"Still not telling the truth?" Brent snarled at the woman, but she only kept shaking her head.
After seeing the paternity test, Ashley slowly sank to her knees. Even now, she found herself believing that her biological mother must have done it for her sake. And if that were true, then in a way, this was also her fault.
She had enjoyed eighteen years of a comfortable life while Madison had been forced to live like a rat in a gutter. No wonder everyone was furious.
More than anything, guilt crushed her chest. She could no longer meet their eyes. Any resentment or questions she once had vanished. Her mind buzzed, then went completely blank.
Ashley tried to think of a way to fix this, but her mind came up empty. The only thing that could truly resolve it now was for them to vent their anger, and for her biological mother to finally tell the truth.
She glanced sideways at the woman, who was still trembling under the crushing weight of Alpha Derek's aura. Her mother couldn't even lift her head, forced into submission by the Alpha's wolf.
Perhaps it was because Ashley had no wolf that she wasn't affected as severely. Aside from the suffocating pressure in the air, she felt none of the instinctive fear her mother did. And yet, guilt and heartache weighed her down just as heavily. She knelt there, trembling, as if trying to atone for what her mother had done.
"I apologize on my mother's behalf…" Ashley began, bowing her head in submission.
Brent let out a harsh snort, as if her words amused him.
"Apologize? You think a simple apology can end this?" he roared. "What about the years, months, weeks, days, my real sister spent swallowing humiliation? What about the cruel words she endured and the tears she shed? Do you think your apology can make up for any of that?"
The veins on his forehead and neck stood out as he struggled to contain his fury. His eyes glowed gold, his wolf surfacing along with his anger.
Ashley fell silent, lips pressed tightly together. She had no words left to offer.
"Then if you're truly apologizing, you should show some sincerity, don't you think?"
After a long stretch of silence, her elder brother finally spoke. Blake stepped forward and looked at Ashley with chilling coldness. The warmth of the doting brother she once knew was gone, replaced by an icy stare that felt sharp enough to cut her into pieces. There was unmistakable malice in his gaze, something Ashley could not pretend not to see.
Hearing his words, Ashley knew her brother too well. Though he appeared calm and composed, he was far colder and far more ruthless than Brent.
Brent's anger was loud and explosive, easy to see and just as easy to anticipate. Blake, however, was the opposite. He was the kind who stayed silent, who did not need to raise his voice. And when he finally acted, he did so with terrifying finality.
The quieter he was, the more dangerous he became.
Now that he had stepped forward and spoken, Ashley understood what it meant. He had already decided the fate of both her and her mother.
A chill crawled up her skin, as if a venomous snake had slithered from her ankle and coiled around her body, tightening its hold and freezing her in place. The cold dread wrapped around her slowly, leaving her unable to move or even breathe properly.
"B-Blake…" Ashley whispered, her face draining of color.
Blake acted as if he hadn't heard her.
"Since that woman refuses to tell us the truth," he said evenly, "then we'll force it out of her."
A slow, dark smile curved his lips, and a sinister glint flashed in his eyes. Both Ashley and her biological mother trembled as a chill ran down their spines, the air around them suddenly feeling tight, as though it were closing around their throats.
"All of you, come in. Take this filthy creature to the dungeon," Blake ordered coldly through the mindlink.
Before either of them could speak, the door slammed open, and a line of warriors poured into the room, responding to Blake's command through the mindlink.
By now, everyone had seen that Ashley could not even shift into her wolf form. Whatever respect they once had for her seemed to vanish overnight. After bowing to Alpha Derek, Nathan, and the two brothers, the warriors moved without hesitation. They seized Ashley and her mother and began dragging them away without a word.
Her mother broke into sobs, shaking her head frantically. Ashley, on the other hand, could hardly process what was happening. She could not believe that her own family had given the order to have her taken to the dungeon.
As if to make it unmistakably clear, Blake had even included both her and her mother in the mindlink so they could hear the command themselves.
Ashley's eyes slowly widened in disbelief as she was dragged across the floor. Around her, the others watched in silence, their gazes heavy with anger and a grim sense of vindication.
And in the corner of her vision, Maddison's triumphant smirk cut into her like a blade, sending a sharp sting through her already aching heart.
As she was dragged away without ceremony, Ashley's gaze met Nathan's.
His eyes were calm, like a still lake without the slightest ripple. That calmness hurt more than anger would have. Seeing that he, too, seemed unchanged and distant made her chest ache with the crushing realization that she truly had no one left.
"Wait…"
Nathan finally spoke.
And just like that, the faint, dying ember in Ashley's heart flared back to life. Her nose stung. Earlier, no matter how painful her family's words had been, she had somehow managed to hold back her tears. But with that single word from Nathan, her composure shattered.
Her heart trembled, her eyes burned, and all she wanted in that moment was to break free, run to him, and cry out all the pain she had been holding inside.
"She's still my fiancée," Nathan said at last. "I hope you can keep that in mind and allow me to handle this. As for Ashley's mother, let's give her some time to tell us the truth."
He exchanged a long, meaningful look with Alpha Derek, as if the two of them were communicating without words.
Alpha Derek's expression darkened, and even Maddison looked at Nathan with visible hurt. Seeing their reactions, Nathan clenched his fists so tightly that a vein stood out along his jaw. Still, he did not back down.
To Ashley, it looked as though Nathan was standing up for her with everything he had.
'Maybe I was wrong to doubt him…' she thought.
She lowered her head quickly so the others wouldn't see her expression, biting her lip hard to stop herself from sobbing aloud, afraid that any sound from her might provoke her brothers again.
"Nathan, I hope you know what you're doing," Alpha Derek growled, his gaze sharp enough to cut.
"I do. Trust me. I'll give you a satisfactory explanation later," Nathan replied, just as firmly.
Hearing this, Ashley felt a swell of emotion in her chest. To her, it sounded as though Nathan was standing by her side, ready to shield her from everything, just as he had always promised when they were younger.
After a tense moment, Alpha Derek shot Ashley and her biological mother one last look of disdain before turning away with a cold snort, as if even looking at them any longer offended him.
Taking that as permission, Nathan gestured to the warriors. They released their grip on Ashley. He helped her to her feet and, without sparing a glance at her mother, said quietly, "Let's go."
"Yeah, leave!" Brent shouted after them. "You have no place here! Don't you dare show your face in front of me again, or I'll make sure you regret ever being born!"
Ashley trembled at his words as she walked beside Nathan, the threat hitting her like a knife in the back.
"As the Alpha of the Black Mountain Pack, I hereby announce Ashley York's banishment and exile from this pack. From this moment on, she is no longer a member of this pack, nor is she a daughter of the York family…"
Alpha Derek's voice carried both finality and cruelty.
He didn't limit the announcement to those present in the room. Through the pack mindlink, his decree echoed across the entire pack territory, ensuring that everyone would know of Ashley's disgrace.
And with that declaration, he mercilessly severed the pack bond.
Ashley and her mother instantly felt the invisible thread connecting them to Alpha Derek snap.
Pain exploded through their bodies.
The sudden loss of the pack bond felt like their souls were being violently torn apart. Ashley staggered under the assault, but her mother, already weak, couldn't endure it.
Before she could even reach the door, her mother collapsed and lost consciousness.
Nathan didn't even spare her a glance.