Kiara.

The warmth I had felt in my mother’s eyes vanished the second her nose wrinkled. Her arms fell to her sides, her expression pinched and pale.

I took a step closer, aching for her touch. But she backed away, slowly, like I was a disease.

The corner of her lips curled up unpleasantly. I didn't move towards her again. I couldn't.

She covered her nose with the silk of her sleeve.

Just three years ago, I bathed in spring water scented with lilac oil. Now? I reeked of swamp rot and fear. Of survival. For three years, I’d rolled in mud and animal waste to mask my scent from the monsters in the forest. I’d smeared myself in filth to stay alive. And now… my own mother could barely look at me.

My chest tightened like a noose was being pulled around my ribs. She has never looked at me like that before.

“I… I didn’t expect you to be like this,” she whispered, barely meeting my eyes. Her gaze flicked nervously toward the crowd, already whispering behind trembling fingers.

Their smiles were gone. Their eyes were cautious. Guarded.

They were pretending—pretending everything was fine, that I wasn’t dripping grime onto polished floors, that my sister hadn’t just been kissing my mate under sacred moonlight.

But I saw through the veneer. The fear. The disgust.

And I saw him.

Kaiser.

Still standing beneath the archway. Still watching.

He didn’t speak.

He didn’t move.

He just stared at me like I was some specter risen from the dead. His gaze swept over me, trying to find the girl he once knew. But I could hear him. Feel him.

She’s not the same. She’s… broken.

The rumors must be true.

He thought I’d gone mad.

And maybe I had. But not in the way they imagined.

I’d gone mad with memory. With betrayal.

Behind me, Beta Jorn gave me a final nod. He lingered for a second, as if weighing whether to say more, but then turned and walked away.

No one stopped him.

No one thanked him for saving me. Because apparently he brought a distraction to their party.

My parents looked at each other, the nervous twitch of their mouths betraying their panic. They hadn’t expected me to come back. Not really. They hadn’t made room in their lives or this day for me.

My mother turned back to me with a too-bright smile. “You should… come inside.”

I didn’t move.

Because behind her, past the streamers and the shattered fragments of who we used to be, stood Lyla.

My sister.

She was still in her ceremonial gown—the white one with silver stitching.

My gown.

The one I wore when they introduced me to the pack as Alpha Kaiser's chosen mate. That dress had once fit me like a second skin, tailored to the exact shape of my pride.

Now, it hung on her body, and I couldn't deny the fact that it fits her perfectly.

My gaze sharpened as I stepped forward. My voice, when it came, was so low.

“You scared to see me back?”

Lyla’s eyes widened. She flinched like I’d slapped her. “I… I don’t know what you mean.”

“No?” I tilted my head. “That’s strange. I thought of you often, you know. Every time I bled, every time something hunted me—I’d wonder what you were doing. Whether you cried for me. Whether you missed me.” I took another step, slow, deliberate. “I treated you like my own blood. I trusted you. I defended you.”

“Kiara, please,” she whispered.

“I never understood why,” I went on. My voice trembled with the force of it. “Why did you do it? I kept asking myself, what did I do wrong? What did I miss? But now I see.”

Lyla’s mouth opened.

“You just wanted me gone.”

Her eyes welled with tears.

“That thought,” I said, my voice trembling with rage, “is what kept me alive.”

“Enough,” my mother snapped, rushing forward. “Kiara, she’s your sister.”

“Is she?” I turned on her. “Funny, I didn’t remember betrayal being part of our bond.”

“She’s been through therapy,” my mother insisted, her voice too high, too shrill. “Years of guilt—she cried every night.”

“Oh?” I snapped. “Before or after she slid into my mate’s bed?”

A collective gasp rippled through the remaining guests.

Lyla staggered.

Then, without warning, she collapsed.

The crowd surged in panic.

“Kaiser!” someone called.

“She fainted!”

“She’s too delicate—this was too much—”

Perfect timing. All the guests started leaving one after the other.

I watched as they swarmed her, huddled around her fallen form like loyal ants.

I didn’t move. I didn’t even blink.

Of course she fainted.

Of course, Lyla would draw the spotlight back to herself the moment it shifted.

I stood alone in the middle of it all, watching as my family rushed past me like I didn’t exist.

Lyla’s sobs were soft, careful. Calculated.

I sneered.

Then walked forward.

I knelt beside her and pressed my hand hard against the center of her chest.

Her eyes flew open, a shriek bursting from her mouth.

Lyla jolted upright, gasping like she’d drowned.

I leaned down, my lips brushing her ear. “Nice performance,” I whispered. “I spent three years perfecting mine. Want lessons?”

She looked at me with wide, glassy eyes, then immediately turned them toward our mother, who was kneeling at her side in an instant.

“My sweet girl,” our mother cried. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Lyla said softly, the perfect picture of gentle sacrifice. Then she gave me a wan smile. “It’s fine. My sister came back. That’s what matters.”

She paused, just long enough to twist the knife.

“But… where will she stay now?” she added, her voice all concerned. “She’s… she’s still sick, isn’t she? What if it’s contagious?” Her voice dropped an octave. “The madness?”

There it was.

She said it out loud.

She said what they were all thinking.

I looked around.

Their faces.

The same people who once doted on me. Praised my every move. Brought me gifts and sang my name at feasts.

Now?

They stared at me like I was a threat. Like one wrong move would doom them all.

Even my father didn’t speak. He just stood there, tight-lipped, avoiding my eyes.

My mother looked torn, but didn’t deny it.

Even Kaiser...

He remained still. Silent. Watching.

My lips curled.

“Three years,” I said, loud enough for the entire courtyard to hear. “Three freaking years and no one looked for me. And now that I’m back, and all you all are bothered about is if I'm sick? Or mad? do I freaking look mad to any of you?”

They flinched, but didn’t respond.

Cowards.

I stepped forward, slow and sharp. “I am not sick.”

Silence.

“I am not mad.”

Still, nothing.

“I am not infected.”

Their eyes darted from one another.

I bared my teeth. “If anyone wants to accuse me—go ahead. I’d like proof.”

No one moved. No one dared.

I turned to Kaiser, and felt the air thicken.

He stepped forward finally, trying to smooth the air. “Kiara, maybe we should talk—”

“No.” I cut him shut immediately. “If I was tainted, if I was truly broken, you would feel it.”

He blinked.

“You’re my mate, aren’t you?” I said as I stepped closer, close enough to see the sweat on his temple.

“If there was something dark in me, if I was contagious, wouldn’t you know?”