Rebirth: The True Luna's Ice Heart

Lizzy POV

Blood drips down my mouth, my hand clutching my stomach in pain as I try to steady myself.

Who would have thought that on the day of my birthday, this would be my end?

Just then, I hear a soft voice and turn to see Sophia standing by the door with folded arms, a smile curving her lips.

My vision blurs, but I can see her face blurry, smug, eyes narrowed in mock.

“Oh, Lizzy,” she says, her voice dripping with fake sweetness, tilting her head as she looks down at me. “Look at you, on your knees where you belong. Finally.”

I gasp, trying to form words, but the pain twists my insides. “Sophia… what… what did you do to me?”

She crouches slightly, her smile widening, looking so innocent. “What did I do? Well, I’ll tell you. You have no idea how much I hated you, Lizzy. How I’ve always hated sharing our parents’ love with you. Mom and Dad, they were supposed to be mine. All mine. But no, you had to be there, the perfect older sister, stealing every bit of attention.”

Her words hit like knives, but I can’t respond, just wheeze as more blood trickles from my lips. She straightens up, crossing her arms again, her expression cold.

Sophia came to the Frostbyte Pack two years ago.

During a rogue attack, Dad found this orphan girl from a rogue pack.

To everyone’s surprise, Sophia carried the unique scent of the Frostbyte Pack. Later, after verification, it turned out that Sophia was the true princess of the Frostbyte Pack — and I was nothing but an accident.

And ever since Sophia arrived, my life turned into a nightmare.

She’d “accidentally” spill things on my clothes right before pack meetings, making me look sloppy.

Or she’d cry to Mom about how I “yelled” at her when I never did, getting me hated.

Once, she hid my homework for the pack training sessions, and Dad lectured me for being irresponsible.

“Sophia’s trying so hard,” he’d say. “Why can’t you be more like her?” It was always little things, building up, making me the bad one while she played the innocent victim.

I kept trying to love her, to be the big sister, but she twisted everything.

And now, Sophie even want to poison me.

“I’m finally getting rid of you.Happy birthday, sis. Consider it my gift.” Sophie continues, her tone turning happier

Her words break me even more. I try to pull away, but my body won’t cooperate. “Mom… Mom won’t forgive you,” I manage to say, my voice fading.

She lets go of my hair with a laugh, her face twisting into a smug grin. “Really? Watch this.”

I watch helplessly as she grabs her dress and tears it roughly, ripping the fabric up the side to make it look like I did all of it. Then she pulls out a small knife from her pocket. She holds it up, her eyes gleaming with a cold smirk.

“Mom! Dad! Help!” she screams suddenly, her voice piercing and frantic. “Lizzy’s gone insane! She tried to kill me!”

Before I can even react, she slices her own wrist, deep enough that blood starts flowing immediately, dripping onto the floor. She throws the knife at my feet and collapses dramatically to the ground, gasping for air, clutching her arm as if she’s the one dying.

The door bursts open, and everyone rushes in.

My father, Alpha Marcus, Alpha of the FrostByte Pack storms in first, his broad shoulders filling the doorway, face goes dark at the scene.

My mother, Luna Elena, follows right behind, her hands clasped in her mouth tightly in shock. My elder brother, Ethan, pushes past them and rushes straight to Sophia, kneeling beside her quickly.

“Sophia! What happened?” Ethan asks, his voice worrying as he checks her wrist, wrapping his hand around it to stop the bleeding.

Alpha Marcus turns to me, his eyes cold and accusing, no trace of the fatherly warmth I’ve known all my life.

“Lizzy, how could you do this? How could you hate your sister so much? She’s done nothing but love you!”

I try to speak, but he doesn’t wait. His boot connects with my stomach in a swift kick, sending fresh waves of agony through me. I curl up on the floor, coughing up more blood.

This is the same man who raised me, who I once took a silver bullet for during a rogue attack on the pack.

I jumped in front of him without thinking, the bullet burning through my shoulder, nearly killing me but the pack healer saved me just in time, but my family?

They never even checked on me properly. No thanks, no concern. In fact, later, Dad accused me of planning it all with the rogues, just because he brought Sophia into our home and started loving her more. “You were jealous,” he said back then. “You orchestrated that attack. You are a disgrace to this pack.”

Now, here he is again, believing her lies without a single question. “You disgust me, Lizzy,” he says, his voice low and emotionless. “After everything we’ve given you, this is how you repay us? Trying to murder your own sister? You don’t deserve to live.”

Luna Elena stands there, helpless. “We should have seen this coming,” she mutters. “Sophia’s always been the sweet one. First, you tried to push her from the stairs and now this?”

That’s what Sophia made them believe. She pushed herself deliberately and put the blame on me days ago and they believed her.

Ethan glances up from Sophia, his face blank. “Dad, we need to get her to the healer. Lizzy’s not worth the time.”

I lie here dying, they don’t even glance my way with concern. Sophia smirks at me from the floor, her eyes meeting mine for a split second before she fakes another gasp.

Alpha Marcus kneels briefly by Sophia, then stands, his voice echoing faintly in my ears as the wolfsbane spreads further. “Lizzy, I cut all ties with you. You’re no longer my daughter.

Disowned for trying to kill your sister, who needed nothing but your love. Get out of my sight.”

“We have loved her for so many years and killing our only sister is all she could do?” My second brother Alex said.

“She deserves no forgiveness.” My 3rd brother Zane added.

They all start to leave, Ethan carrying Sophia out, Mom following without a word. Dad pauses at the door, but doesn’t look back. “Leave her,” he says to no one in particular. “She brought this on herself.”

The door slams shut, and I’m alone, the pain consuming me. Earlier, before all this, Sophia had switched on the pack’s industrial oven in the kitchen next to the restroom. “There will be a lot of fireworks today on your birthday,” she’d said with a wink, but I didn’t understand. I thought it was a joke.

Now, I do. The oven must have been rigged or overloaded because suddenly, there’s a loud whoosh, and flames erupt from the wall vent connecting to the restroom. Fire spreads fast, licking at the tiles, the heat hitting me to suffocate. I scream for help, my voice weak.

But no one comes. The flames crawl closer, singeing my skin, the smoke filling my lungs. I try to crawl away, but my body won’t move. They don’t care. The cherished daughter of Alpha Marcus is now abandoned, left to die. all because I tried to love everyone equally, to be the right elder sister.

The fire roars louder, burning my arms, my legs. I scream again, the pain unbearable. If there’s a next life, I just want to be strangers with everyone. Away from all the hurts.

I watch my own body burning into ashes, the world fading. And just like that, everything goes dark.

Lizzy POV

The continuous shrill beeping of alarm slices through my gaze as I forcefully blink my eyes open, my vision blurry, my heart pounding like it’s trying to escape my chest as sweats cover me, realising I am lying on the bed. My eyes fell on the alarm and beside it was a calendar. Today’s date is 29th July 2024. Wait… what? This was the year Sophia was brought into frostbyte pack.

I sit up slowly, rubbing my temples, and glance around. This is my room, the small one they shoved me into a week before my birthday after Sophia had claimed my once beautiful room. The walls are covered with molds, the single window lets in a sliver of morning light, and my old clothes are piled in the corner.

Sophia had whined about needing more space, so she took my original room, the one with the big closet. But waking up to this room… this doesn’t make sense. Didn’t I just die? The fire, the poison, the betrayal all rushes back in my head. Or was it a dream?

I throw off the covers and stumble to the mirror on the wall as I stare at my reflection, turning side to side, lifting my shirt to check my skin. No burns, no scars from the flames, no blood. I’m fine. Completely fine. I touch my face and it’s smooth, no pain too.

But this day… It feels too familiar. Have I lived this before? Is this some kind of second chance? A rebirth? My wolf stirs faintly inside me, confused too. I press my palms against the mirror, breathing hard, trying to see if I could feel myself, maybe I was indeed dead but my spirit wasn’t.

Suddenly, my door bursts open without a knock, slamming against the wall. My second brother, Alex, storms in, his jaw set in that familiar scowl. He’s in his usual training gear, sleeves rolled up, showing the pack tattoo on his forearm. His eyes narrow at me, cold and impatient.

“How many hours are you planning to sleep, Lizzy?” he snaps, crossing his arms over his chest. “Did you forget Sophia hasn’t eaten yet? It’s 8:am. Why are you so wicked, starving her like this? Aren’t you supposed to be awake before 6am?”

In the past, I’d have bowed my head, mumbled an apology, and rushed to fix it. I’d have played the nice, dutiful sister, the one who swallowed every insult to keep the peace. But where did that get me? Burned alive, abandoned by everyone I loved. No more. I straighten up, meeting his gaze without flinching.

“If Sophia’s hungry, she knows the way to the kitchen,” I say.

“Besides, she’s not a child. She’s 19. And there are about 53 servants in the FrostByte Pack, any one of them could serve her. Not me.”

Alex’s face hardens, his eyebrows knitting together in surprise, then anger. He takes a step closer. “You’ve not only been acting wicked to Sophia these days, but now you’re being disrespectful to me too?”

I tilt my head slightly, holding his stare.

He snorts. “Everyone’s downstairs already. You should come down soon and don’t be sluggish up here.” He turns on his heel and leaves, the door clicking shut behind him.

My pulse is still racing. I head to my small closet, pulling out a simple shirt and jeans, nothing fancy. I splash water on my face in the tiny attached bathroom, brush my hair quickly, and tie it back. My reflection stares back. If this is a second chance, I’m not wasting it on them.

I make my way downstairs. The pack house is alive with the usual morning sounds. As I reach, I spot everyone in the spacious sitting room. Sophia is curled up on the couch, her face buried in our mother’s arms, sobbing softly. Mom, Luna Elena strokes her hair gently as she comforts her. Dad, Alpha Marcus, sits nearby in his armchair, arms crossed. My brothers, Ethan, Alex, and the youngest, Kane are scattered around, all watching the scene with neutral faces. No one looks my way until I step fully into the room.

Kane’s eyes flick to Sophia, then back to me, narrowing slightly. “Why can’t you just say sorry to Sophia? Look at her crying like that because of you.”

“I didn’t touch her, did I? What’s there to apologize for?”

Alex, who’s now perched on the arm of the couch near Sophia, straightens up, his voice sharp. “Seems like you’re so ungrateful for everything the FrostByte Pack has done for you, Lizzy. You can’t even say sorry to the true daughter? It’s just sorry, nothing huge. Why are you so proud about it?”

Sophia’s sobs hitch, and she lifts her head just enough to peek at me. She sniffles dramatically. “It’s not Lizzy’s fault that I’m crying. No one should blame her. I was only hungry and… and I needed her to serve me. That’s all. Even though she hates me, she’s still our sister.”

I roll my eyes, not bothering to hide it. The dramatics are the same as always, her playing the victim, them eating it up.

Dad’s voice cuts in then. “Don’t be dramatic, Lizzy. Go get Sophia her meal.”

In my first life, I’d have jumped to it but not today. I take a bold step closer to him, closing the distance until I’m just an inch away, my chin lifted as our eyes met unblinking, that calmly dangerous glint in them, the kind that says he could snap without warning. I feel his alpha aura flaring, the pull to submit, but I push it down.

“And why exactly should I be the one to serve her, Alpha Marcus?” I say, my voice bolder than it’s ever been.

They all gasp, mom covering her mouth with her hand in shock, Sophia’s sobs stop abruptly, her head snapping up. And my brothers? Of course surprise too at my audacity. Dad’s jaw tightens ever so slightly as his eyes goes darker.

I don’t wait for him to respond. “Maybe you can serve her yourself, Mr. Marcus FrostByte.” I added.

Lizzy POV

The air is thick enough to choke on as I felt the tension. I stood there, unmoving, while every single pair of eyes glared at me.

Alpha Marcus’s voice came first, deep, filled with anger.

“What did you just say to me?”

His aura rolled through the hall. The old me would’ve dropped her gaze, knees trembling, lips spilling apologies. But now, I won’t show weakness because it didn’t do me any good.

I repeated. “Why should I apologize? I didn’t do anything wrong. She’s your daughter. You can serve her.”

The silence that followed felt sharp. My mother’s hand froze midair as she brushed Sophia’s hair. My brothers exchanged shocked looks. Even Sophia, the little actress herself, couldn’t believe I had the audacity to speak back again.”

“You dare question your Alpha?” Dad thundered, standing to his full height, his shadow stretching across the tiled floor.

I met his eyes. “I’m not questioning my Alpha,” I said, forcing my tone steady. “I’m questioning my father.”

That did it. Alex shot to his feet. “You’ve lost your mind!” he barked. “You think you can talk to Dad like that? After everything he’s done for you?”

“Done for me?” I repeated softly, almost to myself. “Right. Like taking away everything that was mine and handing it to someone else?”

“Enough!” Marcus’s growl filled the hall. “I will not tolerate this disrespect for another second.”

He stepped forward, his fists clenched, and I saw it, his hand twitching slightly like he was about to strike me. My stomach tightened, but I didn’t move.

“Dad, no!” Sophia suddenly cried, jumping up and rushing between us. Her eyes glistened with tears that looked so real anyone else would’ve believed her. “Please don’t hit her! She’s your real daughter too!”

My chest tightened. What game is she playing now?

Ethan frowned. “Sophia, what are you saying? She’s not of this blood.”

Sophia turned, clutching her chest dramatically. “She’s your true daughter no matter what,” she said, voice trembling.

“I shouldn’t have been here in the first place. I shouldn’t have taken what was hers. It’s all my fault. If my being here makes her hate me, then I’ll leave. I’ll disappear. You’ll never have to see me again!”

She broke down in sobs, shoulders shaking, her hair falling across her face as if the world had ended.

I could almost laugh. The same old performance, just with a new twist.

“Don’t say that, Sophia,” Mom rushed to her side, hugging her tightly. “You’ll always be our daughter.”

“Mom!” I said sharply. “Can you stop pretending you don’t see what she’s doing?”

Mom’s hand froze on Sophia’s shoulder. Slowly, she turned to me, her eyes cold and full of disappointment. “How dare you speak to your father like that? You should be ashamed of yourself, Lizzy. Sophia’s crying her heart out and you…”

“She’s faking it!” I snapped. “She’s always faking it! Every time something happens, she cries, and you all believe her. Can’t any of you see through her lies?”

Ethan stepped forward, his voice low but deadly. “Enough, Lizzy. You’re making things worse.”

“I’m telling the truth!”

“Truth?” Alex sneered. “You think you even know what that word means? Look at yourself, so bitter, so full of hate. You’ve changed.”

“Maybe I have,” I said quietly. “Maybe I finally learned to stop kneeling to people who don’t deserve my loyalty.”

Marcus’s voice broke through, dangerously calm. “Lizzy, do you understand what you’ve done wrong?”

“Not really,” I said, my tone even.

His jaw twitched. “You don’t know?”

I stared right at him. “I don’t. You tell me.”

His anger faltered. Something flickered in his eyes, confusion, maybe even doubt but it vanished as quickly as it came.

“This is not the daughter I raised,” he muttered, shaking his head.

“Maybe not,” I said softly. “Because the daughter you raised was blind. She took every insult, every slap, every lie, and said thank you. She begged for scraps of love. That girl’s gone.”

Sophia whimpered, her tears falling harder now. “You see? She hates me. I just wanted to make things right. I even told her she could have her place back.”

“What place?” I asked bitterly. “The one you stole? The one you filled with poison?”

“Stop it, Lizzy!” Mom shouted, her voice cracking. “I won’t let you talk like this. You’re tearing this family apart!”

“This family?” I laughed bitterly. “You tore it apart the day you believed her lies over me.”

Ethan’s face darkened. “That’s enough,” he barked. “You owe Sophia an apology. Right now.”

I turned my gaze on him slowly. “Really? No I won’t do it.””

He blinked, clearly not used to hearing that word from me.

“What did you say?”

“I said no. I’m not apologizing for something I didn’t do.”

Alex snapped. “She’s out of control! Dad, we can’t keep letting her disrespect the pack like this.”

“Disrespect?” I snapped. “What about the respect I was denied all these years!”

“You don’t talk to your Alpha like that!” Marcus’s aura surged again, thick and suffocating.

The silence that followed was deafening.

Marcus’s eyes went cold. “You are not my daughter.”

Sophia gasped softly, clutching his arm. “Dad, don’t say that, please! It’s my fault, not hers!”

He brushed her off gently. “No, Sophia. You’ve done nothing wrong. You’ve been patient, kind, loving, even when she treated you cruelly. You’re the kind of daughter any Alpha would be proud to have.”

The words hit harder than any slap. I could feel something twist painfully in my chest, but I refused to let it show.

Ethan stepped forward, shoving his phone in my face. “You still think we’re blaming you for nothing? Look at this!” He showed me a video in his phone.

On the screen was an article from the pack’s news site. “FrostByte’s True Heiress Found, Lizzy Frost’s Real Identity Revealed.” Below it was another headline: “What Happens to the Adopted Daughter Now?”

Photos of Sophia and me filled the screen. Me, staring blankly during a pack event. Her—smiling sweetly beside Dad. The comments below burned in my head.

“She doesn’t look like an Alpha’s daughter.”

“The adopted one is prettier.”

“Sophia’s aura fits the Alpha’s family better.”

I met Ethan’s glare and slowly pushed his phone aside.

“So what?” I said.

Lizzy’s POV

“What have you done?,” Marcus said at last. “After everything you watched, you still can’t find a bit of your wrong?”

I met his gaze, refusing to look away. “About what exactly?”

His eyes darkened.

Ethan stepped forward. “Father’s right. This isn’t a misunderstanding. The pack council already knows about the incident. You’re lucky he’s keeping it within the family for now. But you still went ahead to disclose the family secret to the media. So you could get sympathy from them.”

Kane crossed his arms, his tone harsher. “You embarrassed Sophia in public. I’m sure they will see Sophia as the bad one. You handed out information that was supposed to stay confidential.”

Luna Elena’s lips tightened. “After all the chances we gave you, this is how you want to disgrace our pack. You really need to be punished.”

Sophia sniffed softly, hiding behind her hand. “I didn’t want this, Mom. I didn’t want her punished. I just thought we were finally becoming sisters… and whatever the media thinks, it shouldn’t be a problem to us.”

I looked straight at her and smiled faintly. “Of course, it shouldn’t be a problem.” I repeat. “You’re good, Sophia. I’ll give you that.”

Her eyes flickered, but she quickly lowered her head again, shoulders shaking in a practiced sob.

Alpha Marcus stepped closer, his voice sharp now, though still controlled. “Lizzy, enough. You promised to keep the FrostByte matters private until I decided otherwise. You broke that. You fed our secrets to outsiders.”

“That’s not true,” I said evenly.

“You’re denying it?” Kane snapped. “Everyone saw the messages. The screenshots were right there.”

Ethan nodded. “They came from your account.”

“Then show me,” I said, folding my arms. “If you’re going to accuse me, you’d better have proof.”

That stopped them for a moment. Ethan exchanged a glance with Kane. Marcus’s expression didn’t change, but something flickered in his eyes, curiosity, maybe.

“You can’t just throw accusations because it suits you,” I continued calmly. “If you’re so sure I did tell the media I wasn’t the true Luna, prove it.”

Sophia’s voice trembled. “Dad already did! They traced the messages back to your personal link. Who else could it be?”

I tilted my head. “Oh? And what exactly was in those messages, Sophia? Because I never saw them.”

Sophia looked toward Marcus helplessly, as if begging for his help. “She’s twisting it again, Dad. She always does this.”

Marcus didn’t speak. He picked up his phone instead and made a call, pressing the speaker button and calling a number.

“This is Alpha Marcus FrostByte,” he said when the line connected. “Tell me, who reached out to you from our pack about those screenshots?”

A man’s voice came through immediately, nervous and respectful. “Alpha… it was Miss Lizzy. She… she sent me the details..”

All eyes turned toward me.

Marcus’s jaw tightened. “Do you still want to deny it?”

“I will, until you show me something real. Because this?” I gestured to the phone. “This doesn’t prove anything. A stranger can’t say something and you all believe it without asking him for proof.”

The man on the other end hesitated. “It was her voice. I recognized it.”

“Really?” I said, pulling out my own phone. “Then you won’t mind answering me directly.”

I hit the speaker and called the same number. The moment the line picked up, I spoke. “Oh, hi. Is this the same man who claims to have spoken to Lizzy earlier?”

The man froze. “Who’s this?”

“You said you recognized my voice,” I replied, still using the modified tone. “Then surely you can tell who you’re speaking to.”

Silence. The tension in the room was so sharp it could slice through bone.

Marcus’s eyes narrowed. Ethan frowned. Even Sophia stopped crying.

“Tell them,” I continued, still calm. “If you’re so sure, say it again. Was it this voice you heard when those screenshots were sent to you?”

“I…I might’ve been mistaken,” the man stammered. “Maybe it wasn’t her. The voice, uh, it sounded similar.”

I dropped the act and spoke normally again. “Oh, so now you’re not sure.”

The man started to babble, “Someone, someone told me it was you. They said you were the one behind the account. I only followed instructions… to lie you were the one.”

“Who told you?” Marcus demanded, his tone suddenly sharp.

“I…I don’t know, Alpha. It came through a private channel. The sender used your pack’s family phone.”

“Enough,” Marcus snapped, ending the call and then turned to me.

His expression was unreadable. But I could tell he wasn’t fully convinced anymore.

Sophia’s hand clenched in her lap. “You can’t believe her! She’s just using tricks. That wasn’t even…”

I cut in smoothly, “A trick? Maybe. Or maybe I’m just smarter than whoever’s framing me.”

“You’re lying,” Sophia hissed, the sweetness gone from her voice now. “You’ve always been jealous of me. You can’t stand that I’m loved and you’re not.”

“Loved?” I let out a small, humorless laugh. “You mean pitied.”

Her face went pale.

Kane stepped forward. “Lizzy, enough. You’re making it worse.”

“I’m just defending myself,” I said. “Is that against the pack rules too?”

“Enough!” Father snapped.

For a second, my chest tightened, the old instinct to obey, to shrink. But then I forced myself to meet his eyes again.

“If I were guilty,” I said quietly, “I’d be begging right now. Crying, apologizing. But I’m not. Because I didn’t do it and won’t apologize to anyone.”

Marcus studied me for a long moment, his gaze unreadable. “Then who did?”

“Maybe the same person who benefits the most,” I said, my eyes sliding toward Sophia.

Sophia froze.

“Remember she’s the only one who had been using the family phone lately and I was restricted to using so many things including that phone.”

My mother spoke. “That’s not possible.”

“You think it’s impossible? Really? That she wouldn’t betray her own pack? Maybe you don’t know your daughter as well as you think.”

Sophia’s face twisted, tears spilling instantly. “That’s not true.”

“Yes! My child. You are innocent and you can’t do such to this pack. I trust you.”

Lizzy POV

Of course she’s innocent and can’t do such things.

But then, as if he heard my words, he turns toward her, his eyes dark now, cutting through the tension. “Sophia… did you do it?” His voice is calm, but every word carries weight.

All attention snaps to her. The room goes silent.

“I…I didn’t!” she’s sobbing now, her voice shaking so badly. “I didn’t do it! I swear! You… you have to believe me!”

Her knees buckle slightly. She stumbles toward me, and before anyone can stop her, she knees in front of me, her hands gripping my dress. “I didn’t do it! I’m innocent you know! Why… why are you trying to make everyone hate me?”

“Stop it, Sophia,” my mother’s voice is soft but tense, stepping closer, her hands out like she wants to lift her. “Sophia, calm down. Please…”

But the more they tell her to stop, the harder she cries, the louder her pleading becomes.

She presses her forehead to me, shoulders trembling, tears soaking my dress.

“I know you hate me! I can see it in your eyes, Lizzy! You hated me the moment I came into your family. You hate that I’m the true Luna. You can’t stand it! That’s why you are doing everything to send me away!”

I roll my eyes. There she goes.

She gasps, shaking her head furiously. “And it’s not my fault! It’s not my fault I carry the FrostByte scent! It’s not my fault the pack can recognize me as the true Luna! I didn’t ask for this! And I never wanted to hurt anyone!”

She looks up at me, a wet strand of hair plastered across her tear-streaked face. “I’ll leave. I’ll go far away. Never come back. I won’t destroy anyone’s happiness. That will make you happy.”

Her voice cracks and breaks my brothers’ composure. Ethan’s jaw tightens, Alex crosses his arms but leans forward slightly, and even Kane’s lips twitch. Mother moves closer, hovering as she kneels beside Sophia, taking her hands, gently brushing her wet cheeks. “My child… it’s okay.”

“I’m not happy… because you haven’t forgiven me, Lizzy. You… you hate me so much.” She added.

She presses her forehead to my knees again. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything. Please, just… just forgive me before I leave.”

I don’t say a word. I remain perfectly still, folding my hands in front of me.

My mother whispers softly, trying to calm her, “Stop crying, Sophia, it’s okay…”

But Sophia pushes herself upright in one swift motion and runs to the window, one leg perched on the sill, her hands gripping the frame. “Maybe you will be happier if I’m gone!” she shouts. “Maybe you will be at peace if I end it all!”

“Sophia! Get down please!” my mother pleads, hands out, moving closer. Ethan takes a step forward, tense and ready to grab her if she slips. Alex and Kane tried too.

“Stop this madness.” Zane says.

I take a step forward. “Go ahead,” I say. “Jump. Maybe it’s better. Better to be at peace than alive and hated by me.”

The room freezes. My mother spins around, eyes wide, and slaps me across the face.

“What is wrong with you, Lizzy!” she screams, her voice filling with fury. “You… you’ve gone too far this time! This… I cannot tolerate this!”

She whirls around and kneels beside Sophia, taking her hands gently, whispering sweetly, coaxing, almost begging. “Please, my darling… please come down. You’re loved here. Come down now please.”

Slowly, hesitantly, she slides one leg down inside, then the other, until she’s back on ground.

Alex walks up to me, his expression dark and dangerous, eyes narrowing as he speaks in fury. “You… you are the worst thing that has ever happened to this family.”

Sophia’s eyes meet mine briefly, that smug, victorious glint dancing across them before it disappears into her tears. Only I could see it.

My brothers’ tension doesn’t ease. Ethan jaw tight. Kane steps closer to Sophia, protective but wary, scanning me like I’m a threat.

Sophia takes a deep breath, wipes at her cheeks, and mutters softly, almost to herself, “I never wanted anyone to hate me… especially not my own sister.”

I remain calm, silent. My posture controlled, my wolf simmering under my skin. To snap back but I held it down. It was useless.

She takes another step back, glancing at me, searching for any hint of mercy. Finding none, she drops to her knees again, lower this time, hands clasped as if in prayer. “Please… I beg you, Lizzy. I did nothing wrong! You… you can’t keep punishing me!”

I tilt my head slightly, letting my stare linger. “You’re right. I won’t punish you. Not because you’re innocent… but because nothing you do can matter anymore. Not to me. Enough of all your drama. It’s getting too tiring.”