The Crown's Entrapment

At Pinra's Mansion in the southern part of the Silver Crescent Pack Territory.

Pinra couldn't help but have a wide smile on her face upon receiving word that her uncle Nasser would be arriving to see her. She was so ecstatic that she even instructed their cook to prepare all her uncle's favorites, hoping the two of them would share a meal together.

Currently, she was in her bedchamber, getting properly dressed after a bout of intense training on her training grounds. Looking at her appearance in the mirror, she gave herself a slight nod of satisfaction once she was done getting dressed. Her eyes then darted toward the necklace she was wearing, the one that her mother had given to her before she died.

Absently, Pinra raised her hand to open the locket necklace. Inside, one of her real mother's remaining portraits greeted her. "I'm almost there, Mother. He'll soon acknowledge me once I become Queen," she said with a wide smile.

Her mother was a nobody. She had been but a mere servant in the House Keen; a maid who had a forbidden affair with the Alpha of the Silver Crescent Pack at the time. One thing led to another, and Pinra found herself being the fruit of that forbidden affair. A fruit that had to be kept in the shadows together with her mother.

As she grew up, she witnessed how her mother was treated like trash under the roof of Nasser's younger sister, having had to pose as the woman's only daughter to keep things under wraps.

Meanwhile, her mother had to suffer through a lot just so she could stay with her. Until one day, she died just as Pinra had turned ten due to the Moon Plague. Before her Mother died, however, she vowed that she would do everything in her power to reach the top, just so that no one would be able to trample on her anymore.

Pinra maliciously smirked as she closed her eyes, recalling how those two... the two owners of the mansion and its properties had to beg her for their lives. They only treated her and her mother well whenever Nasser was around. But once he was gone, they would start mistreating and abusing them again.

Her mother remained silent and endured everything for her sake... But she wasn't like her Mother. She set up everything she could do to get back on their two abusers. She killed both Nasser's sister and her husband the moment she turned eighteen.

Those two were the ones responsible for her mother's death. She had them be infected with the very same Moon Plague that they brought upon her Mother... The same death, only with the misery amped up tenfold as she did just that and more.

It was what they deserved, after all. She had to witness how her mother became sick and weak because of the abuse she experienced from her poser parents, and she would never forgive them for what they did.

Now... There were only two people left that were blocking her from achieving her goal: Gilas, and his mother.

"He's here..." Pinra murmured to herself once she telepathically received the report of Nasser's arrival at her gate. Almost immediately, she went out of her bedchamber and rushed to her door to greet him.

"Uncle!" she curtly greeted with a wide smile, only for it to slightly disappear upon seeing how dim her uncle's face currently was.

"Since when did you start making your own moves, Pinra?!" he hissed.

Pinra gulped as she naively murmured, "What are you saying, Uncle? Did I do something to displease you?"

"You know full well what I'm talking about!" Nasser growled at her. "I told you specifically not to harm Clara!"

"But I didn't!" Pinra defended herself. She most certainly did not harm Clara using her own hands. From that alone, she was absolved from all guilt.

"Gilas found out that you were behind whatever it was that you did," he scoffed. "Clara is his mate, so I need her alive for now. Gilas will-"

"Gilas! It's always Gilas! Gilas!" Pinra shouted her displeasure, cutting Nasser off. "Why is it always him when he's constantly being a failure and a disappointment to you anyway?! I will be the one who will bring you the crown, so why do you even bother with trusting him!"

"He's my son!" Nasser exclaimed.

"And am I not your daughter!?" Pinra shouted back. This time, tears were already rolling down her cheeks.

​ "All these years, you've kept me in the shadows as your niece! I always followed everything you say just so that you can acknowledge and be proud of me. You promised that you will let the world know about me once I become Queen! That you'll let me finally address you as FATHER!"

*slap*

The sharp echo of Nasser's palm striking her cheek resonated across the room. Raising her hand, Pinra touched her reddening cheek as she looked at Nasser with wide eyes.

"And I will keep that promise once you succeed!" Nasser hissed. "How dare you disobey my orders?! I need Clara and her territory intact for my plans to succeed!"

"But I'll become Queen! Isn't that enough power to get what you want?! I'll give you all the authority you want once that happens, so why are you insisting on keeping that bjtch alive?" Pinra desperately growled in anger. "Is it because of Gilas?! That man has been nothing more but an utter disappointment to you, so why do you always favor him over me?!!!"

A beat of silence passed between them, and Pinra felt terrible that her father's nonanswer t only proved her right. He truly favored Gilas over her, but why? Was it because Gilas's mother was his mate and true love? Was it because her mother was simply someone he just accidentally slept with whenever he was mad at Gilas's mother?!

"If you commit this kind of mistake again, Pinra... I'm telling you, I won't have any second thoughts in cutting whatever remaining ties I have with you!" Nasser threatened before he turned around and left.

Watching her father leave, Pinra helplessly slumped on the ground as she screamed. None of importance to her would hear her anyway, what with everyone inside the mansion being Nasser's lackeys except for the men that she managed to coax and do things for her without her father's knowledge.

Her uncle... who was her dear father... He was the only person who treated her well. She understood why he had to hide her. She knew that she was very important to his plans, as he would always say. She was the key to their pack's success.

Still, doubt lingered in Pinra's mind as she gritted her teeth. "But is that really the case?"

She raised her head and glared at the door where Nasser just left. She would become Queen no matter what...