Chapter 3

Caleb's expression froze.

His eyes flickered involuntarily to the photograph on the table.

But he quickly looked away, his voice cold. "What are you trying to say?"

"That day, you promised you would hold my Luna ceremony," I whispered. "But later, you said I was too weak, that I was unworthy of being Luna."

"So?" Caleb's tone grew impatient.

"You forgot my nineteenth birthday. And my twentieth. And my twenty-first," I continued. "But you never forgot a single one of Lydia's."

"Elena!" Caleb spun around abruptly. "Enough! You always make such a big deal out of everything, so full of self-pity!"

"If you weren't so damn fragile and sensitive all the time, maybe I wouldn't have to be this way."

I stared into his cold eyes, feeling the crushing weight of his Alpha's dominance.

So that was it. In his eyes, my very existence was a mistake.

I said softly, "You're right, Caleb. I'm not good enough."

I turned away, no longer looking at him.

"The documents are in the second drawer on the left," I said, my voice hollow. "There's something for you in there. Don't open it for three days."

He said nothing and left.

The clock struck midnight, and the room returned to its dead silence.

I hugged the old photo frame, feeling life drain away from me, little by little.

Two days left.

I didn't sleep at all that night.

At dawn, I heard the sound of a car engine from downstairs.

My parents had returned with Lydia.

I heard their angry accusations before they even stepped inside.

"Elena, you have the nerve to come back here?"

The door was thrown open violently. The fury in my father, John's, eyes looked ready to devour me whole.

"You ruined Lydia's celebration! Do you know she cried so hard her wolf nearly lost control, begging us to forgive you?"

"And you don't feel the slightest bit of guilt?"

"Apologize to Lydia at once!"

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

Two more days. I just had to endure for two more days.

He hadn't always been this way.

He once treated me with that same warm protectiveness.

Back then, when my wolf was slow to awaken, my father would patiently reassure me, "It's okay, Elena. Everyone moves at their own pace."

When I fell behind in combat training, he would personally teach me the basic stances, over and over, without a hint of frustration.

But after Lydia arrived, everything changed.

At fifteen, she could hunt on her own.

By sixteen, she was a top prospect in the warrior reserve.

And me, at eighteen, my wolf was still pathetically weak.

Shifting was an agony, and my combat skills were the worst in the entire pack.

She replaced me, becoming the perfect, obedient daughter in our father's eyes.

But ever since Lydia arrived, a strange weakness had taken hold of me, growing worse for reasons I couldn't understand.

I was often dizzy and nauseous, my stamina during training was abysmal, and I couldn't even perform a simple healing ritual.

The pack healers said it was a congenital weakness and that I needed more nutrition.

But no matter how hard I tried, my condition only worsened.

Disappointment began to creep into my father's eyes.

"Elena, look at Lydia, then look at yourself. You both receive the same training. How can the gap be so wide?"

"You are an Alpha's mate! How can you protect the pack with such weakness? How can you possibly share Caleb's burdens?"

"If it weren't for the Moon Goddess's decree, I would truly doubt whether you deserve to be his mate."

Eventually, his disappointment turned to shame.

It was as if my very existence was his disgrace. And Lydia was the daughter who made him proud.