Chapter 2

The night air bit at my skin as I crouched behind the ornamental shrubs outside the central territories' pack registry office. Three days had passed since I'd seen Thomas with his other family—his real family. My hands trembled, but not from the cold. Lyra, my wolf, stirred within me, her presence stronger than it had been in years.

*We need proof,* she whispered. *Something he can't deny.*

I nodded, though there was no one to see. The registry office housed all official pack documentation—including the records of who truly ruled these lands. If Thomas was indeed the Alpha King as Lily had said, there would be evidence here.

The building was quiet at this late hour, with just a single bored guard making rounds every twenty minutes. I'd been watching long enough to know his pattern. As his footsteps faded around the corner, I darted from my hiding place to the service entrance, using the keycard I'd lifted from an unsuspecting janitor earlier that day.

The door clicked open, and I slipped inside, my heart hammering against my ribs.

*Calm,* Lyra urged. *Steady.*

The registry room smelled of old paper and ink—the traditional record-keeping methods our kind still preferred for official documents. I moved silently between the shelves, my fingers tracing the labels until I found what I needed: Northern Territories Command Structure.

I pulled out the heavy binder with trembling hands and opened it under the dim emergency lighting. There, on the first page, was Thomas's official seal—not as the struggling Alpha of a minor territory, but as Alpha King of the entire Northern region. The document listed twenty-three packs under his direct command, with annual revenues that made me dizzy.

Three hundred dollars a week. For ten years, that's what he'd given me—what he'd told me was all our struggling territory could afford.

The holo-recorder I'd purchased with my carefully hoarded savings whirred softly as I captured image after image. Thomas's seal. The territory maps. The command decrees bearing his signature. Each photo was another nail in the coffin of our marriage.

*More,* Lyra growled, her voice growing stronger with each piece of evidence. *We need more.*

I replaced the binder and moved to the next section: Residence Records. There it was—official documentation of the Alpha King's residence, the very mansion I'd seen Thomas enter. Listed as occupants: Alpha King Thomas Mitchell, his chosen mate Vanessa Blackwood, and their son Marcus Mitchell.

Chosen mate. Not Luna. Not true mate. The distinction made my stomach turn.

The guard's footsteps returned, earlier than expected. I quickly photographed the page and slipped out through the service entrance, my heart pounding but my mind strangely calm.

I had one more stop to make.

---

The Alpha King's estate loomed before me, its white marble gleaming under the moonlight. I'd parked my truck several blocks away and approached on foot, keeping to the shadows. The high walls surrounding the property were meant to keep out intruders, but I wasn't trying to get in—I just needed visual confirmation.

I found a spot behind a decorative boulder across the street, my body hidden by shadows but with a clear view of the main gate. The night was quiet except for the occasional passing car and the distant howl of a wolf on patrol.

I didn't have to wait long.

The distinctive purr of a Range Rover engine broke the silence. The gates swung open automatically, and there it was—Thomas's vehicle, the same one I'd seen three days ago. As it passed under the security lights, I caught a glimpse of his profile behind the wheel, his face relaxed in a way I hadn't seen in years.

My holo-recorder captured it all: the vehicle, the license plate, Thomas's face, the gates closing behind him as he disappeared into the private garage of his mansion.

Something shifted inside me as I watched. It wasn't just pain anymore—it was something harder, colder. More determined.

*We have what we need,* Lyra said, her voice stronger than I'd ever heard it. For a moment, I felt her presence surge, an aura of power that made my skin tingle.

I slipped away before the patrol wolves could catch my scent, moving through the shadows with a grace I didn't know I possessed.

---

Back in my small den, I spread the evidence across my bed. Photos of official documents. Images of Thomas entering his mansion. Records of his wealth and power. Ten years of lies, captured in a dozen images.

*What now?* I asked Lyra, expecting her usual silence.

Instead, her voice filled my mind, clear and strong: *Now we take what's ours.*

I felt her stir within me, no longer the quiet, submissive wolf Thomas had praised. Something was awakening in both of us—something that had been suppressed for far too long.

I carefully packed away the registry prints and began planning my next move. As I did, I caught my reflection in the mirror. My eyes glowed with a faint amber light—the sign of a wolf rising to power.

Thomas had built his kingdom on lies. It was time to watch it crumble.