Chapter 22
Abigail's POV
The carriage rolled to a slow stop in front of Crimson Fang's main gates, the eastern sky just beginning to show the first pale traces of light. The journey back had been quiet to the point of oppressive. Olivia sat rigidly across from me, her face like a carefully calibrated mask, yet unable to conceal the fury roiling beneath it.
The carriage door opened. Olivia stepped out first without a word, her spine ramrod straight. She walked toward the pack's entrance as if nothing had happened tonight.
I slowed my pace, allowing her to pull ahead. Autumn and Orchid were already waiting in my chambers, leaping to their feet the moment I entered. The emotions on their faces were almost spilling over, their eyes darting between me and the door as if worried some trouble might follow me inside.
"Miss!" The second the door closed, Autumn asked urgently, "How did it go? Was everything alright?"
Seeing their genuine anxiety and anticipation, I couldn't help but smile slightly. "It went very well."
"Tell us everything!" Orchid urged, already skillfully helping me out of my cloak.
I settled into the chair by the window and recounted everything that had happened tonight. As my narrative unfolded, Autumn's expression gradually shifted from worry to something close to gleeful satisfaction.
"Serves them right!" When I finished, she clapped her hands sharply. "Trying to frame you like that—they got exactly what they deserved."
"Miss Olivia must be furious," Orchid added, though her tone carried more concern than schadenfreude. "She and that Cassandra prepared for this for so long. Now that the plan has failed..." She paused, looking up at me. "Miss, you still need to be careful. They won't stop here."
"I know." I nodded slowly. Olivia and Evelyn wouldn't stop just like this. If anything was different, it was that tonight's failure would only make them more anxious, more vicious. "Keep watching them."
"We will," Autumn said firmly.
After the two of them left to prepare a late meal, the room fell suddenly quiet. I walked to my writing desk. The lamp flame danced gently across the blank parchment as I rapidly weighed my next moves. Tonight Nicholas had done me a great favor—whether he'd intended to or not.
I owed him. More importantly, I had to maintain whatever hard-won connection existed between us. I picked up my pen and wrote him a short, direct letter:
Alpha Nicholas, your observation at the market proved unexpectedly valuable. I write to express my gratitude.
Abigail
I sealed the letter and set it aside for Autumn to deliver in the morning. Having done this, I didn't light any more lamps, simply allowing myself to sit in the room, letting everything from tonight slowly settle.
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Olivia's POV
I stormed through Crimson Fang's corridors with furious momentum, my heels striking the stone floor sharply, each step seeming to echo the constantly surging anger within me. Ever since that damned elder announced that the gem in Abigail's hand was genuine, this fury had been burning hotter and hotter in my chest.
How did this happen? How did she find out?
The plan had been flawless. Cassandra had acted according to instructions, the timing was perfect, and that cursed stone had been prepared well in advance. Everything should have gone as we predicted: that gem would have cost Abigail Elodie's trust and gotten her thrown out of the banquet.
But somehow, she'd detected it in advance and switched the stones.
I walked furiously all the way to my mother's chamber door, lacking even the patience to knock, and pushed straight inside. She wasn't asleep yet, sitting by the fireplace with a glass of wine in hand, looking every inch the elegant, composed Luna. Hearing the sound, she whipped her head around, and upon seeing the expression on my face, immediately set down her glass and stood up.
"Olivia, what happened?"
"The plan failed." The words tasted dry and difficult to swallow, like ash, as they squeezed out of my throat. "Abigail had a real Moon's Tear. She somehow discovered the fake and switched the stones."
Mother's expression immediately darkened. "That damned little bitch. She's changed, lately she's... different. It's like she can see the outline of traps in advance, as if she knows things she shouldn't know."
She moved closer to me, raising her hand to gently stroke my cheek. "Do you think she's discovered what we're doing? That she knows—"
"I don't know," I interrupted her. My chest felt tight and stuffy, almost ready to explode. "But she's made us look like complete fools, Mother. First the pool incident at the Moon Rising Gathering, and now this. In front of half the region's packs, she made Cassandra look bad, made us get slapped in the face publicly—while she herself was proven right."
"Calm down. Emotions alone won't solve anything."
"Calm down?" I whirled around. "She publicly humiliated me in that setting—how am I supposed to be calm?"
"Because anger makes you stupid," Mother said without disguise. "And we can't afford any stupidity right now." She sat back down in her chair, her slender fingers rhythmically tapping the armrest.
"What are you planning to do?"
"Even if she knows she's been poisoned, she's still weak, still a fragile half-finished product." She paused, as if weighing her words. "The poison has eroded her day after day for years. Even if she stops now, her wolf won't awaken—unless she can find a powerful healer. But right now the entire pack is under my control. How will she find one? When the awakening ceremony comes, she'll be exposed as wolfless in front of everyone."
"That's not enough." My tone was calm but carried an ice-like hardness. "After she's embarrassed us time and again—just watching her fail to shift publicly is far from enough. She should pay a much worse price."
Mother's smile was cold as a blade. "Then we'll make her pay a worse price. But use your brain. Direct attacks no longer work, she's too alert now, too good at defending herself."
She leaned forward slightly, lowering her voice. "So we don't confront her directly. We go after what she cares about. Like—those two servants of hers, Autumn and Orchid."
"Start with them?"
"Exactly. First we dismantle her support system." Mother's voice was soft yet cruel. "Make her isolated and helpless, force her to become vulnerable again. When she's truly alone and exhausted..." She waved her hand lazily, as if swatting away an annoying insect. "Then we deliver the final blow. But remember, we can't make the King suspicious. Her personal safety must appear flawless until that moment."
"However, Olivia, there's something more urgent than revenge that you need to start preparing for now."
"What?"
"Next month's Moon Revelation ceremony with the Matriarch." She gently set her wine glass back on the table. "It's one of the most important ceremonies of the entire year. All the key Alphas will attend, and every qualified heir from each family will be there too. You must be present, and you must make everyone remember you."
"Our failure to completely replace her at the beginning doesn't mean we've already lost. If you can win the Matriarch's genuine recognition, then all of Abigail's little tricks won't matter."
"You want me to compete with her for the Matriarch's favor?" I confirmed.
"I want you to make her completely fade into insignificance," Mother corrected me. "If she wants to, let her continue being friends with that Nighthowl girl, let her have a few minutes of glory at Elodie's ceremony. If what you obtain is real power, recognition from the highest authority in our world, what do those moments of attention matter?"
She reached out and gripped my shoulders firmly. "You are my daughter. You're beautiful, talented, and you understand the rules of the game. Abigail has just gotten lucky a few times, but her body is still weak, still bearing the aftereffects of years of poison. The advantages are on your side, you just need to learn to use them to their fullest extent."
I felt my spine gradually straightening, my chin unconsciously lifting higher. Mother was right. Abigail had only won a few small-scale confrontations. The war was far from over, and I held weapons she could never possibly possess.
"I'll prepare properly for the ceremony," I replied. "I'll let the Matriarch see my worth."
"Good." Mother's smile softened again. "That's my daughter. Now go rest. You'll need plenty of energy for what's coming."
When I left her chambers, my mind had shifted from chaotic to clear. Start with her servants. Then her reputation. Finally, her will and spirit.
When all this was over, when she'd been stripped down to nothing but an empty shell, isolated and helpless, no longer even believing in herself, I would stand before the altar on Moon Revelation Day and let everyone see with their own eyes who truly deserved to stand in the light.
Not the girl who'd gotten everything through luck and clever tricks.
But me.