Sanskar was just about to lower himself to his knees when Swara hurriedly grasped his hand, stopping him. "Sanskar Maheshwari, the future Alpha King, you cannot humble yourself before such insignificant people," she said firmly.

Swara's fury erupted, revealing a new side of her that left everyone stunned, causing a callout of her name. 

"Swara..." 

"Swara, this isn't your place to speak," Sanskar insisted, attempting to free his hand from her grasp, but she refused to let go. 

"No, I won't," she retorted firmly. Today, her aura was entirely different from the usual humble and forgiving Swara; she seemed to be fully in her element as Alpha Sanskar's Luna. 

"Swara, stop stirring the pot; haven't you caused enough trouble already?" Adarsh exclaimed in frustration, feeling the weight of his failed schemes while his mate and ally lay in the emergency room. 

"Adarsh, how could you stand by and watch Sanskar bow down as his beta? I’m starting to question if you're cut out for this role. Your alpha and Luna are in a pickle, and instead of making an effort to resolve it, you're just adding fuel to the fire." Swara's voice echoed like that of an injured tigress, leaving Adarsh irritated but clammed up.

She had put up with this circus for too long just to give Sanskar some face, but seeing them try to make him bow was the final straw. Turning to Mr. and Mrs. Roy, she continued, "And you two, your daughter is in the emergency room, yet instead of being concerned about her well-being, you're causing a scene in the hospital. Are you even her real parents, or just looking for the drama?" 

"You lowly bitch, how dare you speak to me like that? You murderer..." Mr. Roy shouted, enraged, and raised his hand to slap Swara again. But this time, she intercepted his hand in mid-air. 

"That's enough, Mr. Roy. I tolerated the first slap out of respect for a grieving father, but don't think for a second that I'm a pushover. If I were to expose your daughter's actions, you wouldn't even be able to look yourself in the mirror. Don't touch my bottom line," she declared, her eyes blazing with intensity. She then shoved his hand away, causing him to stumble backward. 

"Alpha Sanskar, just look at your Luna! She doesn't feel any regret at all. How can someone be so heartless?" Mrs. Roy shouted, grabbing her husband's hand and breaking into loud, purposeful sobs to make them echo through the corridor. 

"Swara, you're taking this too far. Don't go around bullying people like that. And don't get too ahead of yourself with that Luna title. Remember, until the Luna ceremony, you're just the future Luna. Understand?" Adarsh intentionally brought this up to put Swara in her place.

Although he had briefly feared when his loyalty was questioned, he wasn't going to let this opportunity slip to drive Swara away. 

"Whether I'm the Luna, the future Luna, or anything else, I only answer to Sanskar. No one else has the right to..." 
Sanskar abruptly interrupted her in a harsh tone. "That's enough, Swara. Leave now." He yanked his hand free from her grip. 

"Sanskar..." 

Swara stood there, shocked by Sanskar's rudeness. She tried to respond, but he silenced her before she could utter another word. 

"Adarsh's right. You're not the Luna of the Crescent Moon yet, so butt out of our business. Plus, as a wizard, you've got no place in werewolf affairs. Got it?" He said it icily, dragging her to the end of the corridor and shoving her roughly, causing her to stagger. 

"Sanskar..." Swara straightened up and shouted in anger, but Sanskar had already turned his back on her. She clenched her fists, her eyes flashing red with fury, as if something deep within her had been provoked. 

"You bastard, this isn't over," Swara muttered, seething with anger as she stormed out. Halfway down the corridor, she stopped abruptly. "Since I'm already at the pack hospital, I should check on Nikhil. Let's see how he's doing." She altered her course and headed toward the ICU, where Nikhil lay connected to a tangle of machines. His condition still seemed critical. 

"Come on, Nikhil, wake up already. How much longer are you going to sleep? I can't bear this loneliness without you. There's no one else I can confide in," Swara whispered, her voice breaking as she sat by Nikhil's bedside, clutching his hand tightly. 

"Sneaky little liar, don't you have Alpha Sanskar? Lately, you've been spending more time with him than with me." Nikhil's thoughts churned as he remained in a coma, listening to and registering all the conversations around him. 

"My life is a hot mess right now. I already have much on my plate, and this Kavita keeps throwing more obstacles my way. Wasn't she in enough trouble already? And now Adarsh's following in her footsteps," Swara lamented to the unconscious Nikhil, pouring her heart out. 

"Speaking of which, why was Adarsh, some random outsider, getting all bent out of shape over Kavita's health instead of Sanskar, Kavita's ex, who's supposed to be a good friend?" Swara blabbered, reflecting on Adarsh's behavior. 

"He didn't sound like he had any loyalty to his alpha and Luna. Why's Adarsh acting all shady? Are he and Kavita somehow linked? It's like they're mates or something," Swara muttered, scratching her head in confusion as she recalled the silhouette of a mysterious masked man from her past life. 

"I used to think that the masked man from my previous birth was Kavita's mate in this life. But no way could it be Adarsh. He wouldn't kill his own brother, would he? So who the hell was that guy, and what's Adarsh's deal?" Swara exclaimed with frustration, tugging at her hair. 

With a clear mission ahead in this life, Swara felt like she was getting nowhere fast, especially with Kavita's constant plots getting under her skin. 

"Yes, he can." 

Swara was snapped out of her reverie by the unexpected sound of Nikhil's voice, almost as if he were answering her unspoken thoughts. 

"What? Nikhil, are you... How are you feeling?" Swara exclaimed, excitement bubbling up as she reached out and clasped Nikhil's hand tightly, hoping for a response. 

"Ouch, Swara, take it easy. You're hurting me. Don't dig your nails into my palm," Nikhil winced softly. 

"Oops, sorry..." Swara quickly released his hand, realizing she had been too forceful. "When did you wake up? How are you feeling now? Should I call the doctor?" 

"Relax; I'm okay. I've been drifting in and out of consciousness and caught some of your chatter. And yeah, Adarsh's a real piece of shit, with the malicious intention of offing his own brother," Nikhil said, attempting to sit up with Swara's help. 

"No way, are you serious? How did you find out about this?" Swara asked incredulously. 

"It's true; he did that. Adarsh attempted to eliminate the alpha during our clash with the vampires, and when he discovered I had seen everything, he tried to remove me from the picture," Nikhil revealed. 

Swara was left reeling from the shock of it all. She had never fathomed that Adarsh could be capable of such treachery. Despite his distant demeanor, she had always regarded him as a strong and loyal beta and a caring brother. 

'If Nikhil is on the mark, then Adarsh was indeed that masked man. It's just baffling. Why would he go after his own brother's life?' Swara's mind raced with conflicting emotions, tears brimming in her eyes as she recalled the harrowing images of Sanskar's murder. 

"Whatever his ulterior motives may be, I won't stand idly by while a duplicitous, contemptible fiend succeeds. I need to find Sanskar and make him aware that there's a snake in the grass," Swara muttered to herself, resolute in her decision as she rose to her feet. 

"Swara, what the heck is happening? Why are you talking about past lives and stuff?" Nikhil asked, looking thoroughly confused. 

Swara mentally kicked herself for letting her secret slip in front of Nikhil. 

"I'll fill you in later. For now, just focus on getting better. And whatever you do, don't let anyone, especially Adarsh and Kavita, know that you're awake," she said hastily, before bolting off to the emergency room to track down Sanskar. 

She received word from a nurse that Kavita had regained consciousness, but her condition remained precarious. As Swara entered Kavita's room, shock hardly conveyed the depth of her emotions when she witnessed Sanskar seated on Kavita's bed, holding her close as she nestled her head against his chest. 

"Kavita, do you understand what you're saying?" Sanskar's voice was gentle as he caressed her hair. 

"I do, Sanskar. I know Swara is your mate, but the open fact is, neither I nor my folks hail from alpha bloodlines. And you know, as well as I do, that the only cure for wolfbane is mating with an alpha. So, make me yours," Kavita asserted, leaning in for a kiss. 

Outside the room, Swara stood rooted to the spot, her heart breaking into a million pieces at the sight before her.