Chapter3

In the next few days, Brielle was almost constantly clutching her communication stone, her eyes unable to hide their excitement and smug delight. She carried herself like someone who had already secured a top royal Alpha and firmly grasped her chance to rise into high society.

On my side, private messages from Mentor Alaric arrived with perfect regularity every day.

He was the only person at the academy who knew I was the sole heir of the Ravenwood Pack. Before I enrolled, my father had personally entrusted him with concealing my identity and keeping watch for anything unusual. Over the past days, he had been secretly tracking all of Brielle’s movements, recording every word and action and passing them on to me without missing a detail. Every encrypted message on my stone laid out her clumsy greed and obvious schemes.

“She sought Kane out repeatedly every day, constantly flaunting her so-called resources. She claimed she had authority over Ravenwood territory dispatches, access to high-grade spirit herb quotas, and council passage privileges. She implied that her pureblood status could bring enormous benefits to the Sterling Pack and help him secure his standing within his clan.”

“She deliberately sent him selfies edited with scent-altering potions and refined wolf-form contours, disguising herself with the traits of a high-ranking pureblood. She also invited him to be alone with her several times, clearly trying to strengthen the relationship further.”

As I read it, I found it absurdly laughable. An Alpha who had stolen my scent actually dared to stand in front of the true heir of the Ravenwood Pack and boldly claim my identity, bragging about everything that belonged to me.

When I lifted my gaze, it happened to meet Brielle’s furtive glance. She saw the undisguised mockery and contempt in my eyes. In her mind, I was nothing more than a helpless, backgroundless lone wolf, someone utterly unworthy of being compared to her now that she had “latched onto top royalty.”

Ever since she began clinging to Kane, Brielle had become even more brazen. She no longer bothered to hide her ambition. Every day, she spoke of Kane in front of me while our other two roommates flattered her endlessly. Yet I alone received her ridicule.

That weekend, Alaric sent me the latest crucial update.

Kane had once again declined Brielle’s invitation to spend the evening alone. Driven into a corner, Brielle had finally played her last card—she personally told Kane that she was the sole heir of the Ravenwood Pack and the true future bride in the marriage contract between the two packs.

She had clearly believed that with the cedar scent on her body and that carefully prepared story, she could completely win him over and secure his trust.

And Kane had believed her.

“Do you want to step in now and expose her in public?” Alaric asked me privately.

“No need,” I said, shaking my head.

“She’s practically cementing your identity as her own,” he said with a frown. “How much longer are you going to endure this?”

“My father asked me to hide my identity, not throw away years of caution for one moment of satisfaction,” I replied. “If she wants to perform, let her perform until the celebration. Exposing her all at once that day will be far more satisfying than stopping her now.”

Alaric had fallen silent for a moment, but in the end, he agreed.

But I had still underestimated Brielle’s greed and shamelessness.

In less than a day, rumors had spread throughout the entire year level and even across most of the academy.

“Have you heard? Brielle is the sole heir of the ancient Ravenwood Pack!”

“No wonder she seems so elegant. She carries high-grade moonshadow stones and her pureblood cedar scent is so refined. So she’s actually a top royal young lady!”

“I knew she was special! I thought she was just from an ordinary pack before, but she’s the legitimate bloodline of Ravenwood. No wonder she has a marriage contract with Kane of the Sterling Pack!”

The endless praise and gossip ringing in my ears stirred a sharp cold anger in me.

I had deliberately hidden all my sharp edges, content to live quietly and plainly, wanting nothing more than peace. But Brielle had not been satisfied with greed alone. now she was openly using my identity to deceive the entire academy.

Right after spirit herb class ended, I walked straight up and stopped Brielle just as she was about to leave with feigned arrogance.

“Brielle, do you really think it’s honorable to steal someone else’s bloodline identity and flaunt it everywhere?”

She had clearly not expected me, of all people, to challenge her openly.

“Wren, what exactly do you mean by that? The entire academy knows I’m the heir of the Ravenwood Pack. Are you?”

My gaze stayed cool as I suppressed the urge to reveal everything on the spot.

If I publicly acknowledged my identity, every trace of my peaceful life on campus would be shattered, replaced by endless admiration, scrutiny, and conflict. That was the last thing I wanted.

“I’ve met the real Ravenwood heir. She looked nothing like you.”

The moment my words struck her weakness, Brielle’s face darkened. She sneered openly.

“You’ve met her? There are countless people pretending to be royalty inside and outside the academy. Who’s to say the one you met wasn’t just another fraud?”

As she spoke, she instinctively lifted her chin and let that carefully fabricated cedar scent drift out around her. The surrounding students immediately looked convinced.

In everyone’s eyes, she had high-grade tokens, a pure royal scent, and a top Alpha at her side. She was a favored daughter of heaven. And I was nothing—an ordinary lone wolf without status or background. Naturally, no one believed a word I said.

Watching their blind obedience, I suddenly thought of a way forward. I turned to Brielle calmly.

“If you truly claim to be Ravenwood’s sole heir, then you must possess the royal hereditary token known as the Moonchasing Pearl.”

“It was the life-bound ornament of the previous Luna Queen of Ravenwood. There is only one in the entire continent, and only a legitimate pureblood heir can wear it. At next month’s academy celebration, since your identity is so noble, why not bring it and let everyone see it for themselves? That should silence every doubt and prove your legitimacy once and for all.”

The Moonchasing Pearl had been passed down to me by my mother, and it was safely hidden in a private compartment in my room. It was unique, bound to bloodline. No outsider could replicate it. Not even the finest black-market artisan could imitate its exclusive spiritual force and bloodline aura.

It was the perfect trap, and the best weapon to pierce every lie she had built.

The students around us were instantly excited and began urging her on.

“That’s right, Brielle! If you’re really the Ravenwood heiress, then you definitely have it!”

“The celebration would be the perfect time to reveal it! Let us finally see the legendary heirloom of an ancient royal pack!”

All eyes turned to Brielle, filled with eager anticipation and scrutiny.

Her face shifted between pale and flushed, panic churning beneath the surface. She wanted to refuse, but If she backed down now, it would be the same as admitting in public that her identity had been fabricated from the start.

“What’s so difficult about that? On the day of the celebration, I’ll bring it and let all of you witness the true treasure with your own eyes.”

The crowd immediately burst into cheers and whispers, eagerly awaiting the appearance of the royal heirloom and becoming even more convinced of her identity.

When the crowd finally dispersed, Brielle stared at me with open malice, her voice dripping with mockery and humiliation.

“Wren, I suggest you learn your place. Kane is my contracted Alpha, and all the glory and resources of top royalty belong to me too. A lowly lone wolf like you—with no bloodline and no background—will never reach the height I can claim with ease.”

She paused, then curled her lips into a superior, contemptuous smile.

“Forget the legendary Moonchasing Pearl. You’ve probably never even touched the lowest-grade royal accessory in your life, have you?”

I looked at her smug, self-satisfied face and felt only a wave of weariness.

I lifted my eyes slightly and replied in a distant, cool tone:

“Instead of wasting your energy trying to put me down, you should spend it thinking about how you’re going to cover up this mountain of lies on the day of the celebration.”

As soon as the words fell, I did not spare her another glance. I turned and walked away.

Behind me, I could still feel Brielle’s furious stare burning into my back.

But soon enough, at the celebration, that stare would turn into terror.