Chapter 115

Anita's POV

The moment my stepmother, Evelyn, and stepsister, Amara, stepped through the doors of the banquet hall, the atmosphere shifted. It wasn’t just the weight of their presence. It was the way the room seemed to contract, like air being sucked out of a space too small to hold it all.

My eyes met theirs across the room, and a wave of cold dread washed over me. Evelyn, with her perfect but destructive smile, and Amara, who had a calculating gleam in her eyes that made my stomach twist in knots. They didn’t have to say a word for me to feel the venom they carried. Their gazes met mine, then swept dismissively over the other guests, as if we were beneath them.

I swallowed hard, feeling my throat tighten, a cold shiver creeping down my spine. The murmurs around us began almost immediately, like an undercurrent that started low but quickly grew into something more dangerous.

“This is our pack’s banquet. Why would Alpha Hades invite them?”