Chapter 609.
I knew Julia believed that if she could just defeat me, she would stand shoulder–to–shoulder with the most powerful Alphas in the Silvermoon Pa earning Grayson’s respect once and for all.
But reality, it seemed, had just delivered the most brutal claw–swipe to her face. My wolf let out a triumphant huff, sensing the distant shift in the Pack’s hierarchy.
I could almost see the humiliation she’d faced today replaying in her mind, her tears finally betraying her, gushing forth unbidden as her wolf whimpered in shame.
I imagined Julia’s mother, Aurora, watching her distraught pup, her face a mask of Alpha stoicism, completely devoid of emotion.
But that day, I observed, she didn’t growl at Julia for her un–Luna–like outburst, for failing to embody the composure expected of a Smith bloodli heiress and Aurora’s daughter.
Instead, she reached out, taking Julia’s hand and drawing her into her arms, her pheromones shifting to a soothing cedar scent.
Her hand rose, palm resting on Julia’s head, gently stroking her hair, as if soothing a frightened, bristling wolf
pup..
I knew Julia’s body would have tensed at the touch, her own wolf baring teeth in frustration, before slowly, tentatively, relaxing into her mother’s embrace.
‘I know about what happened at the banquet,”
Julia’s mother, with an unusual tenderness I hadn’t expected from a high–ranking she–wolf, offered Julia business advice:“You can’t compete with h in the high–stakes territory market. But you can carve out other hunting grounds for yourself.”
But that single sentence, I understood, would sting Julia more than any direct insult, hitting her right where her wolf was most vulnerable. She shot to her feet, her gaze fixed downwards on her mother, an undeniable disbelief clouding her features as her hackles rose. ‘What do you mean?” Julia’s voice was sharp, laced with a humiliation so profound it practically radiated from her like a sour musk.
I could see Aurora was taking this chance to teach Julia a lesson, and she spoke with the measured patience of a Pack Elder.
‘Isabella can only perform two surgeries a lunar cycle, which is nowhere near enough to meet the pack’s demand. This world isn’t just for the Alphas a he very top of the pyramid. There are countless Omegas and Betas desperate for a healthy Blood–Core, who can’t afford or access Isabella’s services. They are your market.”
My mother’s voice was so gentle, like she was painting some grand, beautiful vision of a new territory.
But Julia wasn’t buying any of it. Not for a second.
I could almost hear the questions forming in her mind, the disbelief etched on her face: A secondary market?
Simplified? Mass–produced for the lower castes?
Wasn’t this just acknowledging that she, Julia, was only good enough to be my replacement?
That she was only fit to pick up the scraps my wolf didn’t want?
And that was something her prideful wolf absolutely couldn’t accept!
No!”
ulia was too proud, too ambitious. What she wanted was to win the Alpha’s favor. To utterly crush me. To finally earn Grayson’s approval!
Lili, please just calm down and listen to me… You could even train a team of Healers, have them work alongside you.”
I watched Julia yank her hand free from Aurora’s grasp, her eyes blazing a predatory red as she screamed at her for the very first time, her wolf nearing a partial shift in her rage.
I won’t be a substitute! I’m going to beat her!*
I saw Aurora rub her temple, a familiar headache forming as she realized Julia’s wolf wouldn’t be swayed.
She tried to summon her last ounce of patience and urged,
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< Chapter 609
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“You need to learn to seize the moment. A single spark can ignite a wildfire in the forest. Wouldn’t it be better to challenge her once you’ve amassed enough pack strength?”
“Enough” Julia roared, cutting her off
As she looked at her mother–that perpetually calm, rational she–wolf–I saw the dam break. Twenty years of resentment I knew she held, burst forth
in that instant.
“Seize the moment?”
I heard Julia scoff, a cold, bitter sound thick with pure mockery that vibrated in the air.
“You thought the same thing twenty years ago, didn’t you? You just wanted to seize the moment, so you followed Grandpa’s wishes, used Alchemical Conception to have me, and tried to trap my dad in a Blood Bond! What happened? You thought you had it all, but in the end, you got absolutely nothing from the Smith bloodline!”
Aurora’s gentle demeanor finally fractured, a faint crack appearing on her face as her Alpha pressure flickered dangerously.
Julia visibly flinched, a wave of panic washing over her as her wolf instinctively submitted.
Her eyes widened, her breath catching as if the words she’d just spoken had finally registered with her, echoing back in horror through their telepathic link.
How could she have wielded her mother’s deepest pain–the rejection of a fated mate–against her, like that?
‘Mom… I… I didn’t mean it like that… I’m sorry, I, I just…”
She looked like a pup caught red–handed, standing there, utterly lost, her words a jumble of stutters and apologies.
The crack that had appeared on Aurora’s face vanished as quickly as it had formed, leaving no trace.
Immediately after, a soft sigh escaped her lips.
That sigh held no anger, only an unsettling mix of exhaustion and pity I couldn’t quite place.
“What do you mean I got nothing?” My mother’s voice, usually so composed, sliced through the quiet. “I took the Green bloodline, my Green bloodline, and elevated us to one of the Kyoto Territory’s most influential houses, second only to the four great packs. We’re on the cusp of replacing the Fang Pack altogether. Isn’t that enough?”
My mother slowly lifted her brown eyes, tilting her head just so. It was an almost childish gesture, making her look for a fleeting second like some innocent maiden, her gaze locked onto Julia.
Julia’s head, which had already been bowed, dropped even lower, as if the weight of my mother’s Alpha command was physically pressing her down.
I knew Julia hadn’t personally witnessed her mother’s incredible climb: from being the daughter of an illegitimate he–wolf of the Green bloodline–someone who couldn’t even set foot through their main territory gates–to becoming the powerful head of the pack.
But even without seeing it herself, Julia, having grown up in the Smith bloodline, understood just how impossibly difficult that path must have been.
eamed And that kind of power? I knew it was something countless Omegas only ever dreamed of.
knew the story of how Julia’s mother, Mrs. Green, had defied all odds, surpassing her grandfather’s own sons and daughters to become the Alpha of he Green bloodline. It wasn’t just difficult; it was an incredible feat of dominance.
My mother’s power had always shielded me, making me practically untouchable in the Kyoto Territory.
And yet, I had wounded her so terribly.
Miller lowered her head even further.
Julia looked at my guilty face, a soft, unconcerned smile touching her lips, and reached out to me.
Her hand, meticulously cared for and utterly devoid of any hint of age, gently cupped my face.
“I did love your father,”
Julia’s voice softened to an extent I’d never heard before.
“But
you
have to understand, loving someone doesn’t necessarily mean you have to hold them in your grasp to truly possess.
them.”
10.16
< Chapter 609.
Her thumb gently stroked my cheek, a gesture as intimate as it had been when I was a tiny pup.
“My Lee Lee,” she murmured, “I didn’t walk away with nothing. Didn’t I get to have our little star, born from your farber and me
Little Star…
After ten years, hearing that pup–hood nickname again made my body go rigid.
It was my childhood name within the pack.
My mother hadn’t called me that in a very long time, and now, hearing it, my face flushed with heat.
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