Lily stood nearby, a vial of wolfsbane extract clutched in her delicate fingers, her expression radiating smug satisfaction.
"Two full cycles of the moon you devoted to that piece. Let us see how you will flaunt your talents before Alaric now."
Rage surged through my veins like wildfire. My hand moved before conscious thought could intervene, striking her cheek with a sharp crack that echoed through the ruined studio.
"You have spent months spreading whispers that I treat you as a lowly servant," I said, my voice cold as winter frost. "Very well. For the next three days, you shall truly know what that means. You will clean every corner of my gallery until it gleams like moonlight on fresh snow."
But the moment those words escaped my lips, the heavy oak door crashed open.
Alaric strode in, his powerful frame filling the doorway, brow furrowed with barely contained displeasure. Without uttering a single word, he pulled Lily behind his broad back, shielding her with his body.
"Lyra, can you not control that wild temper of yours for once?" His voice cut through the air like sharpened ice. "Lily works so hard to please this pack. Yes, she comes from a lesser bloodline—but why must you constantly target her?"
My chest heaved with fury, my wolf clawing beneath my skin. "Alaric, you need to understand what truly happened. She was the one who—"
Before I could finish speaking, Lily threw herself into his arms, her body trembling with theatrical sobs.
"Alaric, please forgive me! I was only trying to help Lyra organize her den-studio, and I accidentally destroyed her painting. She threatened to cast me out to the rogue territories! She called my mother a packless whore and said the pup inherited the dam's weakness!"
Her voice cracked and wavered, tears streaming down her pale cheeks—the perfect portrait of wounded innocence.
"I can endure being struck. I can bear harsh words. But why must she drag my mother's memory through the mud?"
Alaric did not ask for my account of events. Did not investigate. He simply accepted her words as truth.
His gaze turned glacial, golden Alpha eyes boring into mine with disappointment. "Lyra, when did you become this cruel creature? You have disappointed me deeply."
I wanted to howl my frustration to the moon itself.