The Unchosen Alpha, the Self-Crowned Queen Chapter 05

The Unchosen Alpha, the Self-Crowned Queen Chapter 05

No response.

I hadn’t really expected one.

I shut off the backup phone, pulled out my regular one, and obediently replied to Lyanna’s schedule updates. [Got it. 9 AM sharp tomorrow.]

She replied with a smiley emoji.

The day of the Silvercrest visit, I wore that champagne gold dress. Stood in Blackwood Manor’s great hall like a freshly lacquered vase.

Lucien didn’t show. His father Roland cheerfully explained, “Lucien got called to the Northern border for patrol.”

His mother Helena gave me a thorough once-over, took my hand, and said-lovely girl, well-bred,

clearly from a good family.

Lyanna beamed beside me. “Maeve’s always been sensible. Top-notch in everything.”

Nerys glided out with a tray of her Moonberry panna cotta, sweetly offering it to Helena. “Mrs Ashcroft, please try my dessert.”

Helena took a bite and raved about it.

Nerys smiled and added, “Once Maeve’s settled in over there, I’ll send over little treats now and then-just like family does, you know?”

She’d positioned herself as the giver. Like the whole thing was her doing, and she was the generous

sister making it all happen.

Before Roland left, he shook Evander’s hand. “May the Moon Goddess bear witness to our Packs’ bond. We’re family now.”

I stood at the entryway, seeing them out, my smile perfectly polished.

Back in my room, I checked my backup phone.

Uncle Elias had replied. [Maeve? Why the sudden message? What happened?]

I stared at that message for a long time. Typed and deleted. Finally sent: [Uncle, can you help me get a student visa for Blackridge? I want to go to school.]

Two minutes later, he replied with three words.

[Send me your materials.]

I didn’t cry. I just held onto the phone for a second, then went to the bathroom and splashed water on my face. I folded that dress-carefully, like it was already dead to me–and buried it in the back of my closet.

I’d never wear it again.

Getting into the Royal Wolf Academy was more complicated than I thought-transcripts, language/ tests, financial proof, housing guarantees. Elias walked me through it step by step.

“The pre-college requirements aren’t bad. Your grades are strong and you’ve got the combat academy background. Admission shouldn’t be an issue.” He paused. “Your sister know about this?

Your mom?”

“No. No one knows.”

“When are you planning to go?”

“As soon as possible.”

A long silence. “Maeve, leaving Blackwood Pack isn’t just running away. Think about what comes after. How are you going to live?”

“I’ve thought about it.”

I had.

I’d thrown the ring. I’d argued. I’d faced Evander head-on. Every resistance just tightened their grip. Lyanna took my door lock, canceled my credit card. Evander locked my passport in his safe —

only he knew the combo.

They used warmth as a cage. Family as a chain. Smiling, pushing me toward Silvercrest.

So I stopped fighting.

I played the game.

Lyanna told me to take flower-arranging classes–I went. Evander said to memorize the Silvercrest bloodline-I did. Nerys asked me to taste her new recipes-I smiled and said they were delicious.

Every day, I played the perfect puppet.

Only late at night, lights out, would I pull out my backup phone to work on my visa.

The passport was the hardest part. Evander’s safe lived in his study. Six-digit combo-I tried his birthday, their anniversary. Neither worked.

Eleven days in, I was at the beauty salon with Lyanna. She took a call from Evander. “What? The safe combo? How would I remember. You set it-isn’t it Nerys’s birthday?”

She didn’t even bother to lower her voice. In her eyes, I’d already given up. Completely tamed.

Nerys’s birthday. June 8th. 2003. Zero-six-zero-eight.

No-zero-three-zero-six-zero-eight.

030608

That night, I waited till everyone was asleep. 2:40 AM, barefoot into Evander’s study.

The safe clicked open.

Passport at the bottom, wedged under property deeds. I pulled it out, shut the door, spun the lock.

Less than forty seconds.

Back in my room, I slipped the passport into my backpack’s hidden compartment and lay down in bed. My heart was pounding-but my hands were steady.