ISOBEL

The lounge still smelled like copper.

Joseph’s mouth moved. Words came out. I watched his lips form shapes that should have meant something, but the rushing in my ears drowned everything except the sound of my own pulse hammering against my skull.

"There is nothing we can do."

That broke through.

I lifted my head. My neck felt stiff, like I’d been holding it at the wrong angle for hours. "What did you say?"

"Isobel." He reached for me. I jerked back. "There is nothing we can do about this. We have to accept it."

"Accept it?" The words tasted like ash. "Our daughter was murdered. Someone cut her into pieces and sent her back to us in a box like she was garbage, and you want me to accept that?"

"It’s more complicated than—"

"No." I stood. The room tilted. I gripped the edge of the table to steady myself. "No, it’s not complicated. This is war. They declared war the moment they did this to her."

Joseph’s face went pale. "We can’t go to war with Lily of the Valley."

"Watch me."

"Isobel, please." His voice cracked. "You need to understand what happened. Hazel... she did something terrible."

I laughed. The sound came out jagged and wrong. "Nothing could warrant this. Nothing she could have done would justify what they did to our daughter."

He looked at me for a long moment. Something shifted in his expression. Resignation, maybe. Or pity. I hated it either way.

"She killed Alpha Wenzel Asker," he said quietly. "During heat season. She poisoned him with wolfsbane and tried to force herself on him while he was dying so she could conceive his child."

The floor dropped out from under me.

I stared at him. Waited for him to laugh, to tell me it was a sick joke, to take it back. He didn’t.

"That’s not possible."

"Isobel—"

"That is not possible!" My voice came out too loud, echoing off the walls. "Hazel wouldn’t... she couldn’t..."

But even as I said it, the protest felt hollow.

Joseph’s eyes held mine. "Really? It doesn’t sound like anything she could have done?"

My throat closed. I opened my mouth then closed it again.

"Yes," I whispered. "It doesn’t sound like our daughter one bit at all."

The words felt like a betrayal. Like I was abandoning her. But they also felt true, and that made everything worse. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Joseph reached into his jacket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He held it out to me. "This came with her body."

I snatched it from his hand. My fingers shook as I tore it open.

The handwriting was neat. Official. Each word carved into the page with stupid words.

...

OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE FROM LILY OF THE VALLEY PACK

To Alpha Joseph Hughes of Silvercreek Pack,

This letter accompanies the remains of Hazel Hughes, who died on our territory under circumstances that demand your immediate attention and absolute compliance.

The Facts:

Your daughter attempted to sexually assault Alpha Wenzel Asker during his rut madness after poisoning him with wolfsbane. When discovered in the act, she had already inflicted fatal injuries upon our Alpha. The wolfsbane weakened him sufficiently for her to remove his heart while he still lived. She intended to conceive his child during his final moments—a desecration we will not describe in further detail, as the depravity speaks for itself.

Alpha Wenzel is dead because of the Omega you sent to our territory.

Our council has investigated thoroughly. The evidence is irrefutable. Her guilt is absolute.

Your Position:

You sent an Omega who murdered an Alpha. Let that fact settle in your mind before you consider any response.

If you retaliate—if you so much as send a messenger with words we don’t like—we will ensure every pack from here to the north, south and even west territories knows exactly what happened. We will tell them that Silvercreek breeds vicious beasts capable of infiltrating allied packs, poisoning Alphas during their most vulnerable moments, and committing acts so vile that even our most seasoned warriors struggled to document the scene.

Your reputation will be destroyed. Your alliances will crumble. Your enemies will smell blood in the water, and they will come for you with the knowledge that your pack’s "people" are nothing more than trained assassins in Omega skin.

Our Mercy:

We are choosing silence. We are choosing to contain this humiliation to our two packs alone.

Accept this mercy. Bury your dead. Mourn quietly.

If you breathe one word of retaliation, if you so much as look at our borders with hostile intent, we will unleash a response that will make you wish Hazel’s fate had been yours instead. Our new Alpha, Lysander Wenzel, has assumed leadership, and his restraint is the only thing standing between you and total annihilation.

He will not be as patient as his father.

Your Response:

You will send written confirmation within three days that you accept responsibility for Hazel Hughes’ actions and consider this matter closed. You will acknowledge that her death was justice for her crimes.

You will not seek vengeance. You will not speak of this publicly. You will not test our resolve.

If we do not receive your compliance, we will assume you wish to join your Omega in death.

Choose wisely, Alpha Joseph. Your pack’s survival depends on it.

By Order of the Lily of the Valley Council

Under the Authority of Alpha Lysander Asker.

...

The paper crumpled in my fist before I realized I was crushing it.

Tears burned down my face. They were hot but I did not care because of how angry and helpless I felt.

"It doesn’t matter," I said.

Joseph stared at me. "What?"

"It doesn’t matter." I looked up at him. "Maybe Hazel did do this. We’ll believe them. Fine. But this..." I gestured at the box. At the pieces of my daughter arranged like cuts of meat. "This cannot stand."

"Isobel—"

"She was our only daughter."

"No, she’s not."

The words hit me like a physical blow.

Bile rose in my throat. I swallowed it down. "What?"

He looked like he hated himself for saying it. The regret was written all over his face, in the way his shoulders sagged, in how his eyes wouldn’t quite meet mine.

"You know what I meant."

"Say it again."

"Isobel—"

"Say. It. Again."

He exhaled slowly. "Fia is also our daughter. Your daughter, too...technically. Does it kill you to admit she’s yours too?"

The room swam. I grabbed the table again. My knuckles went white.

"No," I said. "You made it so clear now. What I heard from you is I still have a daughter. I’m fine."

His face went hard. "You are unbelievable. But regardless of what you believe. I will not sacrifice this pack for that girl."

"That girl?" I repeated. "That girl is your daughter. Our daughter. The child I carried and birthed and raised."

"She received every special treatment in the world," Joseph said. His voice went cold in a way I’d never heard before. "And she still turned out a spoiled brat. Time after time, she committed crimes. She let her own sister take her place on the altar. She framed Fia for things she didn’t do. She killed a sentinel. She attempted to kill her own sister. And now this."

Each word landed like a stone in my chest.

"She’ll be given a decent burial," he continued. "What this actually is will be hidden. The fact that we’re surviving this is a miracle in itself."