Chapter 3

When the crowd saw this, the cursing erupted from all sides.

Delilah rushed forward and slapped me hard across the face.

"You little bitch! Owen treated you with nothing but kindness, and this is what you did when Moonlight Pack needed you most."

"Were you planning to steal those mineral veins all along? Hoard the riches for yourself?"

Owen's eyes were terrifyingly cold.

"That night you disappeared without a word. The next morning, I discovered the survey map was gone. You were away for two months, and when you came back, you didn't offer a single explanation."

"I suspected you. But I thought it over again and again, and I couldn't bring myself to confront you."

"I never imagined it really was you who stole the map."

I let out a small, hollow laugh. Said nothing.

I just stared at the scene unfolding before us.

In the memory, I was wrapped in a cloak, riding through the night to the estate of Eugene, Alpha of the Silver Star Pack.

"Honored Alpha of the Silver Star Pack, I am Salia, daughter of Moonlight Pack's Alpha. I've brought you the survey map charting every mineral vein in the Nolan Mountains."

"The mountains are rich in resources, but the terrain is treacherous. Without this map, even if you razed every inch of Moonlight Pack territory, you'd never be able to extract those riches."

"Swear an oath before the Moon Goddess that you will not invade Moonlight Pack territory for ten years, and the map is yours."

Among werewolves, it was a deeply held belief that anyone who broke a vow made before the Moon Goddess would die in agony.

Eugene studied me through narrowed eyes. "Why don't we make this a partnership, Salia?"

"Hand me the map, and once I've conquered Moonlight Pack, you can choose any vein you like as your reward."

"You'd have more wealth than you could spend in a lifetime."

I refused without hesitation. "Some things matter more to me than wealth."

Something vicious flickered in Eugene's gaze. He smiled, slow and cold.

The next instant, several swift wolves closed in around me, lunging for the map.

I barely escaped with my life. I was badly wounded in the fight. The map, I burned it.

After fleeing Silver Star territory, I knew that if the Alpha didn't wake soon, Moonlight Pack would descend into hell all over again.

So I dragged my battered, half-broken body through the dangers of the Enchanted Forest, pressing on toward the place where the witches were said to dwell, Roaring Valley.

Then my vision went black, and I collapsed.

When I woke, a witch who looked to be in her forties or fifties was standing over me. She told me I'd fainted from sheer exhaustion, and that she had taken me in.

I stared up at her, desperate, and without a moment's hesitation I dropped to my knees and begged her to give me a potion that could heal the Alpha.

"I'll pay any price."

The witch was quiet for a moment, then asked: "Any price?"

My voice didn't waver. "Any price."

"Even if that price is twenty years of your life?"

I lifted my head slowly and looked into her eyes. "I'll pay it."

"Salia."

Owen's fists were clenched so tight the knuckles had gone white. The look he gave me was something I couldn't read: fury, confusion, grief, all tangled together.

"Why would you do that?"

"Why... didn't you tell me?"

Tell him? So he could spend the rest of his life drowning in guilt?

Or so he'd recklessly declare war on the Silver Star Pack and Roaring Valley in those fragile, unstable times, and shatter the peace that had cost so much to hold together?

The only thing I could do was say nothing at all.

Murmuring rippled through the crowd.

"She gave up twenty years of her life to save the Alpha. Why would she kill him and Luna just a few years later? Could there be something we don't know?"

"It doesn't matter what the reason was. She killed them, and she has to pay for it."

As the arguments swirled, Owen picked up the last dose of the potion and looked at me. But there was hesitation in his eyes now.

"Salia, this is your final chance."

"Once you drink this, it will destroy your brain completely. After that, no one can save you."

"But if you tell me the truth now, I can—"

Delilah's eyes flashed with something strange at those words.

She hurried forward and grabbed Owen's arm.

"Owen, are you going soft?"

"Have you already forgotten what your parents looked like when they died? A woman this twisted and vicious can't be allowed to live."

I didn't answer.

I stepped forward on my own and drank the last dose.