The Breaking Point

The Breaking Point
POV Celeste Winters

"Really? Celeste, you have to move faster... word is going to spread..."

"I know. Take care of yourself first," I said flatly.

I hung up before Dad could say anything else. Before he could make more excuses or demands that I couldn't meet.

The screen went dark in my hand.

I leaned against the cold hospital wall, my legs suddenly weak beneath me. The chill from the concrete seeped through my blouse, making me shiver, but it was nothing compared to the ice spreading through my veins.

Anger surged first. Hot and vicious.

Sage. Always Sage.

That pathetic little nothing who should have stayed forgotten in the shadows where she belonged. My jaw clenched so hard my teeth ached. Why did she have to claw her way back? Why did she have to take everything that should have been mine by right?

But the anger wasn't just for Sage.

It twisted outward, encompassing my parents for their incompetence, their greed that had finally caught up with them. It burned toward Damien for his coldness, the way he looked at me with barely concealed disdain. It turned inward, a searing self-hatred for not seeing this disaster coming.

I forced myself to breathe. Slow and deliberate.

The hospital corridor was quiet at this late hour. Fluorescent lights buzzed faintly overhead, casting everything in sterile, unforgiving glow. The smell of antiseptic hung sharp in the air. Somewhere down the hall a monitor beeped steadily, marking time with relentless precision.

As my breathing steadied, the anger began to ebb.

Fear crept in like cold water rising.

I began to think, really think, about what Dad's phone call meant.

If Damien found out that I'd lost my status as an Alpha's daughter, if he learned the wealth and influence I represented was built on stolen assets, that my father was a criminal and my mother was sitting in a jail cell, he would drop me without a second thought.

I knew this with absolute certainty.

Damien had chosen me because I was supposed to bring resources to our alliance. My connection to help him fight Thorne for the CEO position and Alpha title. But if that connection was exposed as fraud, if Dad's control was stripped away because of his crimes, what did I have left to offer?

My entire position in the Ashford family was built on sand.

I wasn't beloved or respected. I was a pawn. A tool. Valued only for what I could provide.

And now, with my family's disgrace about to become public knowledge, I was a liability.

I could already imagine the conversations that would happen once word got out. The whispers at social gatherings. The pitying or contemptuous looks from other high-ranking wolves. They would say I'd climbed above my station, that I'd pretended to be something I wasn't.

They would mock me for thinking I could compete with Sage, who was now officially recognized as Thorne's mate and future Luna of the Ashford pack.

The humiliation would be unbearable.

And then there was Sage herself.

She would expose everything. The years of neglect and abuse. The way Dad had stolen her inheritance and forced her out into the cold. The cruelty I myself had participated in.

All of it would come to light, and my reputation would be destroyed.

My mind raced through possibilities, each one worse than the last. What if there were legal consequences for me as well? Dad had mentioned the transfer documents weren't entirely clean. Could I be implicated in his crimes?

The thought sent fresh panic through me.

I pressed my hand against my chest, feeling my heart hammering beneath my palm, and fought to keep breathing.

I wanted to cry. The tears were there, burning behind my eyes, threatening to spill over.

But I forced them back.

Crying would solve nothing. Tears were a luxury I couldn't afford.

I needed to think. Needed to find a way out of this disaster before it consumed me completely.

My thoughts turned to the conversation I'd had with Maeve days ago, after the fashion show disaster. Her cold eyes and sharp voice as she'd laid out the plan with surgical precision.

Marcus had to go. But Damien could never know we had anything to do with it.

Once Marcus was gone, the pack would descend into chaos. Drake would move quickly to consolidate support, rally the conservative faction. Together, they would push for Damien to be named interim Alpha and acting CEO.

And I would be Luna. The woman standing at the Alpha's side, wielding real power.

It had seemed so simple then. So achievable.

But that was before the incident with the soup and grapefruit.

I'd been so careful with my research. Days of studying pharmaceutical interactions, understanding exactly how certain foods could interfere with cardiac medications. Grapefruit was the key—it blocked liver enzymes, causing drugs to accumulate to dangerous levels in the bloodstream. The perfect method because it was so common, so innocent. Just fresh fruit in a basket, something any caring family member might bring.

I'd prepared the chicken soup myself too, rich with traditional ingredients and medicinal herbs that any nutritionist would approve of. Ginseng, garlic, ginger—all beneficial for heart health in theory, but potentially dangerous when combined with certain medications and consumed in the evening by an elderly patient with cardiac issues.

The presentation had been perfect. Thoughtful granddaughter-in-law bringing nourishment and care.

Then Sage had appeared.

She'd questioned the soup's timing, pointed out the ginseng and other herbs as potentially problematic for someone in Marcus's condition.

But she'd never mentioned the grapefruit. Never called out the fruit basket at all.

I'd thought I'd gotten away with it in that moment. That she'd only caught the soup issue and missed the real trap entirely.

Until the next morning, when I'd seen Marcus taking his usual walk through the estate grounds. He'd been perfectly fine, healthy, his stride steady and sure.

I'd known then. Marcus hadn't touched the fruit.

And the way he looked at me now, the careful wariness in his eyes whenever I visited, the way Jason hovered protectively nearby—it told me everything I needed to know.

Sage must have warned him after I left.

Brilliant. Infuriating. And it meant that getting close to Marcus again was impossible now.

Taking a deep breath, I smoothed my hair back and straightened my shoulders. I forced my expression into something neutral, wiping away the moisture that had gathered at the corners of my eyes.

When I pushed open the door to Lyanna's hospital room, the change in atmosphere was jarring.

Inside, everything was calm and quiet.

The older woman lay sleeping peacefully, chest rising and falling in steady rhythm. Medical equipment hummed softly in the background. The lights had been dimmed to a gentle glow that cast soft shadows across the pristine white walls.

It was a scene of tranquility, stark contrast to the chaos churning in my mind.

For a moment, I simply stood there, letting the stillness wash over me.

There was something almost mocking about the peace in this room. As if the universe was taunting me with this oasis of calm while my entire world burned down around me. The soft beeping of the monitors, the gentle whoosh of the ventilation system, Lyanna's even breathing—all of it felt like a cruel joke.

But as I looked at Lyanna's sleeping form, something else stirred in my mind.

Not comfort. Not peace.

Something far more dangerous.