When my Alpha father declined my call for the ninety-ninth time, I walked into the Blackwood Pack Bloodline Registry with my terminal diagnosis in hand. “Hello. I’d like to have my name removed from the Hart family roster.” Ten minutes later, my parents stormed in with their adopted daughter, Bella. My father, a territory enforcement officer, slapped me the moment he saw me. “You’d drag this all the way to the Bloodline Registry just to steal Bella’s spotlight? Haven’t you humiliated this family enough?” My mother, a former forensic pathologist, snatched the diagnosis from my hand. She scanned it once before letting out a cold laugh. “Faking medical records to ruin Bella’s coming-of-age party. Nora, you’ve been a liar your entire life.” Bella grabbed their hands, her eyes red, a deliberate tremor woven into the milky vanilla of her scent. “I’m sorry, Nora. I’ll cancel my party. Please, just stop lying to Mom and Dad like this.” I raised a hand, wiped aw......
