"My name..." she said evenly, "is Evelyn Valemont—but you already knew that."
"My business name, though... is Lord Eugene Ravenscott." She smirked. "You’re looking at Lord Eugene Ravenscott."
Kael stared at her for a moment, then he burst out laughing. He actually doubled over, one hand braced against his thigh as though she had just told him the funniest joke he had heard in years.
Finally, he straightened, wiping the corner of his eye.
"Have you lost your ever-living mind, Evelyn?"
Evelyn’s expression didn’t change. Kael shook his head, still laughing under his breath.
"Lord Eugene Ravenscott?"
He looked around the hall as though expecting someone else to laugh with him.
No one did. The silence only made his amusement sound more ridiculous.
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I don’t particularly care what you believe," Evelyn shot back.
His smile disappeared.
For the first time, he really looked at her. She was dressed in a way that would hide her even from his sight. His gaze shifted to Tristan, who stood behind her protectively, then his gaze shifted behind her. No Lord Eugene had stepped out still.
His face paled. "Surely, you can’t be right. You can’t be Eugene Ravenscott."
Was he losing his mind? Perhaps he was asleep. He shook his head—even in his dreams, an abomination like this couldn’t happen.
His eyes narrowed. "Prove it." His voice rang through the hall, laced with defiance. He crossed his arms, a smug smile playing at his lips. "Go on, Evelyn. Prove it. Show me the documents. Show me the signatures. Show me something that proves you’re not just a bitter, scorned woman playing games."
Evelyn held his gaze for a long moment. Then, slowly, she reached into the folds of her cloak.
Kael’s smile faltered as she withdrew a single folded parchment, sealed with dark wax. She held it up for all to see.
"This is the original purchase agreement. Signed five years ago, when Silver Creek’s trading concern was on the verge of collapse." She paused. "I invested three hundred thousand silver coins of my own inheritance. Every coin came from Valemont, not Silver Creek."
She tossed it at Kael’s feet. "Go on. Pick it up," Evelyn said calmly. "Read it. See for yourself."
Aldric picked it up, his eyes going through the parchment. "Alpha—" he whispered.
Kael glanced at him and snatched the papers from his hand. His eyes flew across the parchment, reading the same lines over and over as if repetition might somehow change what was written there.
"Signed and witnessed," Evelyn continued. "Five years ago. Before I gave you anything else. Before I handed over my inheritance to save your failing pack."
The signature at the bottom was unmistakable—an elegant script he had seen countless times on documents she had signed as Luna. And beside it, the name he had never once questioned.
Eugene Ravenscott.
"I—" His voice caught. He cleared his throat, trying again. "This is—this is a forgery."
Evelyn’s expression remained serene. "It’s not."
"It has to be." He crumpled the parchment in his fist, rage simmering beneath his skin. "You—you couldn’t have done this. You were—you were just a—"
"Just a what?" Evelyn’s voice sharpened. "Just a woman? Just your wife? Just someone you could use and discard?"
"You were nothing!" Kael’s voice cracked. "You were nothing before me! I gave you everything—"
"You gave me nothing." Her voice was cold steel. "How dare you, Kael! Have you forgotten so soon what you were? Your father lobbied in my father’s home, wanting his spineless son to be my husband. Your pack was drained and quickly falling off the ranks of respectable packs before I joined you. I gave you everything you have! I made you who you are! I turned your pack into a flourishing pack."
Kael stood frozen, the crumpled paper still clutched in his hand. His mind raced, trying to find an angle, a way out, something—anything—that could salvage this.
"This changes nothing," he said finally, his voice steadier than he felt. "You’re still my wife. Those shares are still marital property."
"Have some shame, Kael, and be a fucking man!" Evelyn snapped angrily. "It is such a shame I wasn’t your fated mate so I could reject the bond, but instead I have to go through the route of the Werewolf Court."
She paused for a second.
She stepped closer to him, close enough that only he could hear her next words.
"I want a divorce, Kael. Publicly. Officially. By the time the sun sets tomorrow, I will no longer be bound to you. And I will walk away with every single share I own."
Kael stared at her, then a slow, ugly smile spread across his face.
"You think the Werewolf Council is going to hand you thirty-eight percent of Silver Creek because you stamped your name on an old contract?"
"They belong to me," Evelyn said, "the same way they’ve belonged to me for four years while you cashed dividends signed by a name you never once bothered to look into."
Kael’s jaw worked, fury and disbelief warring across his face in equal measure.
"You want a divorce?" His voice climbed, loud enough now that every lingering Alpha in the hall could hear it clearly. "Fine. We’ll settle this properly, then—in the Werewolf Court, before the council, where the law still means something. Let them decide whether a wife can steal from her own husband and call it clever."
"How can I steal something you don’t and can never own, Kael?" Evelyn said with a smile.
Kael stepped closer to her, his face tight with anger. "You will regret this, I promise you. You will regret this."
With that, he stormed off, his Gamma rushing after him.
Evelyn stood still for a second, her arm shaking from how big she’d been. She turned to leave, only to lock eyes with Lucien.
The Supreme Alpha stepped forward, smirking. "I must admit, I underestimated you." He paused, standing before her now—she was considerably shorter than him. "You have more fire in you than I gave you credit for."
"There’s considerably more where that came from, Alpha Lucien."
His mouth curved, though nothing about it was warm. "And yet, without Silver Creek behind you, without a pack, without allies, you’ll amount to very little. Going about trying to turn my own people against me—" He paused, shaking his head. "You cannot amount to anything other than being Kael’s mate this way."
"Take whatever little win you’ve gotten tonight and be satisfied. Aiming for more will only damage you further. We don’t want that, do we?"
Evelyn stared at him, her jaw tight. Of course he’d heard of her little visits around.
She took a deep breath and smiled. "You’re right about one thing, though. Going around behind your back like a scared little girl will make me amount to nothing—"
Lucien smirked.
Evelyn turned toward the thinning crowd of Alphas still lingering to watch and raised her voice.
"I am seeking strong allies," she said aloud, "for a healing house that will serve every pack in this realm, regardless of politics or bloodline. I welcome any Alpha willing to stand with me—provided he isn’t so thoroughly leashed to the Supreme Alpha that he can’t think for himself."
Lucien’s smirk froze on his face. Then, slowly, his expression hardened into something colder.
"You have a death wish, Evelyn Valemont."
"A death wish? No. I’m showing you exactly what it is. I’m not scared of you, Alpha Lucien."
She looked around, but not a single Alpha stepped forward. All of them stood still, exchanging uneasy glances. Bunch of cowards.
Lucien’s lips curved into a smirk. "You see? No one will stand beside you. No one will risk everything they’ve built for a woman with nothing to offer but ambition."
His voice dropped lower, meant only for her.
"Go back to Valemont. Play your little games. But understand this—" His voice dropped further. "I will make certain no pack, no merchant, no guild under my influence ever does business with you. You will be a ghost in your own life, watching others build what you could have had."
He stepped back, raising his voice for all to hear. "You have no idea what’s coming for you."
With that, he walked out the same way Kael had done.
Evelyn stood motionless, her heart pounding against her ribs. She didn’t move until the last of Lucien’s entourage disappeared.
Only then did she allow herself to breathe.
Tristan appeared at her side, his face tight with barely controlled fury. "My Lady, his threat—"
Evelyn swallowed hard. She’d put on a front like she wasn’t scared, but in reality, she was. She’d just gone up against the most powerful man in the realm.
"What’s done is done. All that’s left is to finish this fully. Getting divorced from Kael and regaining my shares are the only things left."