Ad copy

*** “Leave. You are no longer a Silver.” *** “Ashley!” The deep, commanding timbre of my father’s voice cracks through the air, and I freeze. No. Not him. Not now. Not when the ground beneath my feet already feels like it’s collapsing. For a second, I freeze, reliving the old, instinctive reaction drilled into me since childhood. Then the numbness hits, sliding over me like armor. Of course he’s here. Of course he’s come to kick me while I’m already on the ground. Because why not? The day’s already been a masterpiece of humiliation. What’s one more scene in the tragedy that is my life? “You ungrateful, spoiled brat!” he roars. I turn on instinct, and suddenly my father and his Betas are in front of me, and all I can see is the bitter rage twisting every line of his face. Before I can utter a single word, my father’s hand swings and it cracks across my cheek so fast that I barely register the pain until the heat blooms. My face stings. My heart shatters. And all I can do is stand there, blinking through the blur because somehow, this? This still hurts less than what Hayden Drake did to me. “You are a disgrace to—” “Alpha?” one of his Betas cuts in, careful not to aggravate him further. “The Regent told us to leave. Making a scene outside his castle after he’s shown us mercy…it’ll stir trouble. And gossip. We can do this somewhere else. Not here.” He’s not defending me. He’s warning my father to protect his public image. Father dearest can’t risk another scene that might make the Regent, my former fiancé, question whether the Silver family is worth keeping close. Public image over blood, same story as always. The pain almost makes me laugh. My father rakes a hand through his hair, that familiar tic in his jaw present like he’s trying not to explode. He steps even closer to me right before his fingers clamp down on my forearm so hard that I cry out. “Dad…” “You had one fucking chance,” he seethes. “One chance to prove you were more than the curse that lives inside you, and you blew it. You think my Betas didn't see you get put inside a car like some cheap slut last night? It might have been dark, but that cursed silver hair can be seen from a mile away. You made a spectacle of yourself and of this family.” His face is so close now, I can taste the fury coming off him in waves. “For what?” he spits. “To spread your legs for a man who’ll never come close to the Regent? I smell him on you. You reek of him. Of shame.” His words carve into me like glass. “You smell like a whore.” “No…I would never do something like that. I didn’t—” My voice cracks. “Dad, it’s not like that. He…he marked me. I didn’t seduce him…I thought—” I stop myself. Because the truth sounds just as pathetic as the lie he’s already chosen to believe. Softer and crueler, my father adds another dagger into my heart. “And you want to tell me your mother died for this?” The mention of her name makes my knees buckle and my vision blur. My breath catches, chest caving in on itself like all the oxygen’s been sucked out. My mother. The woman whose blood is still on my hands, no matter how many times I try to defend myself. I never killed her. The woman I never got to say goodbye to. The woman I never even got to see face to face. I blink through the sting in my eyes, trying to hold on to something, anything but the grief cracks me right open again. “You will get in that car,” he growls. “You will stay quiet until we get home. And if you even think about testing me, little bitch?” His grip tightens once more, “You won’t like what happens.” *** The courtyard outside the Silver Fang mansion is filled with whispers sharper than knives. The sun dips low behind the estate, casting long shadows across the stone, making everything colder, crueler somehow. I’m back. Back where it all started. Back where I was never wanted. The whore who stabbed the Wolf Regent in the back. The girl who couldn’t wait a single night before spreading her legs for another man. The traitor who humiliated the Regent in front of every pack. Those are the things they say about me now. And the worst part? No one even says them out loud. They’re just written in every stare, every turned back, every step they take away from me. The rumors traveled faster than wildfire. But I'd be lying if I said I cared anymore. Because I think a part of me truly died in that penthouse, right when the bond tore in half. “You betrayed us!” Liana shrieks, slapping my already numb cheek again. “Our family is a laughingstock just because you couldn’t keep your legs closed—” “Liana, that’s enough,” my father snaps, silencing her. It doesn’t matter, though. Not the bruises on my skin, not the tatters of my dress, or the humiliation crawling down my spine as my entire pack watches in silence, every glance a blade, every whisper a fuel to the rumor mill. Taking my duffel bag that's packed with the few belongings I own from one of the maids, my father throws it at my feet like trash. “When you took your mother from me, I stayed merciful. I gave you food. A roof. I tolerated you. I raised you despite everything. And how do you repay me?” His eyes blaze. “You shame the Regent. You disgrace the Silver name.” The crowd behind him shifts, nodding, feeding on his righteousness. He points a shaking hand at me. “And what do you have to show for it? An ugly mark and a bastard’s scent on your skin. The man you whored yourself to isn’t even here. I did not raise my daughters to act like that.” Funny, because he never raised me. The only person who ever did was the maid now standing behind him, head bowed, tears in her eyes. Mara is my family. Not this monster wearing a father's face. “My pack does not condone such vile acts,” my father declares. “And that is why, I, Stephen Silver, Alpha of the Silver Fang Pack, banish you—” “Banishing me will be the best thing you ever did for me,” I cut. They are the first words I’ve spoken since they dragged me back here. My voice slices through the courtyard. My sisters freeze while my father’s lips part, all of them startled by the defiance they thought they'd beaten out of me. But it’s not just me speaking. My wolf stands tall inside me, no longer hiding. I see Mara lift her head, tears glistening in her eyes, and the sight pushes me forward. “Do it. Banish me. Throw me out. Because anywhere is better than this prison.” My gaze cuts through him like jagged glass. “I’ve never been your daughter. Those three over there?” I jut my chin toward my sisters, my voice breaking. “They’re your perfect little puppets. Me? I was your mistake. Your shame. Your fucking punching bag.” “You never cared about me. You didn’t raise me. You tolerated me like a rotting stain on your precious Silver name. I was never more than a burden, worse than the dogs you let roam the estate.” My chest heaves, the tears scorching down hotter now. “You wouldn’t know that last night was my first shift. You didn’t see how scared I was. How my wolf came out for the first time just to be marked and then rejected by the one the Goddess said was mine.” My voice cracks, but I push through. “But you don’t care about that, do you? You never gave a damn how I felt, how I cried, how I bled. All you care about is your power. Your image. This damn Silver name.” I turn my head, panting with years of suppressed fury. “And you know what hurts the most?” I hiss, stepping closer. “It’s not the rejection. It’s you. That even after everything…I still wanted you to be proud of me.” My fingers graze the hidden mark on my chest. It burns with the memory of rejection, but also… the need for survival. For the first time, my father's face stills. He doesn't strike me or yell. He just straightens his spine like he’s the wronged one in all this, and exhales slowly, like my words are nothing but a failed attempt at disrespect. “The Mate Hunt? I don’t regret it. That was the first time I felt alive. The first time I felt like I belonged. Call me a whore, a traitor, a disgrace, none of it matters to me right now. Because today I walk out of here free.” I breathe, feeling stronger than I’ve ever been. My father looks at me like I just said nothing, and with a voice laced with venom, he gives the final verdict, “Leave. You are no longer a Silver.” Before I can step away and leave the duffel bag behind because I want nothing to do with this place, a soft gasp breaks through the tension. “Mara, don’t—” one of the maids whispers behind her. But she’s already moving. She rushes past my sisters and my father before anyone can stop her. Dusk settles behind her, making her frame even smaller, but her embrace swallows me whole. “My sweet girl,” she chokes out, her voice breaking a bit. “You listen to me…the Goddess does not abandon her own.” I try not to cry, but the way her hand cups my cheek, the way she presses her forehead to mine like a mother would, it undoes something deep inside me. “You hear me?” she whispers. “You were never the curse in this house. They were.” I nod, unable to speak past the lump in my throat. She reaches into her apron, pulling out a small cloth pouch, and shoves it into my hand. “There’s money inside, enough to get you somewhere safe. Somewhere far away. Don’t you dare waste it trying to come back here. Promise me.” My fingers curl around the pouch like a lifeline. “Mara—” “Promise me,” she repeats, tears streaking down her face. “You go now. You run. And you never look back.” I nod, holding her hand for a second longer before peeling away. The weight of what she’s done settles in my chest because it’s the only kindness I’ve known since last night. The only goodbye that mattered. Then I turn. And I start walking. FREE in Kindle Unlimited! Fated bonds unbreakable, forbidden love under the throne! Turn the page to watch the Omega’s desperate counterattack against fate!