I wrecked my alpha daddy's wedding to his sister-in-law

Agony rips through me. I choke on sobs, words failing.

"Chloe Bennett, one last time: fetch your mother."

I steady my voice, growling each word:

".My. Mother. Is. Dead. Are you satisfied?"

"Now you can mate openly with your mistress Alex White. No one to stand in your way."

Father goes silent, then roars: "Your mother failed to teach respect! I am your alpha Daddy-filial piety comes first. How dare you snarl at me?"

"Alpha Daddy?" I laugh bitterly.

"Her first moon of passing, and you demand she rise from her grave to entertain your paramour. You're no father of mine."

"Enough! To the ancestral manor for punishment, or I disown you." He spins on his hee.

Days later, a silver missive arrives: my accounts are frozen.

Rations shrink; firewood is withheld.

But I care not-I've planned my escape.

After Mother's death, I found her hidden trove.

She'd been a renowned lore singer on the canal, earning hundreds of silver moons per performance.

These she saved for my mating dowry, hidden from Father's greedy nose.

Enough to heal her, yet she gambled-gambled on Father's return.

She lost, dying without seeing his face.

I steal back to the ancestral manor, snatching her spirit tablet.

She wasted her days in these stone walls; I'll free her.

Tucking the wood plaque in my satchel, each step feels like dragging a deadweight.

One satchel holds all my memories of this manor.

I leave, never to return.

Without the alpha's protection, I must shed my past, embrace my inner wolf, and rise.

The imperial manor opens a she-wolf academy, inviting noble pack daughters.

Each moon, elders grant hunting rights to a few from lowborn manors.

As I pull open the academy's oak doors, the noisy manor falls silent.

Classmates eye me with scorn, their noses wrinkling as if I reek of gutter water.

Before I can scent the air, Elena Bennett strides forward, swiping my desk . Parchments spill like autumn leaves.

"You stole Father's amulet! Your kind always slinks off with pack treasures-return it!"

So she's taken my place as his pup already.

Without proof, she brands me a thief.

As I open my mouth, her maid shoves me with a growl: "A lowborn like you dares study with us? You can't even afford study expenses-how buy such a jewel?"

I steady my voice: "If I'm guilty, show me the evidence."

Elena steps closer, eyes watering: "You wear rags-no noble blood here. Where would you get such gold?"

A brute yanks my collar, hurling me to the floor.

My temple cracks against a stone bench, blood scenting the air.

Elena's sobs grow louder, but her gaze holds a mocking pity: "I know your manor starves. You've never seen real treasure-"

Powerless as I feel, I bare no fangs.

The final exam is a moon away; I can't be banished now.

Just then, Aslan enters-Beta's daughter, top of the class, known for fair judgment. Hope flares in my chest.

"Aslan, judge by pack law! I'm innocent."

She studies me, then Elena, nose twitching to catch our scents.

"Where's your proof? Or hers?"

Her words nail me to the floor.

No wolf will howl for a lowborn like me.