Chapter 221

I tried to remain positive as we walked away from the house, but the closer we got to the square of the town, the more Candido’s words swirled in my mind. I couldn’t

Wolf Fang is your birthright. You should remain here…

Estella could have kept up.

You want to pretend to be my equal? You want to stand by my side, then do it.

You get there on your own feet, or you turn around.

His words hurt more than I could say. He was just being so unfair and blind to everything I had done for him.

Everything I had done for him. I put myself in danger to support him on the battlefield. Just because I refused to take any training with Moon Shadow didn’t mean that my support meant any less than anyone else’s.

I clenched my jaw and looked at him walking ahead of me. He didn’t understand, but he would. We were meant to be together. We’ve always been meant to be together. I’d make him take back everything once the rest of Blue Moon and Moon Shadow was dead. When my plan went through, there was no way he’d be able to say all that again.

Estella might have been able to shoot a gun, but why would a luna do that if she had the alliance of the pack? She should be protected. The few people who had been willing to die for Estella were either already dead or would be soon. Then, it would just be everyone who knew that Candido and I were meant to be together. They would protect me, and Candido would have to change his mind.

I almost skipped along behind him as we reached the area. My plan was simple: if everyone had to go to where Full Moon was, I wouldn’t have to walk. I’d ride in a truck heading that way.

As we reached the area, Cillian kept walking, but Candido came to a stop. Everyone drew back, eyeing him warily. He walked through the crowd before turning back.

“I’ll be waiting at the edge of town when you’re ready to go,” Cillian said and left.

He didn’t turn back to look at me as he left. I turned to Candido, who walked to the center of the area and started addressing the remaining members of the pack.

“Once we have the wounded taken care of, we’re leaving. The walls of Wolf Fang have been compromised, and there aren’t enough warriors to protect everyone. You’ll be moved to the safe camp we’ve established.”

“Hold on!” Bella yelled, coming out from the crowd. “I deserve the right to make a decision about where we’re going! I’m the heir.”

Candido looked at him. “Actually, Hedy is the heir. She’s the eldest.”

Before I could protest, someone else spoke.

“She’s only half,” someone said. “She’s not our luna’s daughter.”

“Her mother was never luna of Wolf Fang,” someone else said. “Everyone knows that.”

“You want an illegitimate child to be our regent?” Someone asked.

Bella hissed at me. “It’s worse than that! She’s not even a real werewolf!”

My stomach jolted as I glared at her.

“Admit it! Admit that your mother was a vampire!”

A ripple of murmuring went through the crowd.

“I am a werewolf.”

She scoffed. “Prove it. Shift, right now.”

I clenched my fist. “I don’t have to prove anything to you. You’re the one who was helping the vampires.”

“Watch your mouth!” Someone else growled, lifting their gun at me. “Regent Bella is the only daughter of our alpha and luna. I won’t tolerate anyone bad-mouthing her. She’s already suffered at the hands of those monsters. How dare you try to blame her?”

I glared at him. “Is that what she told you?”

“I don’t have to listen to anything a thing like you would say,” he said. “Pushing your younger sister, breaking up a marriage that would have benefited the whole back, running away—if you were really worthy, you would have been here when everything was hard!”

I growled. “Why would I stay here when none of you cared about me?”

“You were an evil little brat. We all know the truth. We’ve all seen the way you were when you were here! Lashing out at Bella, at Lilian—even your father didn’t know what to do with you!”

“We were grateful when you left,” another person growled. “It was the last time we had to see that woman’s face!”

I glared at Bella, who looked absolutely smug. She had always made me look bad in front of people.

“She’s the daughter of that woman,” someone said. “That vampire.”

“Do you think it’s true? We’ve had a vampire all this time? Did she lead them here?”

I looked over at Jake, who looked a little torn between looking at me and the rest of Wolf Fang.

“I always knew something wasn’t right with her.”

“You know they said she wasn’t even a werewolf!”

“I am a werewolf,” I said again. “And you’re only listening to her side of the story! What about me—”

“You can’t be a normal werewolf if that woman wasn’t,” another woman said. “Our alpha was normal. His father and all of his family were all normal werewolves, but you….”

“Stop,” Candido’s voice cut through the air. “You’re turning your fear into anger, and that won’t serve anyone.”

“We’ve never seen her shift!” Someone said. “Prove it right now if you’re really one of us and shift!”

“Enough,” Candido said, cutting through the panicked voices.

My heart was pounding in my chest. I could shift. I had shifted once before, but I still didn’t know how to do it on my own.

“No matter how she behaved, no matter what you saw, the fact is that Lilian, your former luna, poisoned her for a great deal of her life,” Candido said. “Whether she did it on the order of your alpha or not doesn’t matter. Her reasoning doesn’t matter. She poisoned a child, and the only reason she and your former alpha have been allowed to live all this time has been because Hedy asked for mercy on their behalf.”

The crowd went silent, staring at him.

“As for Bella, she was banished after orchestrating an attack on Hedy on school grounds. Her return was part of a deal struck between myself and Steven for the return of Hedy’s mother’s worldly possessions….”

My face heated. I was embarrassed. I had never imagined Candido telling anyone about what Lilian had done to me, let alone what Bella had tried to do. That was supposed to be a secret between us. How could he just tell everyone?

“But she’s healed,” Candido said. “And a completely normal werewolf.”

My mood brightened. I was still upset about him telling everyone, but he was coming to my defense. It seemed like he was finally breaking free of Estella’s enchantments.

“Candido—”

“Shift,” he growled, his eyes flashing red. His voice felt so heavy that for a moment, the whole world went black.

My body changed. I panicked and shuddered as I swooned and wavered.

When I opened my eyes, everyone was taller and staring at me with wide eyes. I shook off the tingling in my limbs and lifted my head. I stood proudly, knowing that the gold of my fur was what put that look of shock on their faces, but a woman who worked for Lilian looked sick. Bella was flushed with anger as she glared at me.

“I can’t believe it….” She whispered. “S-She’s white….”

I frowned and looked down at my paws. My heart lurched in my throat. The platinum blonde tint to my fur was completely gone. In its place was a pure white coat. My heart raced.

This couldn’t be right. This couldn’t be right. What had happened to me? I should be more golden, not white!

I looked up at Candido, who didn’t look bothered. He didn’t even look surprised. From the angle, I could see the way his eyes stared at the rest of the group.

“See,” he said. “A perfectly normal werewolf. Just like her father.”

Steven’s wolf form was white? My jaw trembled. Tears pricked my eyes. My stomach churned. I felt like I was going to pass out again as my head started to pound. No. No. No. No! This couldn’t be true. Worst of all, the calm way he said it sent a knife through my heart.

It was like he didn’t even care what this meant for us.

Why was this happening?

I heard him say it again.

Wolf Fang is your birthright. You should remain here to help rebuild it…

Bella growled. “This is bullshit!”

Suddenly, everyone looked at me. Their gazes had changed. There was no more suspicion, no more anger. They looked at me suspiciously.

“Well… she is the oldest.”

“I can’t believe our former luna would do something like that to a child…”

“The alpha has brought our heir back,” someone else said with a smile. “Our apologies, Alpha Regent.”