Chapter 13
Aria’s POV
Just as we were about to leave, Bella burst into the hall, her face flushed with rage.
Her heels striking the marble floor like ice breaking. She planted herself between us and the door, designer dress rustling with each sharp
movement.
“Bella” Father warned, but she ignored him.
“No, Father. I won’t stand by while she ruins everything again.” Her hands trembled as she pointed at me, perfectly manicured nails flashing in the lading light. “You think we can just pretend the past never happened?”
Father moved between us, his broad shoulders blocking my view of Bella. The familiar scent of his cologne brought back a rush of memories pack meetings, training sessions, moments when he’d been proud of me. Before everything fell apart.
“That’s enough.” His voice carried the weight of alpha command, but Bella had always been immune to his authority when it came to me.
Is it? Her laugh held an edge of hysteria. “She abandoned the pack, shows up six years later with a half–breed son, and we’re supposed to welcome her back with open arms?”
I felt Lucas flinch beside me at her words. My free hand curled into a fist, years of fighting discipline barely containing my anget. “Be very careful about what you say next,” I said quietly.
Bella’s eyes narrowed, a cruel smile playing at her lips. She’d always known exactly where to strike to draw blood. “Or what? You’ll attack me? Prove once and for all that you’re nothing but a wild-
“I said enough!” Father’s roar shook the chandelier, making us all jump. For a moment, I caught a glimpse of the pain in his eyes before he masked it with alpha authority.
The tension in the room crackled like static before a storm, three generations of Silver Moon blood locked in an impossible standoff. And somewhere in the middle, my innocent son watching it all with those haunting green eyes.
“The past is behind us,” he said, his voice carrying that careful diplomatic tone I remembered from countless pack negotiations. For the sake of the pack’s future, we need to move forward. To heal old wounds.”
1
A harsh laugh cut through the air, and my spine stiffened automatically. I’d heard that sound before, six years ago in a hotel parking lot, watching my world crumble around me. Some things, it seemed, never changed. The sound still carried the same edge of cruel satisfaction, of victory
savored like fine wine.
“Move forward?” Bella’s lips curled into a sneer as she stalked toward me. Her designer heels clicked against the marble floor like dropping icicles. Each step was deliberate, meant to intimidate.
“Is that what this is about?” she continued, voice dripping with manufactured concern. “You think you can waltz back in here with your bastard wolf and reclaim your position?” Her gaze slid to Lucas, and every maternal instinct I possessed roared to life. A child of unknown blood, trying to stake a claim on Silver Moon’s throne?”
I clenched my fists, feeling my nails bite into my palms. “Bella,” I kept my voice low, controlled. A lighter’s warning. In the ring, I’d learned that the quieter the threat, the more serious the intent. Take back what you said about my son.”
“Did I strike a nerve?” She pressed closer, the expensive perfume she wore failing to mask the bitter scent of her jealousy. Her eyes gleamed with malicious triumph. “Don’t think your mother’s noble sacrifice for Shadow Fang’s heir gives you any right to return. You’re nothing but a stray who’s forgotten her place.”
“Enough!” Father’s voice cracked through the room like summer lightning. The alpha command in it made the air vibrate, stirring ancient magic in the very stones of the house. “You will not speak to your sister this way!”
“Sister?” The word dripped from Bella’s lips like poison. She gestured at me with elegant disdain, every movement calculated for maximum effect. “A pack outcast? A slut who can’t even name her child’s father?” Her laugh was sharp enough to draw blood. “She’s no sister of mine.”
I met her rage with the stillness I’d perfected in the ring. When facing a stronger opponent, sometimes the best defense was absolute calm. “For a stepdaughter,” I said softly, each word precise as a knife strike, “you seem overly concerned with matters of true bloodline.”
1/2
Chapter 13
The barb struck deeper than any physical blow. I watched the color drain from her face, watched the old insecurity flash in her eyes before she could hide it. For all her schemes and manipulations, she could never change the simple truth I was Marcus’s true daughter, born of his beloved first mate. She was just the replacement, Aurora’s consolation prize, forever trying to fill shoes that would never quite fit.
“Watch your mongrel pup carefully,” she spat as she turned to leave, designer dress swishing like angry serpents around her ankles. The afternoon light caught the silver streak in her honey–blonde hair, a mark of her Blue Blood pack heritage that she wore like a crown. “Pray he never awakens his wolf nature. The entire pack will know just how impure his blood truly is.”
The threat hung in the air like smoke, acrid and choking. I felt Lucas press against my leg, his small body trembling slightly. My hand found his shoulder automatically, offering what protection I could.
Father’s eyes met mine across the space between us, and I saw something there that might have been regret. The afternoon sun caught the silver in his hair, highlighting the new lines around his eyes…
The silence stretched between us, heavy with six years of unspoken words and untold truths. Somewhere in the distance, a door slammed – Bella’s final punctuation mark.
“Mom?” he whispered, his voice carrying in the heavy silence. “Are we still welcome here?”
PORT COMMENT
Chapter Comments
why
she didn’t abandon the pack when she was banished. why is she even meeting with her father?
LilMammu 05
why does she not tell him what Bella and Emma did? she remembers that, and if she knows who his dad is she should let him show is abilities because that would shut her up for good and because they were supposed to be married anyway it would take away the whole
View All Comments >
