"I won't be going to hell, but I'll gladly send you all there. The great Alpha Sanskar is at my mercy now. Who's left to challenge me? Haha," Padma said arrogantly, her laughter echoing through the room.

With Sanskar captured by the villains, the tables turned once again, leaving everyone in a state of shock.

"Padma, what have you done? We agreed to take out Swara and avenge our children, not drag Alpha Sanskar into this!" Mr. Roy exclaimed, panic evident in his voice.

"Exactly, you can't just go after Alpha Sanskar like this," Mrs. Roy added.

"Shut the hell up, both of you! You're cowardly and incompetent..." Padma shouted, her anger spilling over. "Absolute idiots," she muttered under her breath.

"They're finally making some sense, don't you think?" Swara chimed in, raising an eyebrow at Sanskar.

"Though, it's a bit late to cry over spilled milk," Sanskar added coldly.

Padma and Mr. and Mrs. Roy glanced back and forth between Sanskar and Swara, frowning as they saw no trace of worry on either of their faces.

"What kind of drivel is that?" Padma snapped.

Sanskar and Swara exchanged knowing looks, their lips curling into matching, sinister smirks. They fixed their gaze on the trio before them, reminiscing about the conversation they'd had on the way back to the pack house.

"Do you think we've still got enemies hanging around?"

Sanskar slowed the car and gave Swara a pointed look, which she interpreted without words.

"Do you really think Kavita's parents have the stones to try and get back at us? Do they even have the nerve?" Swara asked.

"I suspect they have some backing," Sanskar said thoughtfully.

"Who's backing them?"

"The more I mull it over, the harder it is to shake the thought that General Virat Khanna, Amit's father, was a patriot dedicated to the former Alpha King. So, how did Amit turn into a traitor?"

"How?"

"I had some suspicions about Amit's mother, Padma Singh, so I did a bit of digging. And guess what I unearthed?" Sanskar said, speeding up the car once more.

"What?" Swara asked, her curiosity piqued.

"That notorious court lady, Padma, was kicked out for her bad manners and had to literally grovel for forgiveness to get her job back in the Alpha King's court," Sanskar explained, catching Swara off guard.

"Isn't Court Lady Padma the one?"

"Yes, she was a friend of Grandmother Janki," Sanskar interrupted, anticipating her question. "She served your great-grandmother for decades to obtain that potion for eternal youth. That's how she met Janki and struck up a friendship. But eventually, Janki severed ties with her because Padma was a bit too ambitious for her own good."

"Yes, I've heard of her, but how could someone as self-absorbed and egotistical as her ever beg for forgiveness?" Swara mused.

"That's exactly what I'm getting at," Sanskar said.

"So, you think she might have had a grudge against Alpha Samrat?" Swara inferred. "Are you suggesting she could be behind Amit's shady activities and crimes?"

"It's plausible, given that Amit was too timid to act against my father while he was alive. Padma might be pulling the strings. But until they show their hand, nothing is set in stone. We need to stay on high alert," Sanskar said, letting out a deep sigh.

Swara was lost in thought, unsettled by the idea of needing to be cautious for herself again, involving Sanskar and their unborn child.

"How about we strike first and force them to make their move?" Swara proposed, her eyebrows raised in challenge.

"No, this can't be happening." Sanskar immediately rejected the idea, seeing the danger in Swara's plan. The thought of risking her life, especially with their child on the way, was unacceptable to him.

"Will, at least hear me out," Swara urged. "We can use our Luna ceremony as a trap. It's a strategic move. What do you think?"

Though Sanskar was resistant, Swara's relentless determination eventually persuaded him. She assured him she would take every precaution. Reluctantly, Sanskar agreed, but with strict conditions of his own to ensure his involvement.

Swara and Sanskar's shared smirk left their adversaries bewildered. In the blink of an eye, Sanskar used the chain that bound his hands to seize Padma by the neck and slam her to the ground. He relied solely on his physical strength to break free from his restraints.

"Beta, do something! Get him!" Mr. Roy yelled frantically at the guard who had brought Sanskar in, but the guard stood motionless.

Now, the three villains were tied up before Sanskar and Swara, who stood locked in each other's embrace. Mr. Roy glared furiously at the guard, who had once been his right-hand man during his rule over Night Shine. "Why did you do this?" he demanded.

"Because I'm no longer your beta," the guard retorted with a cold edge. "You two ran off, leaving the whole pack at Alpha Sanskar's mercy. But he didn't treat us like second-class citizens; he embraced us as equals. The entire Crescent Moon accepted us with open arms and gave us the respect we deserved. I seriously doubt you would have shown the same grace if you were in his shoes. Instead, you would have made Crescent Moon your slaves. Alpha Sanskar even mended the rift between Crescent Moon and Night Shine. My loyalty now belongs to him, not to selfish people like you."

The realization hit Mr. and Mrs. Roy like a ton of bricks—they had walked right into Sanskar and Swara's trap. "You traitor! How could you do this? I swear I'll make you pay!" Mrs. Roy fumed, her voice dripping with venom.

"Why don't you worry about saving your own skin first?" Swara said with a mocking grin.

"You bitch, this must be your dirty trick? You set us up with the beta, didn't you?" Mrs. Roy snapped, her anger boiling over.

"Ah, they're not completely clueless, after all," Swara remarked, glancing at Sanskar with an arched eyebrow. He responded with a teasing smirk and a nod. "You've got part of it right. Yes, it was my plan, and I did enlist his help, but it was your own greed and blind anger that led you right into this trap," she continued.

"You two are just as foolish as your daughter—easy duped by others. Padma spotted your vengeful ambitions and played you like a fiddle," Sanskar added.

"That's a load of rubbish. Lady Padma might have feigned empathy, but we're in this together, wallowing in our grief for our children, which is why we've stuck by each other," Mr. Roy argued.

"Grief over children? Really?" Swara scoffed, while Sanskar's smirk turned into a grin.

"You're quite the master of disguise," Sanskar commented, nodding at Padma.

With a theatrical flourish, Sanskar and Swara shared a knowing glance, beaming with satisfaction, and began to clap slowly, enhancing the dramatic tension. Mr. and Mrs. Roy stared at them, puzzled.

"What's this all about?" Mrs. Roy asked, her patience wearing thin.

"I'm sorry to say, but you two are even dimmer than Kavita. At the very least, you should've done a little legwork on who you were allying with," Swara said, a touch of mockery in her tone.

"What nonsense are you spewing?" Mr. Roy fumed.

Swara shot a knowing look at Sanskar and gestured for him to speak.

Sanskar nodded and started, "Here's the harsh truth for you: Padma Singh has never had a shred of compassion. She's been playing her own game from the get-go, driven by nothing but self-interest."

"This can't be true. We saw her crying her eyes out at Amit's grave," Mr. Roy protested, clearly puzzled.

"She's a pro at putting on a show, nothing more," Swara said dismissively.

"Exactly," Sanskar affirmed. "Padma has always been fixated on becoming the queen of the alpha king and has spent her life obsessed with her appearance. Despite all her efforts, my grandfather chose his mate, not her. She tried to seduce him, was booted from the court, and since then, she's been nursing a grudge against the entire Maheshwari clan. She's vowed to wipe us out completely." Sanskar turned to Padma, whose face had gone pale.

"She even turned her own son into one of her pawns in her twisted game. Amit, a spineless coward, only committed so many crimes because she was pulling the strings from the shadows. She made him take all the heat while she stayed safely out of sight, always hiding behind others to do her dirty work," Swara remarked.

Mr. and Mrs. Roy realized too late that Padma had always been the mastermind, manipulating them to carry out her revenge while remaining safely behind the scenes. They had been played for fools.

The room fell into a heavy silence, the dim lighting casting long shadows as the gravity of the situation set in. The three criminals were left without a word, and Sanskar clapped his hands, signaling his guards to step forward and take the offenders away.

As the chaos subsided, Sanskar turned to Swara, only to be alarmed when he saw her clutching her stomach, moaning in agony, and collapsing to the ground.