Chapter 3
772 Words
Cael feigned confusion. He glanced at me with a slight furrow between his brows and spoke in an icy tone, "Ma'am, I truly have no idea who you are. I'm a patient man... but that doesn't give you free rein to spread lies about my wife and son over and over. The Frostthorn Unified Pack doesn't take crap from anyone!"
Lia's cheeks puffed up with rage, her eyes wide with disbelief. "Dad, what are you even talking about? You don't recognize me or mom anymore?"
The onlookers erupted into bursts of mocking laughter.
"C'mon, kid, you're really committed to this little act of yours. Do you get a kick out of playing make-believe?"
"Kid, take my advice. Grab your mom and scram before Alpha Cael loses his temper. You don't want to mess with the Frostthorn Unified Pack—you can't afford the consequences."
Some people in the crowd were even more ruthless, yelling out.
"This girl's nothing but a liar! They should strip her of her spot in the Cub Awakening Trial!"
"Yeah, that's exactly right!"
Lia froze up, terrified. She grabbed a fistful of Cael's sleeve, her voice cracking as she begged.
"Dad, what's wrong with you? Why are you pretending you don't know us? Can't you hear how horribly they're talking about mom?"
Cael brushed his daughter's hand off sharply. The force sent her stumbling backward two steps, her face crumpling into a heartbroken, wounded expression.
Right then, Catherine stepped forward, lacing her fingers through Cael's on purpose. She stared straight at me, her eyes sharp with unmistakeable, gloating defiance.
It clicked for me instantly—Catherine knew exactly what was going on. This whole fake happy family act playing out right now. It was exactly the scenario she'd been dreaming of.
I reached out immediately and pulled Lia behind me.
"Lia, if your dad doesn't want to acknowledge you, you don't have to acknowledge him ever again, starting right now."
As soon as the words left my mouth, Cael's eyebrow twitched in an almost imperceptible frown. His voice popped into my head again through our telepathic link.
"Freya, I already explained this to you! I'm just playing dad to Kane for one day. Can't you have a little empathy for once? If I admit who you are, how are Catherine and Kane supposed to face everyone after this? How's Kane even gonna go to school without getting harassed? None of this would've happened if you hadn't insisted on coming to the Lunar Pact Alliance and making a huge scene today. You deserve every bit of the yelling you've gotten. Now take Lia home and think long and hard about what you did wrong!"
I let out a sharp, bitter laugh. It looked like all the constant praise Cael got from outsiders for being the Alpha of the Frostthorn Unified Pack had gone straight to his head. He'd completely forgotten who actually called the shots around the pack.
Just then, the event Miles stepped in with a placating smile, trying to mediate and get us to stop arguing.
"The Cub Awakening Trial is starting right now!"
As we headed toward the wilderness trial grounds, Catherine deliberately sidled up to me, a smug grin tugging at the corner of her mouth.
"A useless waste of space like you only deserves to get dumped. A career-driven woman like me is the only one good enough for a successful alpha like Cael. Be smart, grab your little deadweight, and get the hell out of here!"
My wolf spirit, Leila, popped half her head out, too stunned to process it. "Useless woman? Freya? Is she talking about you...?"
I shrugged. I could spot her inferior, pathetically weak wolf soul with a single glance. Career my ass. Was she talking about her performance between the sheets?
Heh... come to think of it, that was probably exactly it.
Just a minute earlier, the tribe elders had shot me a message. Catherine had only gotten her position because Cael pulled strings for her. She did absolutely nothing around the tribe, but she hogged a ridiculous amount of valuable resources.
Looked like Catherine only knew I was Cael's wife. She had no clue I was the actual head of the Frostthorn Unified Pack.
The tribe's council of elders already had my orders and demands. They were rushing over as fast as they could.
I wasn't sticking around just for my daughter's awakening trial. I was here to rip the fake, two-faced masks right off Cael and Catherine in front of every last person here!
I was going to get the justice my daughter and I were owed.
- Writer
