The Alpha's broken first daughter .

CHAPTER 7;Natilles POV

A sharp laugh ripped from me, hollow and harsh.

“Punish you?” I stepped forward, eyes locked on hers. “Do you think that’s why I’m angry? That punishment would fix this?”

Her lip trembled. She shook under my words.

“Is that all?” I pressed, my wolf rising inside me. “Was that your only betrayal?”

Her tears slid freely now. She froze, caught like prey.

“When I lost my place to the true daughter, when I still tried to hold onto what we had, why did you destroy me?” My voice cracked but I kept it firm.

Her wolf whimpered, faint and pitiful. It stabbed into the wound I carried for years.

“My wolf never showed aggression to yours,” I said, stepping closer, towering over her. “Never challenged your place here.”

Navy gasped, no words ready this time.

“You could have had everything,” I growled. “Without harming me. Without taking my life, my freedom, my future.”

Her wolf whimpered again. Her body shook, weak and unsteady.

I leaned in, voice low. “Tell me why, Navy. Why break not just the crystal but our bond too?”

Her tears ran, her emerald eyes swimming with guilt or sorrow, I could not tell which.

I waited.

But deep down, I knew she had no answer.

“You have to believe me, Natille. It wasn’t me.” Navy’s voice cracked as she reached for me, her fingers trembling in the air between us. “It was Ivy’s beta. They framed you.”

Her tears glittered under the dim light. Her small frame shook with every word, but I didn’t move. My chest stayed cold. My wolf shifted uneasily inside me, but it didn’t soften.

I tilted my head. “It wasn’t you?” My tone cut sharp, each word deliberate. “Then tell me. Where were you when the Alpha King’s daughter accused me? What were you doing when your wolf could have spoken and saved mine?”

Navy’s lips parted, but nothing came out. Her wolf whimpered in her silence, cowering behind her thin excuse of submission. She lowered her gaze like that would sway me. It didn’t.

“I… I was still new,” she whispered at last. Her voice shook, breaking apart. “My wolf was terrified. The royal wolves… their power froze me. I couldn’t fight it.”

I crossed my arms and let the silence drag out. My stare pinned her in place, peeling away her flimsy words.

“You were afraid?” I repeated, my voice low, disdain curling in my chest. “That’s what you tell yourself? Fear kept you quiet?”

Her shoulders sagged. “Natille, I didn’t mean to”

“You didn’t mean to?” My words lashed like claws. “You didn’t mean to stand by while they dragged me away? You didn’t mean to watch while I was whipped and burned?”

Her tears spilled fast now. She clutched her chest like her own heartbeat was too heavy. “I never wanted it, I swear! Sister, please”

I stepped forward. Her wolf shrank lower, its false submission leaking through her trembling. My eyes narrowed. “What I see, Navy, is that you chose your safety over me.”

Her breath hitched. She stumbled back, but she didn’t deny it.

“I can fix this,” she said quickly, desperate.

“I can give it all back, your place, your rights, even Florian. Whatever you want. Just forgive me. Please deep in my bones. She wasn’t here to confess. She was testing me, measuring what I still wanted.

“Give everything back?” I murmured, my voice calm, steady. I stepped closer until she flinched.

“Yes!” She nodded frantically. “All of it

Just say the word.”

I shook my head, lips curving into a humorless smile. “I don’t want your scraps. Keep your territory. Keep your mate.”

Her face crumpled. “Please, Natille…”

I stood tall above her. My voice cut like ice.

“There’s nothing to forgive. Because there’s nothing I want from you.”

Her wolf whimpered, caught between shame and fear.

“My loyalty is with Elder now,” I added flatly. “Not you. Not this pack.”

Navy trembled, still clinging to her fragile act.

“Leave,” I ordered. My voice left no space for argument.

For one heartbeat she froze, then she stumbled to the door. It shut behind her with a hollow click, but the weight of her lies stayed behind.

The room fell silent. I turned toward the window, letting the cold night air sting my skin. My thoughts tangled—rage, regret, betrayal. Her tears rang false. Her promises rang hollow.

“Nena,” I said at last.

She stepped from the shadows, straight-backed and watchful. Her gray eyes held steady under my stare.

“Your wolf,” I said, quiet but sharp. “It serves Ronan, doesn’t it?”

Her jaw tightened. A flicker crossed her face, but she didn’t look away. “You doubt me now?”

“You follow his orders,” I pressed. “You report to him.”

Her wolf stirred beneath her skin, a low growl curling in the silence. She lifted her chin. “It was his command. But I stand here by choice.”

I studied her eyes. No cracks. No fear.

“You may not believe me, My Lady,” she said, softer now, her wolf quieting. “But I am with you. Fury won’t change that.”

I turned back to the window, unreadable. My wolf shifted inside me, restless but silent.

Then the howl came—piercing, urgent. It split the night clean, dragging me still.

Nena stiffened, her wolf bristling hard. “It came from the sacred pool.”

I ran. My body burned, but my wolf drove me forward. Nena’s steps matched mine, steady and unshaken.

Cold air cut against my skin as we burst into the courtyard. Wolves crowded the ground, their cries sharp and chaotic.

“Navy,” someone hissed near me. “She fell through the ice of the moon pool.”

The words rippled through the pack, panic rising. I didn’t slow. My wolf growled deep inside, not for her, but for what was about to come.

“You’re not letting her drown.”

The words ripped out of me before I even saw the pool.

Wolves were shouting, claws scraping against ice, bodies pressing in close, but all I saw was Navy. She was half-submerged in the moon pool, thrashing hard enough to slice the water into sprays. Her auburn coat was plastered to her body, her cries breaking high and frantic.

The silver-laced current rippled against her, glowing with a deadly shimmer. My chest clenched. That water was sacred, blessed, poisoned for anyone too weak to fight it. Navy didn’t stand a chance.

“Nena” I gasped, but my legs didn’t wait for her. I shoved past the ring of wolves, their growls brushing against my ears like static.

My wolf stirred faintly inside me, weaker than ever but insistent. Go.

I dove.

The cold hit like knives. My skin burned, the silver stabbing deeper where old scars already lived. My breath ripped out in a silent scream, but I kept swimming.

Navy’s eyes flashed green through the water, wide and panicked. Her paws beat against the jagged edge of ice, claws sliding, slipping, tearing nothing. She wasn’t moving with aim. Just fighting against nothing, wearing herself out.

“Hold still!” My voice cracked as I reached for her.