Lenora stared at Valeria with wide eyes, stunned beyond anything because that would have been the very last thing she would have expected. The name of the rival alpha hung so heavily in the air that Valeria squirmed where she sat. The shock seemed to age her mother in an instant, the faint lines around her eyes deepening as she processed the impossible reality. She swallowed hard, trying to find her voice before she finally spoke up.
"How long have you known about this, Valeria?" Lenora asked, her voice trembling slightly with a mixture of fear and disbelief.
