“Because I don’t recall anyone apologizing for trying to brand me a murderer.”
The air dropped ten degrees.
I kept smiling, soft and sweet. “If I hadn’t gone to the Enforcers myself, I’d still be carrying that title-‘the wolf who killed her aunt.’ Seems worth at least one apology, doesn’t it?”
No one spoke.
Even the fire crackling in the hearth seemed to quiet.
Let them squirm.
I’d played the scapegoat for too long.
And if they thought tonight’s dinner would end in forgiveness, they’d soon learn-
I wasn’t the obedient little cub they’d buried years ago.
Aysel’s POV
The tension in the Moonvale Pack’s dining hall was thick enough to taste, like the metallic tang of blood just before a hunt. My family sat stiffly, each one pretending this confrontation was ordinary. But I knew better.
I’ve always been the thorn in their sides, the wolf that bristles when poked. Every argument, every clash with them, had always ended with me retreating, teeth bared, leaving them unsettled. Today, though, I wasn’t stepping back.
Celestine, ever eager to mend fences, spoke first, stepping into the fray. “Aysel… I’m sorry. I speak for our family. This-this chaos tonight… it’s because I was injured. Don’t blame my parents.”
I let out a low growl of irritation. Celestine, always too innocent, too fake, too weak for my tastes. Luna Evelyn, her mother, quickly jumped in, fanning the flames of blame elsewhere. They all forgot me, as usual. I let my amber eyes sweep over the room, landing on Alpha Remus-my so-called father.
He cleared his throat, voice gruff. “This was a misunderstanding, Aysel. Speak your mind-whatever you wish, I’ll provide it.”
I tilted my head, letting the corner of my mouth curl in a faint, dangerous smile. “Shares…” I dragged the word, letting it dangle like a predator’s paw over trembling prey. The faces around me shifted instantly, a ripple of unease spreading. I waited, letting the silence sharpen like claws. “Even if I asked, you wouldn’t give them.”
I knew the truth. Every Moonvale Pack’s heir received five percent of the Pack’s wealth when they came of age. My portion had long been promised to Celestine, a debt they claimed I owed. Five percent-worthless against the life her mother had saved.
Remus’ eyes darkened, betraying a flicker of unease at my disdain. I pressed my advantage.
“And if you’re feeling guilty,” I said, voice low and deliberate, “then transfer my grandmother’s house to me.”
The house wasn’t grand, not by Alpha standards, but it was mine by blood and memory. Its value lay in the past-the memories of a woman who had never demanded I defer to Celestine.
Remus avoided my eyes. “We’ll discuss this after your coronation,” he said, the faintest tremor in his voice betraying him.
I laughed softly, venom beneath the sound. “There will be no coronation. Damon Blackwood and I are done. You told me I could ask for anything… yet not one of my requests will be met. Is this how you apologize?”
His anger flared. He slammed his massive wolf-like fists on the table. The room shook with the impact, hot steam of the food swirling like mist around us. “Your temper, Aysel! Coronations are not trivial! I will not allow it to be canceled. No house, no negotiation!”
I let my claws extend beneath the table, invisible to them, trembling with restrained fury. “The house is mine by right. You have no claim!”
“Because I am your father!” Remus bellowed, eyes blazing. “And it sits with your mother,
Luna Evelyn! Do you know how intertwined the Blackwoods and Moonvales are? Canceling this betrothal has consequences!”
I bared my teeth, letting a growl vibrate from my chest. “And what does any of that have to do with me? I’ve never benefited from Moonvale business.”
Remus, cornered by my calm fury, stammered, “Then let your sister mate. Transfer the house to her. She is, after all, your grandmother’s granddaughter.”
That was the final provocation. I rose, my height towering over the table, fur bristling along my spine, a wolf’s fury behind my gaze. I threw myself into the table, sending dishes, soup, and steam cascading over them. Chaos erupted.
I glared at my family, teeth bared, eyes burning red. Every word I spat carried venom: “Give it to her… does she deserve it?”
Luna Evelyn spun to shield Celestine, but even her quick reflexes couldn’t save the younger wolf from a splash of my fury-steaming broth clinging to Celestine’s hair. Her face twisted in shock and hurt. “Aysel… even if you hate me… she is still my grandmother too. Why speak like this?”
Lykos spat on the floor, disgust evident. “Ignore her. She’s mad.”
Fenrir barked his warning, voice harsh. “Traitorous daughter! You dare upend the table in front of your parents? What next?”
Remus’ roar filled the hall, shaking the walls. Luna Evelyn flailed in panic, while Fenrir glanced between Celestine and me, torn between protection and fury. The servants waited at the threshold, frozen in fear, unsure whether to intervene.
I could see the anger, the shock, the helplessness in their faces-and I felt nothing but a grim satisfaction. They had ignored me, underestimated me, and now the truth of their underestimation slashed across the room like teeth sinking into flesh.
When I crossed the threshold, I didn’t look back. “The house of your grandmother…” Remus thundered.
“I don’t want it,” I spat, voice steady, though my chest heaved and my hands trembled slightly from the exertion.
I wouldn’t touch anything Celestine had tainted-Damon would, and so would this house. Not if it became a blade aimed at me. My grandmother’s gift was hers alone, and I would not allow it to bind me to their whims.
My steps were measured, deliberate, wolf-like, every stride echoing dominance and control. My back was straight, my head high, though my eyes were wet and my claws trembled.
I whispered to myself as I moved forward into the night, a vow as sharp as a fang: Aysel, don’t look back. Move forward.
Aysel’s POV
The car purred out from the Vale estate garage. By the time I maneuvered it back onto the road, there she was-Celestine, standing right in front of my wheels.
Her skirt was still stained, her hair plastered with remnants of our last encounter. Yet that smug, victorious aura clung to her like a wolf marking territory. I could almost see the act she must have spun inside the house, wrapping the Moonvale elders in her honeyed words so they’d feel she, the victim, still cared for her “poor little sister.” The picture would have looked like perfect domestic harmony-fatherly pride, filial obedience, sibling camaraderie.
I killed the engine. For a long second I sat there, palms white on the wheel, watching the shadowed driveway beyond the open doors. Then I opened the door and stepped out.
Two wolves, squared off, a heartbeat apart.
“Aysel Vale.” She purred it, the grin razor-sharp. “I told you, I’ll take back everything that belongs to you, one piece at a time. That’s what you owe me.”
I stepped closer until the moonlight carved her cheekbones. “Collecting someone else’s scraps-is that victory to you? Do you cherish every thing I touched just because I touched it? Celestine… are you a monster, or just insecure?”
Her practiced mask flickered for a breath before she reassembled it. “Humph. Speak as you will. You want Grandmother’s house, don’t you? Even when the Moonvale shares were transferred to me, you never cared so much. But when I had my ‘accident,’ Mother promised me that small estate. Three days later, the deed was mine. A seer said my life path was frail-so I needed something substantial to anchor me. The house was perfect.” She tilted her head, letting the venom sink in. “Isn’t it funny? Something you coveted for years… simply fell into my paws.”
I felt a hot wire of anger tighten behind my ribs. I remembered Remus’ lips, the way he’d murmured, “Give it to your sister.” Not random-preordained. Marriage or no marriage, that house had been promised away. Every negotiation had been a stall.
“You think I’ll let you have what I’ve clawed for?” I said, low and close to her. My fingers found her neck before she could fully react-enough to make her eyes go wide, to show the panic I wanted to taste.
She flinched, hands coming up. “Aysel-” Her voice trembled.
Shadows of that cursed summer flashed behind my lids: peach trees in bloom, cicadas screaming, the basket of herbs, pill bottles scattered, Grandmother gone, Celestine’s grin like a wolf in the kill. Childhood innocence shredded. The world had frozen mid-spin.
I loosened my grip and stepped back, fangs bared in the moonlight. “You staged a car accident to frame me,” I said. “You only had the courage to scratch your own arm.” My voice was cold as river ice. “Tonight, you’ll pay.”
Her hands fumbled, then she lunged for the house-stumbling, desperate. She intended to make a scene, to return with a story and wounds to show off. I followed without hurry. When she was halfway across the drive, I slid into my car, doors thudding shut, the engine purring alive like a caged predator.
I had noticed how much that upcoming dance competition with Aine mattered to her. Her focus, her ambition, her pride-it was predictable. So I acted.
I pulled forward slowly, giving the façade of leaving. She turned-just a heartbeat-and I saw the rehearsed victim in her face, the same ugly grin I’d seen a dozen times in mirrors and crowded rooms. That was the moment I chose.
I drove at deliberate speed. The impact was precise and terrible. Celestine screamed as metal met bone; she crumpled, one leg folding under her, hands clawing at the asphalt. Blood bloomed dark against the grit, and glass glittered like broken stars around her.
The cameras couldn’t catch this. Otherwise, she wouldn’t dare flaunt her ugly grin at me.
I killed the engine, opened the door, and stepped out only far enough to crouch beside her, close enough that she could see my face. I traced the dark marks on her throat with a fingertip, calm and methodical. “You came hunting me for sport,” I said softly. “You never expected someone to bite back.”
She tried to scramble, hands clawing at the asphalt. “Aysel! What… what are you doing?”
I leaned close. “You snuck out to confront me alone… planning to return home with your story rehearsed, wounds to show off. How thoughtful. But I’ve never spared a wolf who comes hunting me for sport. You know me, sister.”
Her eyes were wide, pupils dilated with pure, metallic fear.
“Don’t you fear our Alpha? Don’t you care if they disown you?” she whimpered.
I tilted my head, claws flexing. “Does it even matter now?”
Her scream tore through the night-a raw, ragged howl. Pain and terror painted her expression as she clawed at the ground, helpless.
By the time the Moonvale Pack arrived, it was over. Celestine lay crumpled, broken, blood mixing with shards of glass from our previous scuffle. And I? I vanished into the night, fangs glinting, the car engine purring like a predator satisfied.
The house-my grandmother’s gift-remained mine alone, untouched by her claws. Even if it later fell to her by some deceit, she would never lay paw on it while I drew breath.
Trade and negotiation were the language of Alpha politics, the kind I’d learned on my own since leaving Moonvale at eighteen. My savings, my strength, my cunning-they were my weapons, far sharper than any silver blade.
The thought of being bound to Damon Blackwood, to tangle the rest of my life with his pack… unacceptable. Grandmother’s love was meant to bless, not bind.
Hours later, I arrived at the estate at the foot of the mountains-the small, secluded courtyard of my grandmother’s choosing.
My senses flared in the moonlight; every shadow whispered memory, every breeze carried the scent of the past.
For my grandparents, this place was a haven. For me… it was home.
Aysel’s POV
Before Celestine ever entered our pack, I was the only daughter of the Moonvale bloodline-the Alpha’s child, born under the full moon, kissed by the Goddess herself.
Then one day, she appeared.
A trembling little thing with pale eyes and a sob story everyone adored. The pack whispered that Celestine’s mother, my aunt Yuna, had died because of me-because I ran off chasing a stray wolf pup on my Birthday, forcing her to come after me. The crash that took her life wasn’t fate, they said-it was my sin.
More Kickass Werewolf Reads
Dive into our collection of free werewolf romance novels—where fierce Alphas, daring heroines, and heart-stopping twists await. Every story burns with forbidden desire, loyalty, and destiny. Don’t wait—here’s a world where love bites hard and nothing is stronger than the call of the mate.
Leave a Reply