Between Alpha and Beta

POV Katherine

"Remember," Mother hissed against my ear, "sweet and gentle. We've been back three months, but our position is still precarious. One wrong move, one sharp word, and we could lose everything we've worked for."

"Yes, Mother."

The words fell from my lips like drops of poison honey, each syllable a small death of who I really was.

I stood just inside the entrance of The Blackstone Pack's great hall, my modest blue dress a calculated surrender to propriety. My mother's fingers bit into my arm with familiar cruelty.

"Fix your posture. Not too straight—you're not challenging anyone. But not slouched—you're not weak after all."

Her hands yanked at my shoulders, adjusting me like a doll.

"And for the love of the Moon Goddess, if any of the ranked wolves speak to you, you defer. Always defer."

I nodded, letting her attack a strand of hair that had dared escape my bun.

Around us, pack members flowed through their social circles with the ease of belonging. We stood apart—not quite pariahs anymore, but far from accepted.

The precarious space between exile and pack.

"I need to speak with other she-wolves about the upcoming charity auction." Mother's eyes already hunted through the crowd for the Alpha's mother. "Stay visible but unobtrusive. Make yourself useful without being presumptuous."

She abandoned me without a backward glance. I moved toward the refreshment table, each step a performance of grace, my face arranged into pleasant emptiness.

This mask had become my second skin—the sweet smile that never touched my soul, the submissive tilt that screamed 'I am nothing, I am no threat, I am yours to command.'

If only someone knew how I hate that shit…