Third Person's POV The truth of the world peeled back another false layer before Lykos's eyes. Inside the quiet holding room of the outpost, a soft tapping sounded-one finger knocking against the wooden table. An instant later, a lazy, deep voice rolled through the air, carrying the thick timbre of an Alpha who never needed to raise his tone to command obedience. "Alpha Fenrir," Magnus drawled, "if you want to discipline your pup, take him home to your den. What's the point of putting on a show here?" Fenrir's spine stiffened. His gaze whipped toward the man seated beside Aysel. Magnus lounged with the unrestrained ease of a wolf who feared nothing-not mortal law, not pack consequences, not even another Alpha's wrath. One sleeve of his shirt was casually rolled to the elbow, revealing tensed forearm muscle, veins carrying the faintest shimmer of Shadowbane lunar energy. His left hand slipped back from the table to rest on his knee. His right arm lay stretched along the back of the bench behind Aysel, protective and proprietary, as though her very presence grounded his restless wolf. He did not look like the continent's strongest Alpha-Rafe reborn-when his shirt hung loosely with two, three buttons undone, exposing the faint red marks scattered across his collarbones. His usually razor-sharp dark hair was mussed, shadows cast beneath his wolf-gold eyes. But none of that softened the deadly gleam in his irises. He stared at Fenrir with a mocking, predatory curl of his lips. Fenrir didn't respond. His gaze instead drifted again to Aysel. She watched the chaotic scene before her with a serene neutrality-no sorrow, no anger, not even disdain. Her aura was calm, lunar-cool, as though she stood on a mountain peak watching wolves tear each other apart far below. Fenrir exhaled quietly. She was not the same girl he once knew. In the end, Fenrir still led Lykos out of the station. Luna Evelyn's condition had stabilized, and she requested to see him. The elders signed the discharge papers, and the rest would be handed to their legal counsel. As they stepped outside, Aysel mentioned escorting Jenny home-but the girl shook her head so violently her braids nearly hit her own face. "No, no, absolutely not," Jenny insisted. "I'm not worthy of making Alpha Magnus my chauffeur."Grinning, she hooked arms with her friends. "We'll go together! Everyone's sleeping at my place tonight. We can split up in the morning." Safety in numbers. Even so, Magnus arranged two Shadowbane drivers to escort them. Where their side glowed with the warmth of victory and youthful laughter, the Moonvale brothers stood in a coldness sharp enough to freeze breath. Lykos stared at Aysel-her silhouette illuminated beneath a streetlamp, laughter melting into the night-before turning to Fenrir. "What you said earlier," Lykos whispered, "was that real? You would actually give up on me?" He had hoped Fenrir only said those words to provoke Aysel into intervening-to exploit her lingering compassion. But the exhaustion in Fenrir's scent told a different truth. And Lykos, who had grown up closest to him, sensed it instantly. If not for Luna Evelyn's fragile voice on the phone... Fenrir truly might have left him caged in the holding cell. "Why?" Lykos's voice trembled. Just days ago he believed he had a perfect family-devoted parents, a loyal sister, a steady older brother. Now each illusion shattered: His parents were not the paragons he imagined. His beloved sister Aysel no longer stood on his side. His eldest brother revealed a coldness he had never shown before. His world, twenty-one years in the making, lay in ruins. "Aren't you my brother?" Lykos asked, pain threading through every syllable. Fenrir's laugh was soft and merciless. "Brother?" he said. "If I had a choice, I wouldn't want a younger brother at all." The words struck Lykos like a physical blow. Fenrir didn't elaborate. His gaze flicked toward the distant group-Aysel, Magnus, and Jenny.At that exact moment, Aysel unconsciously turned her head. Their eyes met across the night air. For a heartbeat, old memories flickered: two wolf pups growing up side by side, once inseparable. Then Fenrir looked away first. Her gaze was too clear, too discerning-like she could see straight through him and all the fractures he hid. He closed his eyes briefly, then walked to the car. "Get in," he said flatly. "Unless you prefer to walk." Lykos pressed his lips together, staring at the brother he no longer recognized. He didn't speak. Fenrir offered no comfort. He simply started the engine, scent sharp with irritation and fatigue. He would visit Luna Evelyn tomorrow; tonight, he wanted nothing to do with Lykos. From afar, Jenny nudged her friend sharply. "Wow," she whispered, "their brotherhood is as fake as plastic." Truly, the Moonvale family ties looked weaker than her distant cousinhood with Aysel. Lykos felt every gaze prickling against his skin-some gloating, some pitying. His body locked rigid. He didn't look toward Aysel. He didn't dare. Her stance was clear. She would not offer him even a scrap of shelter. Just as he once sided with Celestine Ward against her... Now she stood on the opposite side, and there was no path back. Clutching his shattered phone, Lykos stepped alone into the dark night, surrounded only by silence and the echo of what he had lost.