Chapter 5 Family

(Diane)

The room tilted for a moment, my head swimming with rage and disbelief. I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to focus on his face, to memorize every line and curve of the man who had just declared war on everything I held dear.  

“You won’t get away with this,” I said, my voice low and venomous.  

He laughed—a short, mocking sound that grated against my frayed nerves. “Oh, sweet girl,” he said, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the desk. “I already have.”

Tears sting my eyes, hot and relentless, but I refuse to let them fall. My gaze locks on Victor's face, cold and unyielding, unwilling to show him even a shred of weakness. My father’s voice echoes faintly in my mind, urging me to be strong.  

He leans back in the chair, his smug expression twisting into something darker, something vile. “Listen carefully to what will happen now, my dear fiancée.” 

The word drips with mockery, as though he relishes twisting the knife deeper into my heart.  

“You and your mother…” He pauses, as though savoring the next words. “You’ll be locked away in the back of the pack house. You’ve both gone mad with grief after the late Alpha’s… departure. The Werewolf Council will send soldiers and investigators to look into the situation shortly and they will find nothing that will put doubt in their minds.”  

The way he says it, so casual, sends a wave of nausea crashing through me. My hands tremble, my nails biting into my palms as I struggle to keep my composure.  

“I may visit from time to time,” he adds, his voice dropping into a sickeningly sweet tone that makes my stomach churn. “Who knows? After all…” He leans forward, his smirk widening into a grin that could rival a predator’s. “You are my half-sister.”  

The world seems to tilt on its axis. His words hit me like a physical blow, and for a moment, I can’t breathe.  

What!?

A cold wave of revulsion washes over me, and I stagger back a step, clutching the doorframe for support. My throat tightens as bile rises, threatening to choke me.  

“That’s right,” he continues, his tone dripping with satisfaction. “Our father was a busy man, wasn’t he? He liked to keep secrets. And you? Well, you were his most precious one.”  

I feel sick, my vision blurring as I stare at him. The smug gleam in his eyes, the way he revels in my horror—it’s too much.

“You’re lying,” I manage to choke out, though the tremor in my voice betrays my disbelief.  

“Oh, I wish I were,” he says, feigning a pout. “But no, little sister. This is your reality now. Our reality. And as the rightful Alpha, I get to decide what happens to you.”  That’s how this works. The pack will follow me now, no questions asked.”

I shake my head, my mind racing to make sense of his words. “You’re delusional,” I whisper, but even as I say it, a sinking feeling takes root in my chest.

Victor’s smirk deepens, and he steps closer, towering over me like a predator toying with its prey. 

“Delusional?” he echoes, his tone mocking. “Hardly. After all, the one downstairs with his brain splattered all over the wall—he’s my father too. My mother was his mate. She was the one meant to be Luna. Not your crazy, pathetic mother.”

His words hit me like a slap, and I recoil, unable to hide the shock on my face.

“So,” he continues, gesturing around the office with a lazy wave of his hand, “there’s really no debate here. I’m his rightful heir. I will become the new Alpha, as it was always meant to be.”

Nina growls low and dangerous, her fury matching mine. But I force myself to stay calm, to think. Victor’s arrogance, his smug confidence, is his greatest weakness. If I let him rile me up now, I’ll lose any chance I have to fight back.

“You’re wrong,” I say, my voice sharper now, steadier. “The pack won’t follow you. They’ll see through you, see what kind of monster you really are.”

Victor laughs, the sound cold and hollow. “Oh, I think they’ll do exactly as I say. You’d be surprised how easily loyalty bends when it’s backed by power.”

I was speechless. My stomach churned, bile rising in my throat as the realization slammed into me—I was dating my half-brother. 

Every memory, every kiss, every moment we shared twisted into something grotesque.

“So you decide this is the only way to get back what’s yours?” I shouted, the words trembling with disgust and fury.

Victor’s face darkened, his cold smile vanishing in an instant. 

He lunged at me, his hand wrapping around my throat like a vice. I clawed at his arm, gasping for air, but his grip was unyielding.

“You have no idea what my mother and I went through after he ditched us!” he spat, his voice venomous and raw with decades of bottled rage.