The Forgotten Twin Princess Found Her True Pack Chapter 04

The Forgotten Twin Princess Found Her True Pack Chapter 04

Three days before the mating ceremony, all of Shadowmaw Pack was in a frenzy of preparation.

On the table in the front hall sat an invitation to my mating ceremony. It was right there in plain sight.

But for an entire week, not a single person had noticed that the date on my ceremony had already been changed, no longer matching Leona’s.

To them, I was just the spare princess, a backdrop to make Leona’s moment shine brighter.

I calmly changed my shoes and walked out the door.

Morgan had told me he didn’t care about any of it. He just wanted me.

But I still wanted to give him a gift.

I picked out a watch as a return gift for the moonstone ring on my finger.

When I went to pay, the clerk handed my card back.

“I’m sorry, ma’am. Insufficient funds.”

The realization hit me like a wall. I couldn’t breathe.

I drove straight back to the pack house.

I shoved past the front door and knocked the party favors right out of Mother’s hands.

“The ninety-six thousand dollars in my account. Did you spend it?”

Every pair of eyes in the room turned to me.

Mother didn’t even look up. She went right back to sorting the party favors.

“Yes. I bought Leona some jewelry so she’d have something to fall back on. The budget was short, so I used yours.”

I watched her casual indifference, and my throat went so dry I could barely speak.

“That was every cent I’d saved over two years.”

“We’re family,” Mother said, frowning. “Besides, didn’t you already promise to give Leona money as a gift?”

I couldn’t hold it in anymore. My voice cracked wide open.

“Are you trying to destroy me?”

“I’m about to become a Luna too. How am I supposed to walk into a new pack with absolutely nothing?”

“She has a house and a car. Isn’t that enough?”

My words were breaking apart. “Mom, you can’t do this. It’s not fair.”

Mother stood frozen. Killian rushed over and shoved me.

“Vanessa! What the hell is wrong with you now?”

“It’s ninety-six thousand dollars. How can you talk to Mom like that? This is Leona’s one and only mating ceremony. Of course it has to be done right.”

Mother recovered and fired back. “You’re talented. You have plenty of savings. What’s a little money to someone like you?”

“Go to your room and calm down. Stop making a scene.”

I said nothing. I walked straight to the box of Leona’s jewelry.

The moment I reached for the pieces inside, a hand clamped around my wrist.

Alpha Father.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

I wrenched against his grip. Twenty-some years of swallowed grievances and silent resentment erupted all at once.

“I’m returning them. That jewelry was bought with my money.”

Leona’s timid voice floated over. “Vanessa, I’m sorry. I’ll give it all back. I don’t want any of it.”

Killian charged in and pinned me down. “Vanessa, are you done? Do you have to ruin everything before you’re satisfied?”

I twisted toward him and shouted, “I just want back what’s mine!”

The words barely left my mouth.

A sharp crack split the air.

My head snapped to the side.

Half my face erupted in searing heat. Tears fell without warning, shattering against the cold marble floor.

It was our Luna mother.

She stood there panting, her eyes full of disappointment and disgust.

“I raised you all these years, and you can’t let go of one little thing. How can you be this selfish?”

I pressed my hand to my cheek and stared at the accusing eyes in front of me, refusing to look away.

For Leona, they had cut down my redwood tree without a second thought. Drained my savings without asking. And when I tried to take back what was mine, I was the selfish one.

Father stepped forward, his face like stone. “Enough. This ends here. Nobody brings this up again.”

The Alpha’s authority radiated outward, crushing any chance I had to argue.

I pulled my fingers back from the jewelry box.

I didn’t look at any of them. I took nothing. I turned and walked out of the pack house.

I went to the hotel I’d booked in advance.

Over the next two days, not a single person asked where I’d gone. Not a single person cared about my upcoming mating ceremony.

They kept orbiting Leona, as if a daughter named Vanessa had never existed.

Until the day of the mating ceremony. The weather was clear.

A black car pulled up in front of the hotel right on schedule.

Morgan stepped out in a sharp suit, his stride steady and sure, and walked straight to me.

“Vanessa. I’m here to take you home.”

He pulled me into his arms, and I held on to his shoulders.

Starting today, Shadowmaw Pack had nothing to do with me.

I couldn’t wait to see the looks on their faces when they realized I was gone.