79 The Leverage
Sharon’s POV
“I didn’t!” She gasped, stumbling as I finally let her go.
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She leaned against a concrete pillar, her chest heaving. “I just want the Pack to rise again–what’s wrong with that? If you won’t help us, if you won’t move Jensen to restore our defenses, can’t I find another way out?”
“A way out?” I hissed, stepping into her personal space. “I’m your daughter. As long as I am the Luna of the Nightfang Pack, the Moonreign Pack will never fall. So what if we’re temporarily stripped of our warriors now? Didn’t you hear what Jensen said just now? He acknowledged me. As long as I’m the Luna, your pack will be safe.”
My words left her speechless; I could see the conflict behind her eyes.
She swallowed hard, her voice trembling.
“I’m so sorry, my dear daughter, I was just anxious. Didn’t you see how your father’s hair turned white overnight? He’s the Alpha of a dying territory. If the Pack collapses, even as Luna, will anyone still respect you? You’ll be a Luna without a lineage.”
She stepped closer, her eyes searching mine. “And how long do you think you can keep up the act of being terminally ill? Once he realizes there is no cancer, what then? Jensen could crush you with a single finger!”
“And if your pack survives, what real help can you give me?” I countered, my voice dripping with venom. “Didn’t Jensen already drive you to your knees once? You couldn’t even stop him from pulling his troops.”
The words cut deep, nearly taking her breath away. She looked like I’d slapped her.
“That’s only because we tied everything to the Nightfang Pack alliance,” she said, her voice regaining a bit of its former strength.
“When Jensen struck, we had no way to fight back because we were relying on his strength. But your father has heard about a rising foreign power, a pack from the northern territories looking to expand their reach. We’re planning to work with them… Jensen’s reach won’t extend overseas.” She stopped to catch her breath.
She reached for my hands. “Even if your secret is exposed one day, the pack will be there to protect you. Sharon, without your family and a strong pack behind you, you won’t last a day in Jensen’s world.”
Her words cooled my thoughts… She was right.
Jensen was unpredictable.
One day he was burning the world for Natalie, and the next he was acknowledging me as his mate out of some twisted sense of guilt.
If the truth about my fake sickness came out, or if he realized I was the one who had lured Natalie to that fire, couldn’t be suret could control him.
1 frowned slightly, pulling my hand away.
“Is that pack reliable? We can’t afford another mistake.”
“Very… Your father already looked into their credentials. They are known for their strength, and their Alpha is part lycan. stopped to look at me.
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Chapter 79 The Leverage
She sighed and pressed on, her voice softening into that manipulative maternal tone I knew so well.
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“Remember, all our funds were tied up with the Nightfang pack, so we couldn’t act. Now that Jensen wants to make it up to you, get some money and guards from him for us. Once our pack rises again, we’ll be your strongest support. No one will dare touch the daughter of a high–tier pack alpha.”
Natalie was gone now–I was the only daughter she had left, the only chance for our name to survive. If she could draw me back to her side, she still hoped for some semblance of a mother–daughter bond, or at least a partnership in crime.
I nodded slowly. “I’ll find a way to get the money and the guards. Jensen is feeling guilty; now is the time to bleed him for medical expenses‘ and ‘Pack restoration.‘ But before that, you’re not allowed to go to Jensen again. Not a single word without my approval.”
I narrowed my eyes, a thought occurring to me.
“And Mom… are you really planning to give him Natalie’s swaddles? Aren’t you afraid he’ll use them to track down her real parents? If her bloodline is stronger than we thought, that could be a problem.”
Her face drained of color instantly… the change was so drastic it was like she’d seen a ghost.
I stepped closer. “Mom, do you know something about Natalie’s background?”
I whispered, “I was the one who got switched at birth, so logically Natalie should’ve been that peasant woman’s child, but the DNA test proved otherwise. Her identity has never been investigated. Why didn’t you investigate? Why weren’t you curious about who was actually in your house?”
For a moment, my mother’s eyes flickered with a raw, naked panic.
“She wasn’t my daughter anymore,” she said, her voice tight and defensive. “Why should I care who her parents are? If she didn’t bother to look for her own history, why would I waste the Pack’s esources doing it for her?”
With that, she turned and walked toward her car, her pace quickening.
I stood in the parking lot, my eyes narrowing… I had the feeling my mother knew exactly whose blood had been running through Natalie’s veins.
But with Natalie dead and buried–or at least, with her ashes missing–I couldn’t be bothered to dig further.
A dead rival was a dead rival, no matter whose daughter she was.
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