. Just a second ago, he was bragging to his pack members about how hopelessly in love with him I was. I swallowed my shock and forced myself to calm down. I had run away from home to escape an arranged political marriage with Sam Collins, the heir of the Shadowfang Pack. I lied about being an orphan because I didn’t want anyone to find out I was actually the daughter of Alpha Edward Sterling, the leader of the powerful Silvermoon Pack. Vanessa claimed my mother was a homewrecker. But my father, Alpha Edward, was famous across the entire werewolf realm for worshipping his wife. If Vanessa had actually investigated me, she would never have made up such a stupid lie. She didn’t know anything. She had only somehow found out I wasn’t an orphan, and she had pulled the rest of the story out of her ass. Realizing this, I relaxed. I looked at her face. The more I stared, the more familiar she looked. I felt like I had seen her somewhere before, but I couldn’t quite place it. Whatever. She was just bluffing. But the moment Vanessa finished speaking, the envious looks the pack members had been giving Brian turned into judging stares. One of the guys tried to laugh it off and save face. “Come on, Vanessa. You must have the wrong girl. Emma looks like she comes from a decent family. She’s not like that.” Vanessa didn’t back down. She just sighed dramatically. “Well, her mother was smart, wasn’t she? Selling her body to a rich Alpha just for the money.” “But honestly, I could never respect a girl like that.” I sneered inwardly. She really had no idea who she was messing with. If she knew I was the daughter of the Silvermoon Alpha, she wouldn’t dare utter a single syllable of this trash. If my father, Alpha Edward, heard this, the entire werewolf world would tremble. Brian’s face darkened. He looked at me, then at Vanessa, his brows furrowing. Seeing his hesitation, Vanessa shrunk further into Brian’s chest. “Brian, did I say something wrong? I’m sorry. I’m just too honest. I don’t know how to play mind games like other girls.” I clenched my fists, holding back the urge to slap her across the room. If I hit her here, she would play the victim card and make my life hell in his pack. Distracted by my anger, my hand tilted. A splash of red wine spilled from my glass, staining Vanessa’s white dress. She shrieked, looking incredibly offended. “Emma! Are you seriously getting physical just because I told the truth?” “I mean, keeping up such a perfect lie must be exhausting. I almost admire you for it.” Brian’s face turned icy cold. He grabbed some napkins from the table and began wiping Vanessa’s dress with extreme care. Then, he glared at me. “Vanessa is just brutally honest. She doesn’t know how to sugarcoat things. What is wrong with you?” “Apologize to Vanessa. Right now!” I almost laughed out loud. Vanessa had just dragged my mother’s name through the mud, and Brian had stood there doing nothing. Now, because of an accidental wine spill, he was losing his mind. Vanessa clung to Brian, her eyes pooling with tears. “It’s fine, Brian. Let’s just pretend I made a mistake. It was just a joke.” I stared at her, my voice dropping to a freezing register. “You said I’m not an orphan. Why don’t you tell everyone who my parents are then? What is my mother’s name?” Panic flashed in Vanessa’s eyes, but she quickly masked it with attitude. “I… how am I supposed to remember their names? Everyone in the high society packs knows your mother was a side chick!” My inner sneer grew deeper. Just as I thought. She couldn’t even name my mother. She was completely fabricating this. “Next time you make an accusation, bring receipts. I don’t find your jokes funny.” I said this to warn Brian. He shouldn’t believe her without proof. Brian hesitated. He slowly stopped wiping Vanessa’s dress and pulled his hand back. Vanessa’s body stiffened. She looked up at him, looking like a kicked puppy. “I’m sorry, Emma. I just heard it from someone else. I didn’t verify it.” I stared at her coldly. “Who did you hear it from? Call them. Let’s get them on FaceTime right now.” I expected her to choke on her words, but her expression suddenly turned into one of pity. “Emma, even if you did those things, you don’t have to deny it so aggressively. I wasn’t going to tell the whole pack anyway.” The surrounding pack members began whispering, throwing disgusted looks my way. A girl sitting next to Vanessa laughed mockingly. “I guess girls with loose morals always have it easy. Just spread your legs and you get a ticket to the top.” “Unlike Vanessa and me. We’re just simple girls looking for real love.” Brian was a man who cared about his pride more than anything. He had brought me to this annual party to show me off. Now that his pride was being dragged through the dirt, he slammed back a whole glass of whiskey. Across the table, a guy named Mike mocked him openly. “Well, Brian is a lucky guy. Other guys spend money on their girls. Brian gets a girl that the whole town has already paid for… haha…” “Shut up!” Brian snapped. He threw a hard punch, smashing Mike’s glasses right off his face. I felt absolutely no satisfaction. I knew he wasn’t defending my honor. He was just mad that his own ego was bruised. Before Mike could swing back, others jumped in to break it up. “Alright, alright! Don’t ruin the party. Let’s change the subject.”
With everyone’s eyes on them, Mike lowered his fists, swallowing his anger for now. Someone suggested a game: share the most loyal thing someone in the pack had done for you. The best story would win a bottle of rare liquor. The first few stories were typical pack stuff. An Alpha settling a border dispute, or an ally pack sending emergency supplies. When it was Vanessa’s turn, she looked at me with a triumphant smirk. “Early last month, I got too drunk at a business dinner. I called Brian in the middle of the night.” “He drove all the way back from his business trip just to take care of me the entire night…” “I only found out later that his girlfriend was trying to reach him that same night.” The table erupted in murmurs of admiration. “Brian really is a loyal guy.” “He always comes through when it matters!” Amidst the applause, my entire body went numb. Cold sweat broke out across my skin. That exact night, I had been attacked by rogue wolves on the edge of the pack’s territory. My phone had been smashed during the fight. The only number I had memorized was Brian’s. But when I finally managed to call him from a payphone, he had simply muttered that he was busy and hung up. I had almost died out there. The next day, Brian had literally gotten on his knees in front of me, slapping his own face. “Emma, I was just so stressed about planning our mating ceremony that I neglected the border patrol. I swear I didn’t know it was that serious.” I looked at Brian now. He avoided my gaze, his jaw clenched tight. The crowd started chanting for Vanessa and Brian to sing a song. Soon, the chant turned into, “Kiss her! Kiss her!” Vanessa blushed and pushed Brian playfully. Brian laughed, wrapped his arm around her waist, and pulled her in for a kiss on her forehead. The crowd cheered and whistled. I watched them, completely numb. The spotlight operator, following the crowd’s energy, suddenly swung the beam right onto me. The whispers started again. “She is gorgeous, though.” “Beauty is cheap. Who knows how many guys have been in there?” Vanessa raised her voice so everyone could hear. “Oh, don’t worry about Emma’s finances, guys. She has plenty of ‘generous friends’ supporting her.” She gave the room a knowing wink. A collective, dirty chuckle rippled through the men in the room. The way they looked at me made me feel like a piece of meat on display. I stared at Vanessa, my voice deadly quiet. “You should watch what comes out of your mouth. Some words carry a heavy price.” She rolled her eyes, pulled out her phone, and turned the screen toward the crowd. “I’m not lying. See for yourselves.” It was a photoshopped picture of me entering a high-end hotel room with several different men. Laughter and mocking comments flooded the hall like a wave. “She looks so innocent, but she’s actually wild!” “Brian, man, you’ve got a whole forest growing on your head!” I stood up to speak, but before I could, Brian rushed over and slapped me hard across the face. “Emma!” He snatched Vanessa’s phone, his eyes burning with absolute rage. “I saw the original file of this photo! It’s not photoshopped! You’ve been lying to me this whole time!” I didn’t say a word. I just slowly stood up straight, touching my burning cheek. I didn’t even want to explain myself anymore. My heart was completely dead. Now, I was calculating something much more practical. This slap was going to cost him everything. Vanessa quickly slid her hand onto Brian’s shoulder, her voice dripping with fake sympathy. “It’s okay, Brian. Girls get wild when they’re young. It’s normal to make mistakes.” “Unlike us. We only know how to stay loyal to one man.” I looked at Vanessa’s heavily contoured “no-makeup” look and sneered. Once I washed that fake face off, everyone would see what a monster she really was.
The crowd started chanting for them to sing again. I watched them walk up to the stage hand-in-hand, lost in thought. What bothered me the most was how Vanessa knew I wasn’t an orphan. I had never told anyone. Not even Brian. I pulled out my phone and sent a Snapchat message to my father. [Dad, look up a girl named Vanessa Lane. She’s in the Ironclaw Pack.] On stage, Brian dropped to one knee, singing Bruno Mars’s “Marry You” to Vanessa with fake adoration. I felt a pang of emptiness. When did this man, who once seemed so bright and heroic, become so pathetic? I had met Brian shortly after running away from home. To escape the political marriage my father arranged with Sam Collins, I had slipped out of the Silvermoon territory under the cover of night. I was young and naive. I thought I could survive on my own. But I underestimated the dangers of the neutral zones. On my third night, I was surrounded by a pack of feral rogue wolves in the middle of nowhere. Their glowing green eyes closed in on me through the dark, low growls vibrating in their chests. I fought with everything I had, but I was outnumbered. I was covered in deep gashes, the scent of my blood driving them into a frenzy. Just when I thought I was going to die, a dark shadow crashed into the pack. It was Brian. He had shifted into his half-wolf form, tearing open the throat of the nearest rogue and kicking another ten feet away. He stood in front of me, covered in blood, refusing to take a single step back. The rogues were finally intimidated by his sheer brutality and dragged their dead away into the shadows. He turned around. Under the moonlight, I saw his face. Young, handsome, covered in blood, but wearing a tired, gentle smile. “You’re safe now.” He brought me back to his pack’s town and got me medical help. When I woke up, he was sleeping by my bedside, his head resting near my hand. At that moment, I thought he was my savior sent from heaven. I lied and told him I was an orphan with nowhere to go. He didn’t doubt me. He took me in, found me a place to live, and showed me around. Back then, he was my hero. On the grassy hills behind the town, he confessed his love to me, promising he would only ever love me. But once we moved closer to the pack’s inner circle, Brian forgot his promises. During our dates, he would leave the movie theater at the climax just because Vanessa called. When he got drunk, he would mumble, “Let me drink for Vanessa, don’t pressure her.” His family dinners never included me, but Vanessa was always guest of honor. I suddenly felt completely disgusted by it all. I grabbed my purse to leave when my phone buzzed. It was a text from my dad. [Got her. Vanessa Lane, Ironclaw Pack.] [She is currently sleeping with at least six different men. One of them is someone you know—Alpha Marcus Harrison.] [Last month, she got sent to the hospital because of some rough play with those guys and caught an STD. Alpha Harrison begged me for hush money. He was trying to close a business deal with the Silvermoon Pack and didn’t want a scandal to ruin it. I paid the bill for him.] I stared at the screen, my breathing turning shallow. So that was it. Alpha Harrison’s hush money had come from my father. No wonder Alpha Harrison had looked so nervous earlier. He was terrified I would expose his dirty secrets and ruin his business. As for Vanessa, she had no idea who she was playing with. She had just gotten lucky, leeching off a few rich Alphas. Now she had her sights set on Brian, the heir of the Ironclaw Pack. And I was the obstacle she needed to clear. She had somehow found out I wasn’t an orphan and decided to use it as a weapon. The cheating and sugar baby rumors were entirely made up. After all, lies are free. As long as she could ruin my reputation, she won. My phone buzzed again. [Do you need me to send the Silvermoon warriors?] I replied: [No. I’ll handle this myself.] I locked my phone, a cold smile playing on my lips. Vanessa was completely done for.
The song on stage ended to a thunderous round of applause. Vanessa and Brian held hands, bowing to the crowd. When she walked down, she looked at me, pretending to be shocked. “Emma! You’re still here?” She blinked her big eyes, acting innocent. “Wow, your skin really is thick, isn’t it?” Brian frowned, stepping closer to her and creating distance between us. “Don’t call her Emma, Vanessa. We don’t know if she even deserves that name.” My heart was cold, but my face remained a mask of calm. Vanessa’s eyes flared with pure triumph. “True. A mating bond is a lifetime commitment. You can’t be marrying someone who might bring STDs into the pack lineage.” Brian’s face paled. “Vanessa, don’t say things like that.” Vanessa flinched as if frightened. “I’m sorry, Brian! I’m being too blunt again.” “I shouldn’t talk about other people’s dirty laundry.” The moment she said that, everyone sitting near me dragged their chairs away. They looked at me as if I were a walking plague. Brian’s knuckles turned white. His voice shook. “Where did you hear that?” “From Emma’s old flames, of course. They weren’t exactly careful when they were together.” Vanessa tapped her head as if remembering something. “Oh! One of them actually sent me a photo.” The moment Vanessa pulled up the photo—a picture of me in a suggestive pose with a man—I snapped a quick photo of her screen and sent it to my dad. Brian completely lost his mind. He lunged forward, grabbing me by the collar and yelling in my face. “Emma! You dirty b*tch! You refused to sleep with me before the mating ceremony, but you were out there getting dirty with other guys?!” “If I knew you were this cheap, I would have let those rogue wolves tear you apart three years ago!” The lack of oxygen made my head spin. I struggled to break his grip. Looking at this face that I had loved for three years, now twisted with ugly rage, I felt a deep ache in my chest. “Brian,” I choked out, “the only thing I lied about was my background. I never cheated on you! Vanessa is the one lying! She—” *SMASH!* A wine bottle shattered against the side of my head. It was one of the guys who had been kissing up to Vanessa. “You cheap wh*re! How dare you try to defame Vanessa? She is our pack’s princess!” I tried to defend myself, but two men pinned my arms behind my back. A girl from the pack stepped up, grabbing my chin and squeezing it painfully. “So, how much did this pretty face cost to maintain?” The guy next to her laughed dirtily. “Let’s see if the rest of her body is as fake as her face.” My vision blurred as I looked at Brian. I held on to a tiny, pathetic hope that he would step in and save me, just like he did years ago. But he just turned his face away coldly. My heart died completely. Just as the man’s hand was about to touch my shirt, a commotion broke out near the entrance. “Alpha Harrison is here!” Through the haze of blood and wine dripping down my face, I saw the crowd parting for Alpha Marcus Harrison. I couldn’t believe my luck. Brian grabbed my arm, dragging me toward the exit. “Emma, we are done! Get the hell out of my pack!” I ripped my arm out of his grip. “I’m leaving. But not before I ask one question.” “What else do you have to say?!” Brian hissed. Across the room, Alpha Harrison was raising his glass to the VIP table. I looked at Luna Elizabeth Harrison, who was smiling elegantly next to him. I pointed directly at Vanessa, my voice cutting through the noise of the hall. “Luna Elizabeth! Did you know that girl is your husband’s favorite side chick?” The entire hall fell into a dead, suffocating silence.
🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “465624”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster
Leave a Reply