KAEL POV
I punch the wall so hard my knuckles split open.
Blood drips onto the floor of my father's office, but I don't care. Pain is good. Pain is better than the rage burning through my chest like wildfire.
"Say that again." My voice comes out deadly quiet. "Slowly."
Dad—Alpha Marcus Crimson, leader of one of the five most powerful packs in the country—doesn't even flinch. He's used to my temper. He's the one who beat it into me, after all.
"I'm getting married in six months," he repeats calmly. "Her name is Lyanna. She has a nineteen-year-old daughter named Ember who will be moving in with us."
"No." I lean forward, hands flat on his desk. My wolf snarls inside me, wanting out, wanting to fight. "Absolutely not."
"It's not up for discussion, Kael."
"You're bringing a stranger into our pack? Into our home? After everything you taught us about protecting what's ours?" My voice rises despite my control. "Have you lost your mind?"
"Watch your tone." Dad's Alpha power rolls out, pressing against me. Most wolves would submit immediately. I'm his son—I just barely push back. "Lyanna is a good woman who's had a hard life. She deserves happiness."
"I don't care what she deserves! What about us? What about the pack?"
"The pack will be fine. It's one woman and her daughter."
That word makes my blood boil even hotter. "Daughter. You're bringing a girl into a house with three unmated Alpha males. Do you see the problem?"
Dad's jaw tightens. "She's not a problem. She's going to be your sister."
"I don't want a sister!" The words explode out of me. "Especially not—" I stop myself before saying something that will make this worse.
"Especially not what?" Dad's eyes narrow dangerously. "Finish that sentence, Kael."
I force the words through my teeth. "Especially not a wolfless one."
Silence crashes through the office like a bomb.
"How did you know that?" Dad asks slowly.
"You think I don't have sources? The moment you started seeing this woman, I had her background checked. Lyanna Ashford, formerly of Red Oak Pack. Weak bloodline, no notable achievements. Her daughter Ember never shifted. Nineteen years old and still completely human." I spit the last word like poison. "You're bringing a defective wolf into Crimson Moon Pack. The other Alphas will laugh at us."
"Enough!" Dad's power slams into me, forcing me back a step. "That girl has suffered more than you can imagine. Her father abused her for years. She deserves safety and a real family."
"Then send her somewhere else! Why does she have to be OUR problem?"
"Because Lyanna is going to be my wife. That makes Ember family. And in this pack, we protect family." Dad's voice drops dangerously low. "You will welcome her. You will treat her with respect. You will make sure no one in this pack harms her. Am I clear?"
Every muscle in my body screams to refuse. To fight. To tell him exactly what I think about this disaster.
But I know that tone. That's not my father talking—that's the Alpha giving an order.
"Crystal clear," I force out.
"Good. Tell your brothers. They need to prepare too."
I storm out before I do something stupid like challenge my own father.
Damon and Asher are waiting in our shared den—the private space where the three of us have lived since we were kids. They take one look at my face and know it's bad.
"Well?" Damon asks, all predatory grace even sitting down. He's sharpening a knife, because of course he is. "How bad is it?"
"Dad's getting married. Woman named Lyanna. She has a nineteen-year-old daughter moving in with us."
Asher's charming smile vanishes. "You're joking."
"Do I look like I'm joking?"
"A girl? Here?" Damon's knife stops moving. "That's... problematic."
"It gets worse." I throw myself into a chair, my hands still bleeding. "The daughter is wolfless."
The silence is deafening.
Then Damon laughs. Actually laughs. "Dad's bringing a defective wolf into our pack? Into our home? Has he completely lost it?"
"That's what I said!"
"This is a disaster." Asher stands up, pacing like he does when he's planning something. "The pack will see it as weakness. The other Alphas will mock us. Our enemies will think we're going soft."
"Exactly!" I slam my fist on the armrest. "But Dad won't listen. He's got this hero complex about protecting her because her father was abusive."
"Not our problem," Damon says coldly. "We didn't hurt her. Why should we pay the price?"
"Because Dad's making her family." The word tastes like ash in my mouth. "He ordered us to protect her. Treat her with respect. Make sure the pack doesn't harm her."
Asher stops pacing. "He can't be serious."
"Dead serious."
We all sit in angry silence. I can feel my brothers' wolves pacing just like mine. We're Alphas—born to lead, trained to be strong, taught that weakness is unacceptable. And now Dad wants us to welcome weakness into our home?
"She'll ruin everything," I finally say. "The pack already questions why three of us haven't found mates yet. Now they'll think we're so desperate we're accepting a wolfless girl as a sister."
"We could make her leave." Damon's voice is casual, but his eyes are calculating. "Not directly. Dad said we can't harm her. But we can make her uncomfortable enough that she chooses to go."
"How?" I lean forward, interested.
"Make her understand she doesn't belong here." Damon's smile is cruel. "Remind her constantly that she's weak. That she's an embarrassment. That she'll never be good enough for this pack."
"Psychological warfare," Asher adds, his strategic brain already working. "No physical harm—that would break Dad's order. But we can isolate her socially. Spread the right rumors. Make sure she knows exactly where she stands."
"She'll quit within a month," Damon predicts confidently. "Weaklings always do."
Something about this plan makes my wolf uneasy, but I push the feeling down. This is necessary. We're protecting our pack, our reputation, our future.
"We do this carefully," I warn them. "Dad can't know. And we make sure it looks like she's choosing to leave, not that we're forcing her out."
"Obviously." Asher smirks. "We're not amateurs."
"When does this disaster arrive?" Damon asks.
"Six months. After the wedding."
"Good. That gives us time to prepare." Asher pulls out his phone, already planning. "I'll make sure the pack knows what's coming. Plant the seeds now so everyone's ready to reject her when she arrives."
"And I'll design the perfect training schedule," I add darkly. "She wants to live in Crimson Moon Pack? She'll have to earn it. I'll push her until she breaks."
"This is going to be fun," Damon says, knife glinting in his hand.
But as we plan how to destroy this girl we haven't even met, my wolf suddenly goes completely still inside me.
Silent.
That never happens. My wolf is always present, always aggressive, always pushing for dominance.
What's wrong? I ask internally.
Nothing. No response. It's like he's... waiting for something. Listening.
Weird.
I shake it off. Probably just stressed about this whole situation.
"One more thing," I say to my brothers. "Dad called her 'Ember.' That's the girl's name."
The moment I say it out loud, the strangest thing happens.
All three of us freeze. The air in the room gets heavy, thick, electric. My wolf suddenly surges forward, alert and focused in a way I've never felt before.
Damon's knife clatters to the floor. Asher grips the back of the couch, knuckles white.
"Did you feel that?" Asher whispers.
"Yeah." Damon's voice is rough, confused. "What was that?"
I don't know. My chest feels tight. My wolf is pacing frantically now, chanting something I can't quite understand.
Mine. Mine. Ours. Find her. Protect her. Mine.
No. That's impossible.
"It's nothing," I force out, even though my heart is racing. "Just stress."
But I'm lying. We all know I'm lying.
Because for one impossible second, when I said her name, every instinct in my body screamed that Ember Ashford is important.
That she's ours.
That we just made plans to destroy the one person we're supposed to protect.
And my wolf—the part of me that never lies—is howling in horror at what we're about to do.