Sabrina sat in the living room, a servant brushing through her hair.

Her eyes were shut tight, her lower lip caught between her teeth. A tear slipped free and she wiped it with the back of her hand.

Dante had come to see her after Nina was taken away, but she’d wanted Nina dead first before she would see him. He’d come a few more times, and when she couldn’t hold out any longer she finally went to him.

He’d looked at her once and known she wasn’t Nina.

He’d been repulsed and left without another glance.

A muffled cry escaped her lips.

"It is okay, Sabrina, stop crying. I’ll find you another nobleman, better than Dante. He’s not even that good looking. Stop crying over spilt milk."

Marjorie said it without looking up, cutting flowers and arranging them in the vase, a headache forming from the sound of her daughter’s tears. She’d been at it for more than an hour.

"But I don’t want another man. It’s Dante I want," Sabrina cried.

Marjorie set the shears down and turned to her. "You only want him because he is the Alpha’s cousin, Sabrina. It’s enough."

Sabrina pouted, folding her hands in front of her. "What’s so wrong about me? Why would he choose her over me?"

Marjorie sighed and was about to speak when a knock came at the door. She nodded to the servant beside her, and he opened it.

The guard at the door bowed.

"A letter from Vermont Pack, Your Grace."

Marjorie stood, taking the letter from him.

"You may leave," she said, a small smile pulling at her mouth.

Once the door shut, Sabrina sprang to her feet. "Mother, it’s a letter from the Alpha. Nina is dead?"

Marjorie broke the seal.

"Now stop crying. With her gone, Dante will have no choice but to be with you." She shook her head as she opened the parchment. "Good riddance. I’ve always looked for how to get rid of that child. Your father would never let me send her back to her mother’s people."

She shrugged.

"If he had, she wouldn’t be dead now."

Marjorie’s eyes moved across the letter, and the smile died on her face.

...you are hereby invited to the coronation of your daughter, Nina Storm, as the Luna of Vermont Pack.

Marjorie blinked. Her brows creased. No — she must have read it wrong.

"Mother, what is it?"

Marjorie didn’t answer. The letter trembled between her fingers.

"This is not possible."

Sabrina pulled the letter from her hand and read it for herself.

The color left her face.

She’s alive.

Sabrina’s hand fell to her side, the letter crushed in her grip. Her breath came short.

She turned to her mother.

"Mother, Nina is alive."

Her legs gave under her and she dropped to the ground.

Marjorie sat down slowly. Her hands were shaking on the table, a fine trembling she couldn’t press flat. She stared at them.

The room was still.

Marjorie’s chest rose and fell once, and her eyes drifted to the flower vase. She picked it up and hurled it against the wall.

The glass shattered.

A dry laugh slipped from her lips.

She had done this. She had switched her own daughter’s place. She had made a servant’s child stand above her own. Above her.

"What then," Sabrina said, her voice low, "would happen to me."

Tears had gathered in her eyes. She dragged a breath and pulled her fingers through her hair.

"No, this is not happening. This is not happening!"

She tossed the letter against the wall, her chest heaving.

The door opened and Jonathan walked in. The frown on his face deepened as he took in the room.

"What is going on here?"

Sabrina lifted her eyes to him. "Father. Nina did not die. She’s going to be the Luna."

Jonathan’s eyes widened, then settled. He glanced at Marjorie, then crossed the room and sat down beside her, his jaw tight.

"She can’t," Sabrina said, her whole body trembling. "It cannot happen."

She turned to her mother.

"He chose me, Mother. I am the one who should be standing there tomorrow. I am the one who should be crowned, not —"

She stopped. Pressed her lips together.

"We need to do something. Before tomorrow. We cannot let her become the Luna."

Jonathan exhaled. "There is nothing you can do now, Sabrina," he said quietly. "Your mother and I will find you —"

"No."

"Sabrina —"

"No."

She whipped around to face him, her eyes hot. "Why should I settle for someone less than the Alpha? The Alpha chose me. It was me he chose. She just took my place."

She turned back to her mother.

Marjorie looked up from her hands, her eyes finding her husband. The glare in them sharp.

"Yes. Why not. Nina is still your child."

A dry scoff left her mouth.

"Either way it works for you, because they are both your children." Something moved through her jaw. "Over my dead body will I sit in that crowd and watch that servant child placed above my daughter."

Jonathan looked at his wife. Then at his daughter.

"And what do you plan to do, Marjorie? Storm the palace? Walk in there and force the Alpha to set her aside and marry Sabrina instead?"

The room went quiet.

Sabrina bit down on her pinky, hard, until it almost bled.

Her gaze drifted to the mirror on the far wall. To her hair.

A smile pulled at her lips, and she turned back to her parents.

"We just switch back our places."

Jonathan frowned.

"We dyed our hair to switch. I can wash mine out. I am Sabrina." Her smile widened. "Everyone thinks she is me. I am only taking my rightful place."

She laughed. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"Nina is the fraud. I am the real one. She cannot deny it. I’ll make her switch with me. She doesn’t have a choice. If she refuses I will tell everyone and ask them to check our hair. I don’t think she has gotten close enough to the Alpha for him to know who she really is."

Marjorie looked at her daughter for a long moment.

The shaking in her hands had stopped.

"Get the lye," she said to the servant by the door. He bowed and walked out.

Jonathan’s head snapped up. "Marjorie. You are talking about walking into Vermont Pack and making accusations against the Alpha’s Luna. Do you know what would happen if the Alpha —"

"She is not his Luna, Jonathan." Marjorie’s eyes cut to him. "She is a servant’s child who did not die when she was supposed to. That is all she is, and that is all she will remain."

She held his gaze.

"I cannot watch her take my daughter’s place, Jonathan. It would be over my dead body."

Jonathan looked at Sabrina.

A long sigh left him as he leaned back in his chair.