Chapter 3

Zora POV:

They didn't just want my life; they wanted my name.

While I was being prepped, stripped of my clothes and put into a thin, humiliating hospital gown, my phone buzzed incessantly on the side table. It was the Pack Forum.

I picked it up with trembling fingers.

*Breaking News: The Truth Behind the Potions.*

There was a post from Laila's account. It claimed that I had been blackmailing her, forcing her to include my "flawed" theories in her work, which was why the Academy had flagged her recent paper for plagiarism. She spun a tale of a jealous, non-shifting sister who wanted to drag the pack's genius down into the mud.

The comments were a landslide of hatred.

*"Useless Omega."*

*"She should be banished."*

*"Why is she even still in the pack?"*

The door opened, and Simon didn't walk in-he stormed in. He didn't speak. He grabbed my arm, his grip bruising, and dragged me out of the room.

"Simon, stop! I can't walk fast!" I cried out, stumbling. My bare feet slapped against the cold linoleum.

"You're going to fix this," he growled, not slowing down. He dragged me like a rogue, like garbage, right into the main waiting area where my family and a few pack elders were gathered.

He threw me onto the floor. I landed hard on my knees, the impact jarring my spine.

I looked up and saw Laila holding a phone. The red light was on. She was livestreaming.

"Tell them," Simon commanded, his voice booming so everyone in the room-and everyone watching online-could hear. "Tell the pack that you lied. Tell them you sabotaged Laila out of jealousy."

I looked at him, searching for the boy who had saved me from a storm five years ago. The boy who had wrapped his jacket around me and promised I was safe. That boy was dead.

Laila started coughing, a delicate, pitiful sound. "I can't breathe," she wheezed, clutching her chest. "Her scent... it's so bitter. It's choking me."

It was a lie. I had no scent left. The poison had stripped it away. But Simon reacted instantly.

"Do it now, Zora! Or I swear by the Moon Goddess, I will throw you into the dungeon. *You can rot in the dark before I let you near a surgery table.*"

*The dungeon meant dying alone, in slow, excruciating agony. The surgery was a guillotine-quick, final. The anesthesia would be my freedom.*

I looked at the camera lens. I looked at the thousands of viewers.

"I..." My voice cracked. "I am jealous of my sister."

"Louder," my father said from the corner, arms crossed.

"I am jealous," I said, my voice dead. "I lied. Laila is the genius. I am... I am nothing."

"And?" Laila prompted, a cruel glint in her eyes.

"And I am sorry."

Laila lowered the phone, ending the stream. She instantly stopped wheezing. She looked at me with a beatific smile, the picture of grace. "I forgive you, Zora. Even though you hate me, I still love you. That's why I'm letting you save me."

"See?" my father said, nodding at the elders. "Laila has the heart of a true Luna. Zora has finally learned her place."

"Good," Simon said. He looked at me with pure disdain. "Get her out of my sight. The surgery starts in ten minutes."

He turned his back on me to hug Laila.

I lay on the floor for a moment, too weak to move. The Mind-Link was buzzing with the collective thoughts of the pack.

*Did you hear her admit it?*

*Disgusting.*

*She deserves to die.*

I closed my eyes, blocking them out.

Laila leaned down, pretending to help me up. Her lips brushed my ear.

"You know," she whispered, her voice like silk wrapped around a razor blade. "Even the Moon Goddess has abandoned you. Simon is mine. He was always mine. And now, your life is mine too."

I pulled away from her, using the wall to stand. I didn't say a word. There were no words left. I just turned and walked toward the operating theater.