Scarlett's POV

​A light tap-tap-tap against the glass made me bolt upright.

​I didn't scream; I knew that rhythm. It was the secret beat we had used since we were toddlers. I scrambled out of bed, my heart already racing, and pushed the window open. Three tall, dark silhouettes were perched on the roof ledge like oversized crows.

​"You guys are going to get caught," I whispered, though a smile was already tugging at my lips. "The guards just finished their rounds."

​Liam, the oldest and most serious, climbed in first with a grace that shouldn't belong to someone so big. He was followed by Leon and Leo. At twenty, the triplets were already massive—broad-shouldered and smelling of fresh mint and the biting cold of the night air. They crowded into my small room, making the walls feel like they were closing in, but in a way that made me feel completely safe.

​"Like we'd let you turn eighteen without us being the first to say it," Leon grinned. He leaned against my desk, a playful glint in his eyes. He reached out and ruffled my hair, intentionally messing up the neat braids my mother had finished only hours ago.

​"Stop it, Leon!" I swatted his hand away, laughing softly so I wouldn't wake my parents downstairs.

​"Happy Birthday, Little Fox," Leo said. His voice was softer, more tender. He stepped closer and handed me a small, leather-bound journal. The leather was supple and smelled of cedar. "For all the secrets you're going to tell your wolf once you shift today. Don't let these two idiots read it."

​I ran my thumb over the cover, looking up at them. These were my protectors, my best friends, the boys I'd trailed behind since I could barely walk. To the pack, they were the powerful heirs to the three Alphas—Lennox, Levi, and Louis. They were royalty. But to me, they were just them.

​I loved them like brothers, but as I looked at Liam, who was watching me with an intensity that made my breath hitch, I knew I felt something more.

​Liam stepped forward, the gravity of his future Alpha aura always hanging around him. He didn't joke like Leon or tease like Leo. He reached out, his hand resting on my shoulder. His touch was warm, even through the thin fabric of my nightgown, and I felt a spark of electricity where his skin met mine.

​"Go to sleep, Scarlett," he murmured, his voice deep and vibrating in his chest. He leaned in closer, his gaze dropping to my lips for a split second before meeting my eyes again. "You'll need your strength for the shift. We have a surprise for you at the ceremony."

​My heart did a somersault. A surprise.

​One by one, they leaned down to say goodbye. Leo kissed my forehead gently, lingering for a second. Then Leon gave my shoulder a playful squeeze before kissing my temple.

​When it was Liam's turn, the air in the room seemed to vanish. He didn't just brush my skin; he stepped into my personal space, his chest almost touching mine. He leaned down, and his lips stayed against my forehead for a second, then two, then three. It felt like a seal—a silent promise that no matter what happened in the world, he would be there to guard me.

​"See you at the party," Liam whispered against my skin, his breath warm.

​Then, as quickly as they had arrived, they vanished back into the night, leaping from the ledge into the shadows below. I stood by the window for a long time, the cool air hitting my face, but my forehead still tingling where his lips had lingered.

​I crawled back into bed, hugging my new journal to my chest, a silly, happy smile plastered on my face.

​I woke up with that lingering smile, my skin still warm from where Liam, Leon, and Leo had kissed me. Today, I was eighteen. Today, I would get my wolf. I spent an hour in front of the mirror, carefully braiding my hair and smoothing out the skirt of the pale blue dress my mother had surprised me with. I looked like a girl on the brink of a new life.

​But as I reached for the door handle to head downstairs, a sound shattered the morning peace. It wasn't the sound of celebration. It was the heavy, rhythmic thud of combat boots and the sickening crack of wood splintering.

​"Get off me!" my father's voice boomed—a Beta's roar that shook the very foundations of our home.

​I raced down the stairs, my heart hammering against my ribs. In our dining room, the birthday breakfast my mother had prepared was scattered across the table. Instead of my parents waiting to hug me, I found them pinned against the wall. Four pack warriors—men I had known my entire life—were forcing my father into silver-laced shackles.

​"Dad? Mom?" My voice came out small and trembling.

​"Scarlett, stay back!" my mother cried. Her hair was disheveled, her eyes wide with a terror I had never seen. Two guards held her arms so tightly I could see her skin bruising.

​"Golden, what is this?" my father snarled, his eyes flashing amber as his wolf struggled to be let free. "I am your Beta. Release my mate this instant!"

​Sir Golden, the lead warrior, didn't look him in the eye. "By order of Alphas Lennox, Levi, and Louis, you are under arrest for high treason and the murder of Luna Olivia."

​The world tilted. The Luna? Dead? It was impossible. I had seen her just yesterday morning.

​"That's a lie!" I screamed, rushing forward, but a warrior's heavy arm caught me in the chest, shoving me back. "You are lying!"

​"Quiet, girl," the warrior snapped.

​They didn't wait for explanations. They dragged my parents out of the house and onto the dirt path. I followed, stumbling over my own feet, my blue dress getting stained with mud. The pack bell began to toll—a slow, agonizing sound that signaled both a funeral and a judgment.

​The trek to the pack hall felt like an eternity. All around us, pack members stepped out of their homes, their faces pale. They looked at my parents—their loyal Beta and his kind mate—with a mixture of shock and confusion.

​"Scarlett," my mother whispered as we approached the heavy stone doors of the hall. She turned her head, her eyes pleading as if she already knew the outcome. "If you get the chance... run."

​"I'm not leaving you," I choked out. "The triplets will fix this... I promise."

​The heavy oak doors of the pack hall groaned as they swung open, and the air that hit me was cold, thick with the scent of blood and grief. The hall was packed, but it was deathly silent—except for the muffled sobs of the women.

​My breath hitched. In the center of the room, on a raised stretcher, lay Luna Olivia. My heart shattered. She wasn't just our Luna; she had been like a second mother to me. Her skin was unnaturally pale, and the soft white silk of her nightgown was soaked in deep, dark blood.

​I looked up and saw the triplets. Liam, Leon, and Leo were standing behind their fathers. Their eyes were red from crying, and their faces were twisted with deep pain. For a moment, I forgot my own plight. I wanted to run to them. I wanted to hug them and cry with them.

​I tried to take a step toward them, but Liam looked at me. The warmth he showed me last night was gone. His eyes were cold and full of hate.

​The look he gave me was a clear warning: Take one more step toward us, and you are dead.

​

...

​Scarlett's POV

​"Lennox! Levi! Louis!" my father roared as the guards forced him to his knees. "Why are we in chains? What is the meaning of this?"

​Alpha Lennox stepped forward. He looked like a man on the brink of collapsing, but as an Alpha, he had to stay strong. "Last night, assassins broke into our chambers," he growled. "They slaughtered our Luna in her sleep. We killed two. The third we captured."

​Alpha Levi pointed to a man kneeling on the floor. His face was swollen, blood crusted around his mouth.

"Speak," Alpha Levi commanded.

​The man looked up trembling. "Beta Zane paid us," he rasped. "He promised gold. He said once the Alphas and the Luna were dead, he would take control. He serves the new Rogue King."

​"That is a lie!" my father roared. "I have been loyal to this pack for years!"

​"Silence!" Alpha Louis thundered, holding up the photographs. They showed my parents meeting a strange man in the dark woods. "Our guards have been watching you. That man is the new Rogue King, and you have been selling our secrets!"

​Everyone in the hall started screaming. They were all so angry.

​"No! Someone is tricking you!" I screamed. I ran past the guards. I ran to the triplets because they were my best friends. "Liam! Leon! Leo! Please help us!"

​I tried to grab Liam's hand. This was the same hand that had touched me kindly only a few hours ago. But he pulled away like I was trash.

​"Please," I sobbed, collapsing at their feet. "You know my parents. You know they would never do this. Say something. Please."

​Leon looked down at me and glared at me with pain-filled eyes. "Touch me again," Leon said quietly, "and I'll have you buried beside my mother."

​Fear gripped me so tightly I could barely breathe. My heart ached, shattering into a million jagged pieces as I looked at the three boys I had trusted with my soul.

​Alpha Levi, whose eyes were bloodshot and filled with raw, agonizing pain, turned to the triplets. His voice was thick with grief as he addressed them. "Sons, you are Alphas-to-be. It is your right. Give the judgment."

​The weight of those words crushed the remaining air from the room. My father didn't stop fighting; he thrashed against the silver chains, his voice raw and loud. "I deserve a trial! I have served this pack for ten years! You cannot do this without a trial!"

​I looked up at Liam, Leon, and Leo, my eyes pleading, searching for even a flicker of the boys who had climbed through my window at midnight. Surely, for the sake of me—for the years we spent inseparable—they would pause. They would look into it. They would see the holes in the story.

​But there was no mercy in their faces. Only a cold, terrifying anger.

​"We have made our decision," Leon said, his voice dropping to a rumble, echoing with the power of a future king. He didn't even look at me; he looked over my head.

​"Our decision is..." Leon started, his gaze hardening.

​"That they are to be hanged," Liam finished, his voice echoing through the hall like a guillotine blade. "Hang them. Now."

​The crowd erupted in a bloodthirsty roar. I felt the floor fall out from under me as the guards grabbed my parents, dragging them out of the hall.

​"Liam, no!" I shrieked, reaching for the hem of his pants, but he stepped back. "Leon! Leo! Look at me! Please!"

​Leo was the only one who met my eyes. For a split second, I saw a flash of the boy I loved, but then he masked it back to that stone look.

​"Don't worry, Scarlett," Leo whispered, leaning down so only I could hear him over the screams of the pack. "We aren't going to kill you. We're going to make sure you live long enough to regret every breath your family ever took."

​My eyes widened in fear, but I had no time to dwell on it as I ran after my parents, my heart hammering against my ribs. The guards dragged them toward the execution center in the middle of the pack square. I tried to reach for my mother, but a guard grabbed me, wrapping his thick arms around my waist to hold me back.

​"No! Please, no!" I sobbed, kicking and screaming.

​My father never stopped shouting. "We are innocent! Please, listen to me!" But his cries were drowned out by the angry crowd. Nobody wanted to listen.

​"Once a rogue, always a rogue," someone sneered behind me.

​The words felt like ice in my veins. My blood drained from my face. My parents had worked so hard to be part of the Full Moon Pack, but to these people, we were still outsiders. We were still just dangerous rogues. No wonder they were so quick to believe those fake pictures and believe we were traitors.

​The guards forced my parents to stand on the wooden platforms and placed the thick, rough ropes around their necks.

​My eyes met my mother's. She was pale, her face covered in tears. "Scarlett," she sobbed. "Don't look, baby. Look away!"

​"Mother!" I shrieked, my voice breaking. I couldn't look away. I couldn't leave them.

​I looked up at the platform where the Alphas should have been, but they were gone. Only the triplets stood there. They were the judges now. I looked at them, my eyes blurred with tears, begging for a miracle.

​"Liam! Leon! Please don't do this! Please!"

​They didn't move. They stared back at me with eyes filled with anger and pain. Liam didn't look away from me as he slowly lifted his hand. With a sharp, cold motion, he dropped it—the signal for the executioner to pull the lever.

​"No!" I screamed.

​

...

TWO YEARS LATER

​The sharp ringing of the servant's bell jolted me awake, snapping me back to reality.

5:00 a.m.

"Shit!" I cursed, leaping out of bed. "Not again!"

​I darted into the bathroom, taking the quickest shower I could manage. The cold water did little to calm my frazzled nerves. I pulled on my gray servant's uniform, ignoring the mirror entirely. There was no need to check my reflection; the girl who used to smile back at me died two years ago.

​Today wasn't just any day. Today, the pack house was vibrating with a nervous, electric energy. The triplets—Liam, Leon, and Leo—were returning from the Alpha Academy. They had been gone for a full year, sent away shortly after the death of our Luna. I hadn't seen them in a year, and I wondered if they still hated me as much as they had before leaving.

​A loud voice echoed down the servants' hallway. "Everyone outside! Line up!"

​I quickly stepped out of my room and followed the other servants. The entire staff gathered in front of the grand mansion entrance. Maids stood in neat rows, guards lined the driveway, and even the cooks had come out from the kitchen. The air buzzed with excitement and tension.

​"They've changed a lot after the Academy," one maid whispered.

"I heard they're stronger than most Alphas already," another replied.

​I stayed silent. My heart was beating too fast. Soon, the distant sound of engines filled the air. Everyone straightened immediately. A long black car rolled through the massive iron gates and slowly drove up the stone driveway toward the mansion. The vehicle came to a smooth stop in front of the grand stairs.

​For a moment, everything went silent. Then the car doors opened. Three tall figures stepped out.

​The triplets.

​They looked identical at first glance—same tall height, same broad shoulders, and the same dark black hair that brushed their foreheads. But if you looked closely, there were differences. Liam's eyes were a sharp emerald green. Leo's were a deep sea blue. And Leon's were warm brown, darker than the others. Those eyes were the only way to tell them apart.

​They had grown taller, stronger, and more intimidating than the boys I remembered. The Alpha Academy had turned them into powerful warriors. Footsteps approached from the mansion doors: Alpha Lennox, Alpha Levi, and Alpha Louis. Their fathers.

​The three Alphas walked down the steps, pride clear on their faces. For a brief moment, the cold expressions on the triplets' faces softened. They walked forward and embraced their fathers in strong hugs.

​"Welcome home," Alpha Lennox said with a proud smile.

​The rest of us bowed our heads respectfully. "Welcome home, young Alphas," Nero, the head of the guards, announced loudly.

​I lowered my head like everyone else. But I felt it. Three pairs of eyes. Slowly, I lifted my gaze. The triplets were staring directly at me. The warmth that used to be in their eyes when we were children was gone. What replaced it was something colder. Something sharper.

​Hatred.

​That same hatred they had looked at me with two years ago. Time hadn't changed it—not even a little. My chest tightened, but I forced myself to stay still. They didn't say a word. They simply looked away and walked past us, entering the mansion like I didn't exist. Like I was nothing. Like I was just another servant.

​A sharp voice broke the silence. "Scarlett!" I turned quickly. "Why are you standing there like a statue?" she snapped. "Go prepare fruit platters for the young Alphas. Each of them wants their tray in their room."

​"Yes, ma'am," I said quietly.

​I hurried toward the kitchen, my heart still beating unevenly in my chest. Preparing the fruit platters was the task I dreaded most. The triplets—Liam, Leon, and Leo—were notoriously picky. Everything had to be hand-peeled, sliced perfectly, and served chilled. No mistakes were forgiven.

​My hands trembled slightly as I balanced the silver tray. The hallway leading to their wing felt suffocatingly quiet. Two years have passed since that day. Two years since the triplets became my masters instead of my friends.

​At first, I cried every night. Now, I don't cry at all. Pain loses its sharpness when it becomes routine. I stopped in front of the massive double doors leading to Liam's room and knocked.

​"Stop knocking and get the hell in!" his irritated voice growled from inside.

​I pushed the door open, the tray trembling slightly in my hands. The sight inside turned my stomach. Liam was sprawled across the bed with a blonde girl tangled in his arms, kissing her so deeply it was as if I wasn't even there. I quickly looked away, my chest tightening.

​Moving silently, I placed the plate of sliced blood oranges on his desk. But as I turned to leave, his sharp voice stopped me. "Wait."

​I froze. The girl groaned as Liam shoved her away. He walked toward me wearing nothing but silk trousers, his broad chest on full display. My eyes betrayed me, flickering downward for a brief moment before I forced them back to the floor. Liam grabbed a slice of fruit and took a bite. Immediately, he scowled.

​"This is sour," he snapped. "You didn't check the ripeness, did you?"

"I'm sorry, Liam," I said quickly. "I'll bring a different batch—"

"It's Alpha Liam to you," he growled.

​Suddenly, he tipped the plate, letting the sticky red juice drip down onto my clean uniform. The cold liquid soaked into the fabric, staining it a dark red that looked disturbingly like blood. "What the hell is wrong with you, Scarlett?" he continued harshly. "You've lived here for years and still can't do a simple task."

​"I—"

"Get out!" he barked.

​I bolted from the room. Leo's room was next. Unlike his brother, Leo was calmer, but his coldness was a different kind of danger. I knocked and stepped inside. Leo was sitting at his desk, shirtless, his dark hair slightly disheveled.

​"You're late," he said, his sea-blue eyes piercing through me.

"I apologize, Leo," I murmured, placing the tray down carefully.

​Before I could step back, his hand shot out and grabbed my wrist. His grip wasn't painful, but it was firm enough to stop me. "Look at me, Scarlett."

​Reluctantly, I lifted my head and met his gaze. His eyes dropped to the red stain across my chest. He knew exactly what Liam had done. "You're shaking," he observed, his tone softening slightly in a way that felt more like a trap than kindness. "Are you scared of me?"

​I swallowed hard. I wasn't just scared. I hated him. I hated him for what he had ordered that morning two years ago.

He held my gaze for a moment longer before releasing my wrist, his expression twisting into pure disgust. "Leave."

​I stepped out quickly. The last stop was Leon. He was the quietest of the three, but his silence often spoke louder than words. When I entered, he was standing by the window with a book in his hand. As I set the fruit tray down, Leon's smooth voice broke the silence.

​"'In the end, we are all just stories, waiting to be told.'"

​I froze. The silver tray slipped slightly in my grip. I knew that line. My heart began to hammer wildly in my chest as I looked at the worn leather cover of the book in his hands. It was a rare first edition of The Shadow's Echo. I had saved every dollar I earned for a year just to buy it for him. I gave it to him on his nineteenth birthday three years ago… back when we were best friends. Back when I believed they loved me.

​He was still reading it? After everything?

​Suddenly, Leon snapped the book shut with a loud thud that made me flinch. Before I could process the look in his eyes, he threw the book straight at me. It hit my chest—right over the damp red stain of the orange juice—before falling to the floor.

​"Pick it up," he commanded coldly.

​I knelt down slowly, my fingers trembling as I brushed against the worn leather. I wanted to cry, but I forced the tears back. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction. Leon pointed toward a heavy wooden box sitting near the hearth. "I want you to burn everything in that box," he said calmly. "Now."

​I nodded, my throat tight. "Yes, Alpha. I'll take it to the kitchens—"

"No," he interrupted. His dark eyes followed my every movement. "Burn it here. In the fireplace. I want to watch the smoke clear the room of your stench."

​I walked over to the box and lifted the lid. My breath caught in my throat. It wasn't trash. It was us. Inside were memories of a lifetime they had decided to erase: pictures of the four of us laughing by the lake; handmade charms I had woven for them; even the dried remains of the flower Liam once tucked behind my ear. Every gift I had ever given them was inside that box.

​I picked up one of the photographs. The edges were already curling with age. We looked so happy. So innocent.

​"Start with the pictures, Scarlett," Leon whispered from behind me, leaning against the mantle while the fire crackled.

​I looked at him, tears burning in my eyes. I understood his pain. I understood all of their pain. They had lost their mother—the woman they loved more than life itself. But what about me? I had lost my only family too. My parents were innocent, yet these three had ordered their deaths.

​Despite the agony clawing at my chest, a small, pathetic part of me still wished things could go back to the way they were. I wished that one day they would look at me and say they were sorry. I was so desperate for the boys I once knew that I knew I would forgive them in a heartbeat. But looking at Leon's cold, stony expression… I knew that day would never come.

​I swallowed my pain and reached into the box. One by one, I fed our memories into the flames. The glossy photos curled and blackened, the faces of our younger selves slowly disappearing into ash. As the pile grew, the smoke thickened around me, swirling through the room until it began to choke me. I coughed, my eyes burning from both the smoke and the tears I refused to shed.

​Leon didn't move. He didn't stop me. He simply watched the fire until the last memory was gone. Then he turned his back to me. "Get out," he said flatly.

​I stumbled out of the room, my lungs burning and my uniform smelling of smoke and bitter oranges. All I wanted was to crawl into a hole and disappear. But I didn't even make it halfway down the hallway.

​"There you are!"

​I looked up to see Nero, the head of the mansion guards, staring at me with a cruel sneer. Before I could even ask what was wrong, the two guards beside him grabbed my arms and pinned them behind my back.

​"Wait!" I gasped, panic flooding my chest. "What are you doing?"

​