"Queenie, what are you talking about?" Aunt Eleanor sank to the floor, her eyes wide with shock, confusion and fear swirling across her face. I snorted, turning quickly to help her to her feet. "Aunt Eleanor, don't be afraid. This person isn't Grandpa. It's just someone playing a cruel game. Someone pretending to be him." "What?" Her voice wavered, caught in the grip of panic. I sneered, my eyes narrowing as I glared at the figure lying on the cot. "So, you've been caught. Drop the act. Who the hell are you? What's your angle here?" A low chuckle echoed from the figure, soft and mocking. "Aw, I thought I could have more fun." The voice, once rough and frail, suddenly shifted—high-pitched, sweet, and all too familiar. It hit me like a slap to the face. Rosaline. In one smooth movement, 'Mr. Richard' sprang from the cot, tearing off the white cloth like it was nothing more than a mask. Beneath it was no old Alpha, but Rosaline's cold, smirking face. The fury inside me flared. My hands trembled with rage. "Rosaline! You conniving little Omega bitch! You really thought you could fool me?" "Rosaline?" Aunt Eleanor whispered, her voice cracking. "But ... but they took you away! The police ... " The morgue, once drowned in darkness, was suddenly flooded with blinding light. Both Aunt Eleanor and I squinted against the assault of the harsh glow searing into our eyes. The door to the morgue creaked open, and there, pushing Richard in a wheelchair, was Caden. The Alpha ... wasn't dead?! We locked eyes, and panic jolted through me, mirrored in Aunt Eleanor's gaze. We rushed forward, plastering fake smiles of relief across our faces as if we hadn't just been caught trying to cover up murder. "Richard." "Grandpa!"We spoke in perfect unison, voices thick with forced emotion. "We knew you'd be alright. We never believed it, so we came to check. And here you are, just like we knew you would be." Mr. Richard snorted, his eyes colder than ice. With a sharp motion, he slapped our hands away from his legs. "You don't have to act, not in front of me. I heard everything you said. If it weren't for Rosaline's scheme to fake my death, I'd never have known you two were the ones poisoning me all along." His gaze, once full of strength and command, was now filled with nothing but disappointment. "I thought you were my family, part of the Eclipse Pack. Even if you were weak, I thought I'd never wrong you. I thought I treated you with nothing but kindness. But all I've received from you is betrayal. The worst kind of betrayal." "Grandpa, no, it's Rosaline! It's all because of her ... " My voice cracked as I lunged forward, trying to shield Grandpa's legs, desperate to make him understand. But when I looked up, Mr. Richard's gaze met mine, cold and unyielding—like a dagger poised to strike. He didn't see me as family. He saw me as a threat. The air thickened. My legs gave way beneath me, and I collapsed to the floor, the weight of everything crashing down. I knew then—I was finished. Aunt Eleanor sank beside me, her strength gone in an instant. She couldn't even find the will to breathe properly. I never imagined it would end like this. Never saw the trap Rosaline and Caden had set for us. They'd been waiting, biding their time, knowing exactly when we'd make our move. It was over. There was no coming back. We had just condemned ourselves. The truth was out. We were the murderers. Rosaline's POV: I stood there, watching Queenie flail, trying to shift the blame to me. It was almost laughable Slowly, I walked over, a smirk curling on my lips. "Queenie," I said, my voice calm, almost amused, "you're really still trying to make me the villain? Tell me, did I force you to poison the Alpha? Did I stand behind you, knife in hand, making you and Eleanor steal his body?" I tilted my head, my gaze piercing. "If not for your greed, your selfishness, none of this would have happened." I stated, my voice cutting through the air like a sharpened blade. Queenie's lips trembled, but no words came. She was trapped in her own terror."Mom, you really let me down," Caden's voice was icy, his expression colder than anything I had ever seen. "I'm sorry, son ... I was wrong. Please, don't call the cops. I can't go to jail. If I do, it's over for me and Queenie," Eleanor wailed, throwing herself at Caden, clutching his legs in frantic desperation. "If you knew it would end like this, you shouldn't have done this in the first place." Caden's voice dropped to an emotionless chill as he shoved her away. He didn't look at her, his eyes cold, detached. "From now on, Grandpa is my only family. No one else matters." His words hit like a hammer, final and unyielding. "Please, Caden ... " Eleanor collapsed, her face drained of all color, her voice empty. Queenie, too, stood frozen. Her lips shut tight, unable to speak, unable to move. "Take them away," Caden said, his gaze full of disappointed disdain. He had no patience left for them. A signal, and a group of werewolf soldiers appeared from the shadows, dragging Aunt Eleanor and Queenie out of the room without a word. I stood still, my heart a knot in my chest, my mouth dry. I wanted to speak to Caden, to say something, anything. But the words never came. I followed him in silence, pushing Richard's wheelchair as we made our way out of the morgue. The cold emptiness of the room swallowed the air whole, leaving only the quiet echo of what had been.