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I was on him in a flash, laying him out before anyone could react but keeping him conscious. I moved my foot to his chestand smirked down at him, knowing he couldn’t move me, before looking out at the family. “Byeol—”

“Don’t you even think it, demon,” she hissed.

I met her hate-filled gaze with my own. “Name one thing I haveever doneto you that’s valid and I won’t. Anything.Anything, Byeol!”

She couldn’t. We all knew it. It was all about power and me being better—the baby they thought was loved more, but it was bullshit. I was the most neglected and forgotten. I made my own path because I never felt one of them.

How funny was that?

“Byeol called Atlanta’s Alpha and told him the family wanted me to mate his eldest daughter and take over the pack,” I snitched. “The fuckerknewI wasn’t on board and had already announced it was a done deal when I showed up for the new moon run.”

I had more to say but blinked and Mum was on Byeol beating her ass. We were all so shocked that none of us reacted for a good couple of minutes before Seo-yeon pulled her off of Byeol.

“A little help here,” she growled, looking to Ha-yun.

Ha-yun snorted. “I did the same. “Byeol is spoiled and hates Ha-joon for taking the title of ‘baby of the family’ from her. It’s fucking stupid. Of all the stupidest stupid we’ve been towards him, that takes the cake. Let her get beaten. It could have embarrassed all of us if Ha-joon hadn’t handled it well.”

“Stop!” Da bellowed when everyone tried to interject. “First, how did you handle it?”

I let my brother up and moved off to the side, not hiding my hurt and my lower lip even quivered. I took in a slow breath and wiped my eyes with the back of my forearm before meeting his gaze. “Fuck you, Da.”

His eyes went bug wide. “Fuck me?”

“Ya, fuck you,” I repeated, my voice cracking. I gestured to the room. “Any of them you would check if they’re okay first. I’m always just an afterthought, not a planned kid who throws off the family. It’s notmy faultthey’re all gits and do this. Ya don’t even ask how I am? Do you have any idea how horrible that was for me?”

“Your father knows it hurt, Ha-joon,” Mum tried to smooth over. “Of course it did and we’re both gutted. But you’re strong and—”

“Don’t excuse him, Mum,” I rasped. “You just enable him—all of them.” I met my da’s gaze and let him see that I was angry. “I handled it, Alpha.” He flinched and I didn’t care. “I told him that if he embarrassed the family that his head would be ours.

“To handle it as jumping the gun and he shouldn’t have listened to my sibling making a suggestion because he knew I didn’t know. That you’d kill him just to make sure no one else tried to pull this shite on any of us. Plus, I’m involved with someone you approve of and people know that, so he better clean up the mess and take the hit or pick out a burial plot.”

“Good, good,” he sighed. “I’ll follow up and—”

“Oh, so you don’t care about your son, but you also don’t have the faith I really can handle it?” I cut in, annoyed when he growled that I was challenging him.

Yeah, well, maybe it was time to start.

I let out my power and didn’t back down when he did the same. I glanced around at my siblings who were all staring at me with their mouths hanging open. I’d never flexed like this against my father or challenged him as Alpha, only as family to do what I wanted with my life.

“Clearly, leaving the fucking country isn’t enough for you assholes to leave me alone and realize that I’m not the problem.Clearly, my mistake was being passive about it and thinking you fucking bullies would get tired of this petty shit and grow thefuck up even if you were real adults when I was born. Apparently not.”

“Don’t throw us all in with Byeol,” Myung snapped.

I met his pissed-off gaze. “Tell me you haven’t been plotting something or plan to kick me out of the pack when you become Alpha and I’ll let it go,Brother.” I snorted, guilt filling the air. “You flinch when I refer to you that way. Pathetic. Seriously, you’re so fucking pathetic and I can’t take it anymore.”

“Oh well, letting us have it will do a lot, baby brother,” he drawled.

“You’re right, finally putting my foot down and saying something did nothing more than up the stakes for you idiots besides Ha-yun. Your laziness and jealousy make you even stupider.”

“Seo-yeon has become vocal telling the others to shut up and enough already as she promised,” Ha-yun cut in. “We kept our agreement. The others have not.”

I nodded I heard her and let out a slow breath before shooting Mum a quick, guilty look I hoped she caught. Then I focused back on Myung. “I’m not risking any of you lash out and up the ante on this fight I didn’t start. Instead, I’m going to play the hand I was given that you’re all so terrified of and you only have yourselves to blame.”

“What does that mean?” Da demanded.

I focused on him because he was the one I had to fool for this to really work. I promised my wolf we weren’t really going to do it and to behave because we were saving our family—our whole pack with this move. “I’m officially challenging Myung for his spot as your successor as is my right as your son.”

“What?” several people shouted.