The women''s expressions darkened as they surrounded me, their wolves bristling beneath their skin. I suddenly realized how


    vulnerable I was an elderly, ill she-wolf confronting three healthy Betas.


    "Everyone in the pack knows the truth," one sneered, pushing me backward. "Your daughter drugged Alpha Stone with moonberry wine during a pack celebration, got herself pupped, and forced his true mate Victoria Frost to step aside."


    "That''s not what happened!" I tried desperately to exin. "Olivia was a victim too! She never intended toe between mates!"


    But the women refused to listen, their minds poisoned by years of pack gossip. One of them shoved me roughly, sending me stumbling backward.


    "Your daughter is nothing but an opportunist," Brenda Ellis hissed. "She saw a chance to be Luna and took it, regardless of


    who got hurt."


    "You don''t understand," I pleaded, my strength waning. "Victoria Frost is not what she seems. She''s manipted everyone, including Alpha Stone!"


    This only enraged them further. Overwhelmed by both anger and grief, my wolf surged forward defensively. Ished out


    physically, but outnumbered and weakened by my illness, I couldn''t match their strength.


    One of the women shoved me roughly, sending me sprawling to the ground. I clutched at my chest, a sharp pain radiating through my body as my wolf whimpered in distress.


    "Look what you''ve done to yourself, old woman," Brenda Ellis said coldly. "Maybe you should worry less about defending your daughter''s reputation and more about your own health."


    The pain intensified, spreading through my chest like wildfire. My vision blurred as I struggled to breathe, my wolf retreating in


    fear and pain.


    Thest thing I heard before losing consciousness was their retreating footsteps and mockingughter.


    (Victoria''s POV)


    I observed the scene from my Raven-Trimmed Wheelchair positioned discreetly behind a stand of tall moonflowers, feeling no remorse as I watched Evelyn Winters copse. My wolf purred with satisfaction beneath my skin.


    This encounter had been carefully orchestrated. I had deliberately chosen this secluded area of the Silvercrest Medical Garden and


    nted these rumors with Brenda Ellis, knowing the notorious gossip would spread them effectively.


    I had paid Brenda and her friends handsomely to provoke Evelyn, hoping the stress would worsen her heart condition and


    decrease her chances of surviving her uing surgery. Seeing the elderly she- wolf fall to the ground, clutching her chest in


    obvious distress, filled me with cold satisfaction.


    As Brenda and herpanions hurried away, I quietly wheeled myself in the opposite direction, pleased with the oue of my


    +30 Bonus


    scheme. One more obstacle in my path to securing Ethan''splete devotion was being eliminated.


    I reached up to touch Ethan''s Ancestral Moonstone Amulet that I always wore around my neck the token he had given to "Little Orange" all those years ago. My fingers met bare skin.


    Panic surged through me as my wolf whined anxiously. The amulet was missing! I frantically searched the cor of my blouse,


    hoping it had simply slipped inside my clothing.


    Nothing.


    Cold dread washed over me. That amulet was irreceable - the ancestral stone that Ethan had worn since childhood. There was


    only one such amulet in the whole world.


    If Evelyn really died today and someone found this amulet near her body, Ethan would definitely suspect me. The reason I had spread rumors and paid others to provoke Evelyn instead of doing it myself was precisely to avoid Ethan''s suspicion.


    Although Ethan had told me it was over between us, as long as I remained "Little Orange" in his heart, I knew he woulde back to me one day. I couldn''t risk losing that connection.


    I urgently spun my wheelchair back toward the garden, retracing my path. The amulet must have fallen when I was watching the


    confrontation.


    When I returned to the scene, I was shocked to see that Evelyn Winters, who had been unconscious moments before, had


    somehow regained consciousness and was shakily getting to her feet. The elderly she-wolf stumbled forward, her gaze fixed on something on the ground.


    My heart stopped. The amulet!


    I quickly pushed my wheelchair toward where I believed it had fallen. But Evelyn reached the spot first.


    (Evelyn''s POV)


    I don''t know how long I was unconscious - perhaps only seconds. When I came


    to, my chest still ached, but the sharp, stabbing


    pain had subsided to a dull throb.


    As I struggled to sit up, something caught my eye- a glint of moonstone in the grass nearby. I shakily got to my feet, drawn to


    the object despite my weakness.


    When I reached it, my breath caught in my throat. There on the groundy a moonstone amulet with intricate wolf carvings -


    one that looked remarkably simr to the one Ethan had given to Olivia years ago, the one my daughter had mysteriously lost.