Ava''s POV


    The carriage jolted to a stop by the moonstone path leading to Silverpeak Elite Academy. I tugged ke''s cape tighter around my shoulders, fighting the urge to bolt. Silver gates loomed ahead, tribal gs snapping in the breeze like they wereughing at my stupid n.


    "You can do this," I muttered to myself, fingers tracing the expensive silver embroidery on the cape''s edge. Just channel your inner Alpha''s wife."


    My fingers drifted to my neck, where Jackson''s mark sat. It felt unusually warm today, pulsing slightly as if warning me this was a terrible idea. But Lucas''s desperate face shed in my mind, and I squared my shoulders. The kid needed someone in his corner.


    I''d never set foot in here before - Lucas and I always stuck to ckwood''s grounds. Taking a deep breath, I pushed through the massive doors into a hall where dead Alpha eyes tracked me from gold-framed portraits, plush silver-fur rugs cushioning each hesitant step. Everything about the ce screamed old power and older money.


    A group of


    young wolves in training gear passed by, their steps faltering as they caught ke''s scent on me. They exchanged confused nces, some instinctively lowering their eyes before hurrying away, whispering furiously.


    A tight-faced receptionist looked up, her nostrils ring slightly as she caught the mixture of scents - mine and ke''s intertwined. "Can I help you?" The words might as well have been "what are you doing here?"


    I squared my shoulders. "I''m here for Instructor Silver. About Lucas Morgan."


    The Morgan name worked like a mini spell. Her face didn''t saften, but her eyes sharpened with caution.


    "And you are?"


    My heart hammered against my ribs. “Ava Morgan Lucas''s stepmother. The name felt


    strange on


    on my tongue - foreign yet oddly right, which disturbed me even more. Her eyebrows shot up as she stood, giving me a once-over that made me feel like week-old roadkill. "Stepmother? That''s news to everyone at this academy" "We''re keeping it quiet," I said, amazed my voice wasn''t shaking. Thank god Sophia had loaned me this blue dress instead of my showing up in battle-worn leather. "Pack politics. You know how it is."


    Her eyes dropped to the cape, widening slightly. "That''s the Alpha King''s personal cape."


    I nodded, trying to look like I borrowed my husband''s clothes all the time.


    "Wait here," she said, skepticism dripping from every syble. She disappeared through a side door, probably to report the crazy


    y woman iming to be married to the most powerful wolf in three territories


    Minutes stretched like torture. Just as I was considering a strategic retreat, a stocky wolf with a mean scar slicing through his left eye appeared. He carried himself like someone who''d seen a hundred battles and expected a hundred more.


    "Mrs. Morgan?" He managed to pack a ton of disbelief into two words. "Im Instructor Silver. Lucas''sbat teacher."


    "Nice to meet you,'' I smiled, trying to mimic Sophia''s polished tone. I''m here about what happened yesterday."


    Silver''s gaze lingered on the cape, his eyes calcting. I could practically hear him thinking: This doesn''t add up.


    "This way," he finally grunted, "Headmaster''s waiting."


    As we walked, I got perks into training rooms where little wolves some barely older than toddlers - were


    ere already leaming to fight. I caught myself wondering if Lucas felt as alone among these privileged cubs as I did walking these halls,


    Silver kept ncing sideways at me.


    "Funny thing," he said casually, "Alpha King''s never mentioned having a new


    mate. Especially one who looks barely out of training herself."


    That''s the point of keeping it quiet," I replied, fighting the urge to fidget. "Sometimes the best moves are the ones nobody seesing."


    He grunted nomittally as we stopped at a massive door carved with snarling wolves. He knocked twice before pushing it open. "Headmaster, Morgan''s...


    Chapter 53 The Cape Doesnt Lie:


    parent is here."


    I stepped into what could only be described as a trophy room for wolf-kind. Ancient weapons hung on walls alongside battle gs. A white-haired man with shoulders like small mountains stood by the window, his back to us. The air in the room felt heavy with authority, sending my wolf into an instinctive


    crouch.


    When he turned, the Beta power rolling off him hit me like a physical wave. His eyes weren''t just old - they carried the weight of decades of judgment and decision-making. The kind of eyes that had sentenced wolves to death and watched the sentences carried out.


    Headmaster Moonshadow," Silver said, "this is the woman saying she''s Mrs. Morgan."


    "Mrs. Morgan?" The headmaster''s voice carried weight as his eyes dissected me piece by piece. His nostrils red slightly, taking in my scent and the much stronger Alpha scent surrounding me. "Strange. Tve attended every tribal council for thirty years. Never heard the Alpha King mention remarrying."


    My palms were sweating beneath ke''s cape. I smoothed down Sophia''s borrowed dress nervously. "We''re keeping it private until the right moment."


    "You seem awfully young," he continued, circling me slowly. "Barely out


    I lifted my


    chin. "Some of us grow up faster than others."


    of


    your first full moons, Id guess


    "True enough," he conceded, but his eyes never lost their suspicion. "That cape, though....interesting choice. An Alpha''s cape carries their most concentrated scent." He leaned closer, sniffing subtly, making my wolf bristle with difort. They generally only loan it to mark their mates with their scent, warding off other wolves. His eyes narrowed. "But a true mate wouldn''t need such obvious marking unless...


    The air in the room suddenly felt too thin as understanding dawned in his eyes.


    -Unless you''re not his mate at all," he said, voice dropping dangerously low. "Just a thief stupid enough to steal from the Alpha King himself. Do you know what the punishment is for that?"


    My stomach bottomed out, Game over. Loras would never forgive me, and ke... I didn''t even want to imagine his reaction.


    "Guards!" Moonshadow barked at Silver. This woman is an impostor.""


    The mark on my neck suddenly red hot, sending a wave of heat through my


    body. My wolf perked up, sensing something I couldn''t yet.


    Silver Junged for the door, but it flew open before he reached it. A squad of Silverpeak warriors poured in, led by none


    e other than Tyler Reed.


    Shit. Double shit. Triple shit.


    "Captain Reed," Moonshadow acknowledged. "What brings you here?"


    Tyler''s eyes flicked to me, then to the cape, his face impressively nk.


    "Got word someone was pretending to be family at the academy," he said mildly. "Looks like our source was right."


    I closed my eyes, mentally saying goodbye to my job, my freedom, and whatever shred of trust ke had in me. Lucas would never forgive me.


    This won


    woman ims to be Mrs. Morgan," Moonshadow exined. She''s obviously lying—and stealing. That''s the Alpha King''s personal cape.”


    Tyler tilted his head slightly. "The cape?"


    "I lent it to herst night."


    That voice cut through the room like thunder - deep and absolute. Every wolf


    instinctively froze, the air suddenly thick with Alpha presence.


    ke stood in the doorway, his storm gray eyes fixed directly on mine,


    П


    Chapter 53: The Cape Doesn''t Lie


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