"Kyle, don't be rash!" Derion tried to keep him calm, but Kyle had reached his breaking point. He had always ignored her every mistake, thinking she was just a little girl, but not anymore.

Everyone needs to pay for their deeds, and she did too.

Kyle rushed to Heather's room and started messing up the place while Derion and some other guards followed, sensing something was wrong. Everyone was stunned by Kyle's actions, but no one other than Derion dared to speak.

"Kyle, stop. Take it easy." Derion attempted to touch his shoulder, but Kyle aggressively turned around.

"Don't!" One word from their Alpha was enough to make them stay still. Derion understood his position and stepped back. Kyle found the small pouch-like bottle hidden under Heather's bedsheets.

What a great hideout!

Kyle gave Derion a final glance, showing how furious he was, and rushed to Diana's room, where Heather was happily admiring herself in the mirror, unaware of what was coming her way.

"Kyle. I..." Before Heather could put on her innocent face, she noticed Kyle with the bottle of wolfsbane in his hand. Her face dropped; she didn't even have time to make an excuse.

"No... Kyle. You need to listen. It's not me. I didn't do anything. I don't even know what it is. We were just..." Heather stuttered, struggling in her own lies.

It hadn't even been a day, and she'd gotten caught so easily. Every time she thought she'd escaped the consequences of her mistakes, she was just fooling herself. He had always known her true colors.

"How long have you been in this pack, Heather?" Kyle asked calmly, without blinking once. His face, eyes, and breathing were steely. He was more certain than ever.

"I... Kyle... Please listen to me. It's not what you think it is..." Heather's deceitful tears rolled down her cheeks as she kept falling into her own lies.

"Just answer me." Kyle growled, and she knew any move to gain sympathy would be useless—or dangerous.

"Twelve years," she replied in a low, scared voice.

"Wrong!" Kyle snapped. "You've been in this pack since the day you were born. Your parents! Your father was a loyal guard. Extremely loyal." Kyle groaned, controlling himself as much as he could, taking slow steps toward her.

Esyn came rushing straight to Kyle. Derion grabbed her arm and inclined her to stay quiet and still. She stood beside him and watched Kyle.

"And you, my sweetheart. What did you do in return? Poison your own friend? Look at you! You don't even feel guilty." Kyle sighed, rubbing his eyes. Only he knew how he was dealing with this.

He had made a promise to Heather's father. He would protect his daughter, keep her safe, and help her grow up to be honorable like her father. Instead, he had failed in his own way of guiding her.

He was utterly disappointed in her. While he had overlooked her troublesome behavior, he hadn't known it would go this far. Those small mistakes she kept making while thinking of herself as better than others—he shouldn't have let them slide.

"Take her to the base trainers. Lock her up. No food or water unless you hear my orders." Kyle could only come up with that punishment to teach her a lesson about her mistakes.

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"No... No... Kyle. You can't... No... You can't do this to me. You said you loved me. How can you be so cruel to me?" Heather resisted her punishment, crumbling to the floor, sobbing.

Hearing her last words, Kyle stopped. His mind flashed to Ashlee's wounds, and he knew it was werewolf claws. It couldn't be... Could it? He was speechless, hoping he was wrong about this.

"I can't believe I raised you to become this." Kyle hissed, cursing himself. He had brought this upon himself. Ashlee was hurt because of him.

"I didn't do anything, Kyle. I'm sorry!" Heather shouted as Kyle stormed out of the room and went straight to his study.

"Every dog has its day," Esyn smirked, batting her eyelids and following Kyle. Derion went with the guards and Heather to the base, ensuring that she received the exact punishment Kyle ordered.

"Kyle," Esyn whispered, sitting beside him, patting his shoulder to calm him down.

"Do you think I'm the Alpha they want?" he asked her, shuffling through the files of every pack member.

"No," Esyn replied, turning her gaze to the files. Kyle looked at her in surprise, wide-eyed. Is she for real? Is she comforting me? Either way, she was right. He wasn't the Alpha they wanted.

They deserved far better than him. He might stand out in battles and fights, but he couldn't seem to keep unity in his pack. There was always a traitor among them.

"You may not be the Alpha they want, but you're the Alpha they need," Esyn winked, flashing a tight-lipped smile. She showed him the file containing the weaknesses each member once had, weaknesses he had helped them overcome.

"You must think you're a failure, that you shouldn't have given her so much privilege. Well, 'you shouldn't have,' but anyway, what's done is done. It wasn't your fault. Stop acting like a little wimp and get up like an Alpha," Esyn rolled her eyes, showing him how annoyed she was.

"Shut it, Esyn. Not the time for your trash jokes." Kyle sighed, chuckling under his breath. His sister had always been there for him—to make him strong or to calm him down. He couldn't express his gratitude in words.

"By the way, how's it going with Ashlee?" Esyn asked, helping him rearrange the files.

"Heather attacked her, too. Fortunately, she's still holding up." Kyle sighed, placing the books on the shelves.

"What the hell? She hurt your mate, and you only gave her that locked-up punishment? Kyle, do you think that's acceptable?" Esyn stopped, arms folded, her anger growing.

"Then what was I supposed to do? Execute her?" he growled, shaking his head.

"Duh!" Esyn rolled her eyes, implying that's exactly what he should have done. Heather wasn't a child anymore. Ignoring her mistakes was no longer an option; she should be held responsible.

"Esyn, you know I won't do that, nor would anyone else. I made a promise to her father's memory," he explained, hoping she'd understand his position.

"Kyle, her father was a man of honor. I don't deny that. But I also don't believe he'd let his daughter roam around hurting others without paying for her actions." Esyn gritted her teeth. Everyone knew how privileged Heather was in the pack.

Kyle had never said no to her. Everything she wanted was given to her. Every mistake she made was forgiven. Every place she wanted to visit, he'd taken her. Kyle had already done enough to keep his promise, but he couldn't ignore the extent of her spoiled behavior.

"Enough, Esyn. I think I've given her enough in return for what she did." Kyle replied, biting his words. He knew she didn't deserve to be forgiven after such a light punishment, but he was still letting her be.

"You know what? You're right. You might not be the Alpha your mate really wants. She truly doesn't deserve to be with someone who can't even protect her from his own pack." With that, hissing and gritting her teeth, Esyn left him alone, slamming the door.

Esyn's words lingered in Kyle's mind. Maybe he really wasn't the one for Ashlee. After all, he couldn't protect her from humans or his own pack. How could he expect to be worthy of her?

Kyle spent the entire night reflecting on his decisions. Days passed, then weeks. A few weeks later, Kyle released Heather after she finally felt guilty for what she'd done to her friend and her Alpha's mate.

Esyn's words kept Kyle from going to see Ashlee again. He would just stand in front of the window in his study, using his keen eyesight to search for her. Still, he never caught a glimpse of her.

His wolf was growing desperate for his mate. Meeting her and slowly getting closer to her had made Kyle's wolf restless, sometimes causing Kyle to lose control during training.

"You're still not going to her?" Esyn asked, swirling her glass of wine.

"She was doing fine without me. She'll be fine in the future, too," Kyle replied, pouring himself a glass of wine.

"Are you sure she was fine?" Esyn gave him a knowing look. They both knew what she was going through was far from fine.

Without responding, Kyle took her words to heart, flashes of Ashlee's pain filling his mind. He gulped down his wine, roughly.