Chapter 4

Emma sent me these photos. She'd hired a tracker to follow Ethan and Elaine.

In the pictures, Elaine was cradling a pup, playing with it using a toy.

Beside her, Ethan and Sophia had their fingers intertwined, both of them watching the pup with warm smiles.

They seemed like a perfect family of four.

Elaine had known about Sophia and her pup from the start. She was in on the whole thing.

As she stared at the evidence, Elaine's panic was written all over her face.

Elaine stammered, "I-I only did it because you've been trying for years and still haven't had a pup. I was so desperate, so I went to see that pup even though I didn't really want to.

"How about this? Since you can't have a pup anyway, why not let you adopt that pup and raise it like your own?"

Her words made my anger boil over.

I glared at her. "Ethan's been sneaking wolf fertility-blocking potion into my food for years on end to keep me from getting pregnant.

"You and your son never intended for me to have a pup, and now you have the nerve to say I can't? You're disgusting to the core!"

I'd gotten pregnant out of the blue this time. I figured Ethan had let his guard slip after watching me fail to carry a pup for years, and he forgot to slip the wolf fertility-blocking potion into my milk after hooking up with me.

Elaine hadn't expected me to be so harsh now. She couldn't come up with any more excuses and quickly turned to Robert for help.

Robert had been checking his phone the whole time, probably contacting members from the pack to confirm if he'd really been fired.

"I bet you haven't checked your email. The notice about your removal from your position in the Brown Pack was sent to you long ago." I reminded him with a "kind" smile.

After reading the termination letter, Robert finally realized he'd been fired from the pack house. He claimed he was sick and took a month of paid leave, so he thought he was still on vacation.

He snapped, "Don't think I give a damn about being the pack's Beta. If you hadn't begged me to be the Beta, I would've started my own pack ages ago.

"Even if you got down on your knees and begged, I wouldn't go back to that damn pack."

Robert still couldn't help but try to save face, even at this point.

I sneered, "The house you're living in is mine. You've got three days to move out. After that, I'll have someone reclaim the place."

Robert was furious, but too proud to beg. He gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, I'll move out. I've got other places I can crash at."

Neither Robert nor Elaine got anything out of it, and they left with their tails between their legs.

*****

A few days later, a video blew up online. In it, a she-wolf was carrying a pup, bowing and praying with every step from the foot of the mountain all the way up to the wolf clan's sacred blessing grounds.

When someone asked her why, she burst into tears and said her pup was sick and she was praying to the Moon Goddess to save her little one.

Others were touched by her devotion and started calling her the most beautiful mom.

In the video, she wore a moonlight-colored dress with a slit up to her calf, looking elegant and modest.

Her hair was pinned up with a hairpin in a way that seemed effortless, but every detail was clearly styled with care.

Her simple, natural makeup made her look more pitiful.

Her beauty and heartfelt devotion instantly grabbed the media's attention. Everyone was calling her the most beautiful mom. She became an overnight sensation.

Then, someone realized she was the Brown Pack's lost heiress, the she-wolf who'd disappeared years ago.

All of a sudden, her mysterious aura grew.

Her followers started popping up online, and with some influencers stirring things up, they turned her into a legend. Rumor had it she was the secret mate of some Alpha, and that her trek up the mountain was all for her pup.

Even the media jumped on the bandwagon, calling her the Dress Muse.

With all the hype, Sophia finally showed up on social media. She kept her simple, natural makeup, but this time, she wore an emerald necklace.

Someone recognized the emerald necklace. It was the one that an Alpha had bought at auction. That made it plain once more that she was far from a commoner.

Sophia never said a word about it. Her low-key vibe only made her blow up even more.

In a few days, she racked up millions of followers online.

Emma forwarded the news to me and said, "That bitch really knows how to hype herself. I'll let her enjoy her moment for a couple of days."

I skimmed through the news and started to think about a plan.