Chapter 6 The Gift

The grand welcome feast commenced the next day. Taking my seat, I finally saw my parents again after three long years. Mother trembled as she grasped my hand, her eyes filled with complex emotions. "How was life in the Iron-claw Pack, my child? You look... so worn."

Father's gaze held warmth mixed with pain. "Our daughter has endured far too much that she shouldn't have."

Seeing their concerned faces, all my suppressed agony surged back like a flood. I forced a pale smile. "I... I'm alright. I fulfilled my duty for the pack."

At these words, my parents' expressions instantly cooled. They exchanged a glance, then gestured coldly for me to sit. Even my own parents couldn't accept what I had become.

The feast began. My brother Marcus and sister Selene sat at the high table, both deliberately avoiding my gaze as if I were something unclean. After the celebratory dances, Father solemnly unrolled Kaelen's Mate contract, his face blooming with rare joy. "The sacred union of General Kaelen and Princess Lydia will bring eternal peace and prosperity to both packs. Since Princess Lydia has consented, we shall hold their grand bonding ceremony on the night of the New Moon."

The Alpha's word was law, unbreakable as divine decree. Kaelen rose gracefully, bowing to the throne. "My gratitude, Alpha."

The hall erupted in thunderous cheers: "Congratulations, General Kaelen, on finding such a perfect Mate!"

"May you bear strong heirs swiftly!"

Amidst the tidal wave of celebration, I sat like a statue in my forgotten corner. The night of the New Moon... that was my birthday. But no wolf remembered that now. Three years of sacrifice and degradation had bought only utter abandonment and indifference. My heart tore itself apart inside my chest.

Then, an Iron-claw messenger strode toward the throne. "Princess Lydia has prepared a special gift for the Alpha and Luna—a masterpiece celebrating fertility and prosperity!"

He ceremoniously unveiled a large painting. The hall plunged into dead silence. Every wolf drew a sharp breath. "That she-wolf in the painting... isn't that Princess Elena?"

Chaos erupted. The Iron-claw messenger stammered, flustered: "This painting is a gift from the Iron-claw Pack to General Kaelen and the Princess, wishing them strong offspring! The she-wolf depicted merely... bears a coincidental resemblance to Princess Elena!"

He hastily replaced it with a landscape painting. "This is the true gift intended for the Alpha and Luna!"

But the explanation was feeble. Every wolf understood the painting's meaning, recognized the she-wolf in that humiliating pose. Under their alienating stares, I quietly slipped away. Outside, snow fell thickly, just like the night I was sent away three years ago.

"Elena." A familiar voice stopped me. I turned to see Marcus striding toward me.

"Marcus." My voice was broken.

His face was cold as carved stone. "I came from the northern border for this feast, only to witness... that. That painting was unmistakably you. You have brought immense shame upon our kin, upon the Silver-moon Pack. As a princess, why did you choose to cling to life in disgrace rather than die with honor?"

Each word stabbed my heart like a dagger. "Marcus, I had no choice—"

"No choice?" Marcus's voice twisted into a venomous snarl. "A true princess would choose death over dishonor! She would become a martyr, not a whore! I would rather you had died there than return alive to disgrace us all!"

His words echoed my deepest fears. I met his hate-filled gaze. "If it had been you sent as a hostage instead of me, would you still say that?"

Marcus's face darkened further. "I would have died on an Iron-claw torture rack before I dishonored our pack!"