Chapter 19
May 15, 2025
Scarlett’s hands trembled as she pressed them to her chest, her mind racing with fear.
Twenty years.
Twenty years of carefully guarding this secret.
And now, just like that, it was out.
Ace folded her arms, watching her mother’s distress with narrowed eyes. “Are you seriously panicking over this?” she asked, her voice laced with frustration. “What did you think would happen? That I’d live as a man forever?”
Scarlett’s lips parted, but no words came out.
Ace took a step closer, her heartbeat quickening. “You knew this day would come, didn’t you?”
Her mother flinched.
Ace’s stomach twisted. “Why, Mother? Why did you do this to me?”
Scarlett swallowed hard. “No one needs to know, Ace. No one.”
Ace scoffed. “Too late for that.” She shot Rowan a glance. “He already knows. So does his Beta.”
Scarlett’s head snapped up. “How?”
Ace let out a bitter chuckle. “Does it matter? What matters is why you did this. What were you so afraid of?”
Scarlett shook her head. “Ace, please—”
“No!” Ace’s voice rose, her patience snapping. “No more secrets. No more hiding. I need to know why I was forced to be someone I’m not!”
Scarlett’s eyes filled with tears. Her lips trembled.
Kane shifted uncomfortably, clearing his throat. “Look, Luna, I don’t mean to be rude, but we’re all here for the same reason. You’ve kept this secret for two decades. Don’t you think it’s time we finally hear the truth?”
Scarlett squeezed her eyes shut, her body shaking.
“Mother,” Ace whispered. “Please.”
A heavy silence settled over the room. Then, finally, Scarlett exhaled a shuddering breath and met her daughter’s gaze.
“We did it to protect you.”
Ace blinked. “Protect me? From what?”
Scarlett’s voice wavered. “From the Pack. From the tradition.”
Ace frowned, her confusion growing. “What tradition?”
Scarlett pressed a hand to her forehead. “The Alpha’s firstborn must be a son, Ace. It’s the law of our Pack, a law as old as time itself.”
Ace’s breath caught.
Rowan stiffened and Kane’s jaw clenched.
Scarlett looked away. “When you were born… when the midwife placed you in my arms, I knew our lives would never be the same. You were supposed to be a boy. You had to be a boy.”
Ace felt the blood drain from her face. “And because I wasn’t…?”
Scarlett’s voice cracked. “Your father made a choice. He told the midwife to keep it a secret. We decided to raise you as a boy because if the truth had gotten out, Ace… they would have killed you.”
Ace’s breath hitched.
“Or worse,” Scarlett continued. “They would have banished you. Outcasted you. You never would have had a place in the Pack.”
Ace took a shaky step back. Her mind reeled, her thoughts crashing into each other.
Rowan exchanged a glance with Kane, his expression grim. “So, all these years…”
Scarlett nodded. “We raised Ace as a boy. We thought we were doing the right thing. We thought we were keeping her safe.”
Ace clenched her fists. “Safe? You call that safe?”
Scarlett’s face crumpled. “I watched you struggle every single day. I saw you hide when you wanted to do things girls your age did. I saw your pain, Ace. And it killed me.”
Ace swallowed hard, her throat burning.
Scarlett took a deep breath. “The first time you shifted… I saw the truth in your eyes. You knew, didn’t you? Even before we told you, you knew something wasn’t right.”
Ace nodded slowly. “I always knew.”
Tears streamed down Scarlett’s cheeks. “I should have told you sooner. I should have been braver.”
Rowan’s eyes burned with intensity. “The secret is already out. You can’t keep running from it. Now I want to know what happens if the Pack finds out? Do you have any idea what they’ll do to her?”
Scarlett’s expression darkened. “I do.”
Ace turned to her. “And?”
Scarlett exhaled. “If we reveal the truth now, they might see it as treachery. They might accuse our family of deceiving the entire Pack.”
Scarlett paled as she spoke.
Ace’s stomach twisted. “So what do we do?”
Rowan’s jaw tightened. “I need to handle my own Pack first. Once I have control, I can figure out how to protect you from whatever comes next. Which means this can’t get out. This should be between everyone here only, until we sort it out in my Pack.”
Scarlett’s eyes filled with fresh tears. “And if you can’t protect her?”
Rowan’s gaze never wavered. “I will.”
Scarlett searched his face for a long moment before shaking her head. “Why are you so determined to help her? Why does this matter so much to you?”
Ace hesitated. She looked at Rowan.
He gave her a small, knowing smile.
Ace turned back to her mother.
“Because,” she said, her voice steady. “I am Alpha Rowan’s mate.”
