Sylvia's POV
My mother's words cut deeper than any claw.
"This matter," I said, my voice rising with each word as fury coursed through my veins, "you could easily ask Hugo about, instead of interrogating me here."
My anger was unmistakable, the hostility in my tone something I couldn't—and wouldn't—disguise.
Mother had only intended to placate the crowd, but seeing my defiance ignited her own temper. Her eyes flashed with that familiar Alpha dominance—the look that had intimidated me since childhood.
"Is this how you speak to your mother?" she growled, the authority in her voice making several lower-ranking wolves instinctively lower their gazes.
Then came the words I'd heard countless times before: "Don't forget everything you have now—who gave it all to you."
My he
