"How dare you talk to your Alpha like that! You insolent bitch!"
The slap cracked through the night like a whip.
My head snapped to the side, pain exploding across my cheek.
The metallic taste of blood flooded my mouth, and for a heartbeat, everything inside me screamed to cower, to bow, to stay silent like I always had.
But something broke inside me instead. Something that had been festering, choking me for far too long.
I turned my face back toward him, my eyes sharp with venom. My voice was raw, laced with hate so sharp the very air seemed to carry it away.
"You knew."
His brows furrowed, the first flicker of hesitation in those golden eyes.
I took that single crack and drove my blade into it.
