Riley’s POV

“Your mother’s silver?” My mom looked panicked. “I—I didn’t know…”

Ezra gave her a mocking smile. “Yeah right because you’ve already fucked my mom’s man, so I guess stealing her stuff doesn’t seem like a big deal to you huh?”

“No, I swear, I had no idea—”

“Ezra,” King Soren growled. “That’s enough.”

“You invited your mistress and her damn daughter into my home. So I’ll say when it’s enough.”

King Soren stood up, his presence suddenly overwhelming. “Everly and I are getting married soon. It’s happening whether you like it or not. So drop the damn attitude.”

I held my breath.

The Lycan King being angry was terrifying. I doubted anyone could breathe normally under that intense gaze.

But clearly, our heir wasn’t just anyone. He strode forward, locking eyes with his father defiantly. “Like it or not this is my fucking attitude. You seriously think I don’t know what you did? My mother was on her deathbed, and you were out having fun with this whor—”

“EZRA!” his father roared.

“What? Suddenly feeling ashamed now? You should be. Because you fucking betrayed your dying wife and her love!”

King Soren grabbed a glass and hurled it at the wall. My mom burst into tears at the sound of shattering glass.

“Apologize to Everly. NOW,” Soren growled.

“Never,” Ezra rolled his eyes.

Then he looked over at us, and my mom immediately clutched me tightly, trembling with fear. Ezra seemed to find her reaction amusing and lifted his lips into a sarcastic smile.

“Get out of my mother’s house. You hear me? Or I’ll destroy you. No, not just you. I’ll fucking ruin your precious little daughter. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”

He gave me a long, hard look, then turned and stormed out of the dining room.

My mom immediately collapsed into a chair. She covered her face and started sobbing. “Oh God, what are we going to do…”

“I’m sorry you had to see that, Riley,” King Soren sighed.

“It’s fine,” I shook my head. Honestly, I didn’t think it was a big deal. If my dad had betrayed my mom like that, I’d react the same way.

“That’s the downside of having a son. I can hardly get him to agree with me on anything.” King Soren sighed again. “I always wanted a daughter, and now you are here. Riley, I believe you can bring change to this family.”

I smiled at him but said nothing.

He probably imagined me as the obedient, gentle daughter who never talks back to their parents.

But wait until he discovers my secrets and who I really am.

We finished dinner in awkward silence. King Soren had other work to attend to, so he left first. My mom walked me to my room.

The room was large and luxurious. It was clear my mom had redecorated it to suit my tastes, probably hoping I’d stay here permanently. But I knew I’d end up disappointing her.

She sat me down on the bed, her beautiful face filled with helplessness. “Oh God, Ezra… he’s like a demon isn’t he? What are we going to do about him?”

“Just avoid him as much as possible. Besides, you have King Soren to protect you,” I said. The one really needed to worry was me. Because Ezra practically owned the Royal Academy, and there was no one there to protect me.

“But I can’t avoid him forever. In fact… I need him.” She bit her lip. “Ezra’s coming-of-age ceremony is in 3 days. He might even find his mate then. It’ll be a big gathering for the entire pack, and it’s also my first public appearance. But he said if I’m there, he won’t show up… But he has to be there. What will people say if he’s not? I can’t let them gossip about me again.”

I looked at her, frowning.

Wait a minute, why was she telling me all this?

“Where is this going, Mom?”

She took my hand. “You go to the same school as him now. You have more chances to get close to him than I do. If you could somehow persuade him to attend the ceremony…”

“Hold on. You want me to talk to him?” It was so ridiculous that I almost laughed. “Did you hear what he just said? He said he’d ruin my life! What makes you think he’d listen to me?”

“But I’ve tried everything, Riley. Soren says I don’t need to worry about it, but I know if he doesn’t show up, the whole pack will mock me. They’ll use it to stop me from marrying Soren…”

She looked like she was about to cry again, gripping my hand tightly.

“Help me this once, please?”

I frowned at her.

This was classic her. Always finding ways to manipulate others into doing things that benefited her.

But no matter what, she was still my mother.

Even knowing she had ulterior motives, I couldn’t completely ignore her. Besides, I didn’t want to let Ezra turn my year here into a complete disaster.

“I’ll try.”

She immediately smiled and leaned in to hug me. “Oh, sweetheart, I knew you were the best. Now go to sleep. You have school tomorrow. Can’t be late on day one.”

She kissed my forehead and finally left my room.