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Chapter 5

Author: Sea Sia
One by one, Victoria accepted the blessings.

Mother Alpha personally fastened a pair of tiny silver wolf anklets around a carved moonwood cradle.

The Beta Elder presented a Moonstone protection talisman.

The Pack Healer offered a bracelet woven from sacred moon vines, blessing the unborn Alpha pup with health.

Finally, Ashton stepped forward as a servant uncovered the gift behind him.

It was a cradle carved from ancient silverwood, its sides engraved with the crest of Shadow Fang.

The entire courtyard erupted into praise.

"Only an Alpha would prepare such a gift!"

A cradle for her pup…a coffin for mine.

I barely controlled the sting in my eyes as Ashton and Victoria stood side by side accepting blessings for her unborn child.

I turned, intending to leave.

"Elena, wait!" Victoria's sweet voice stopped me. Every pair of eyes followed her as she pointed toward a plain cedar box resting beside the pile of gifts.

"You forgot yours."

I frowned instinctively.

"I did not prepare a gift."

"But..." Victoria tilted her head in confusion before bending down to pick up the box. "It has your name on it."

My heart skipped a beat.

Sure enough, written neatly across the lid were the words: To Victoria. From Elena.

"I never sent-"

Before I could finish, Victoria had already lifted the lid.

A shrill scream pierced the courtyard.

The cedar box slipped from her trembling hands and crashed onto the stone floor.

A dead white Moon Dove rolled out.

Its neck had been twisted into an unnatural angle, fresh blood still staining its snow-white feathers.

The sacred messenger of the Moon Goddess was reduced to a lifeless corpse.

The lively courtyard fell into a deathly silence.

Every wolf stared at the bird in disbelief, horror slowly spreading across their faces.

"A Moon Dove..."

"My Moon Goddess..."

"Who would dare kill a sacred bird?"

"That is blasphemy..."

"Elena!" Ashton's furious roar shattered the silence.

His icy gaze locked onto me like a drawn blade. "What the hell have you done?"

"I didn't..." I instinctively took a step forward. "That gift isn't mine. I would never-"

"Why...?" Victoria's trembling voice cut me off.

She pressed one hand protectively over her stomach while tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.

"Sister Elena... I know you hate me. I already lost my mate. This pup is all he left behind."

"Ashton is the only person I have left to depend on."

She looked at me through tear-filled eyes, her voice breaking with every word.

"If you resent me...I can understand that..but..”She lowered her head, gently caressing her stomach. "What has this innocent pup ever done to you? Must you curse my child before it is even born?"

The accusation hung heavily in the air.

Before anyone could react, Victoria's face suddenly turned deathly pale as her body swayed violently.

"Ashton..."She reached toward him weakly before her eyes rolled back.

The next second, she collapsed.

"Victoria!"

Ashton lunged forward and caught her before she hit the ground.

"Pack Healer!" he roared, his voice shaking for the first time. "Someone bring the Pack Healer! Now!"

The peaceful blessing ceremony instantly dissolved into chaos.

I could barely breathe. The pungent scent of crushed moon herbs, the healing needles, the familiar smell of medicinal incense I had feared ever since my mother's death swallowed my senses as the Chief Pack Healer's words echoed through the corridor.

"It was a severe shock that triggered her heart condition. Lady Victoria's heart has always been weak. If treatment had been delayed even for a moment... we could have lost both the pup and the mother."

Ashton lowered his head, every emotion hidden behind his eyes.

"The gift wasn't mine," I said quietly. "I would never do something like this-"

SLAP.

The violent crack echoed through the Healing Hall before the pain even registered.

My head snapped sideways, blood flooding my mouth as I staggered back.

With wide, devastated eyes, I looked at Ashton, my fated mate of five years who was standing over me in fury.

His chest rose and fell violently, his hand still frozen in the air from the strike.

His voice dropped into a low, venomous growl.

"Go inside and apologize to Victoria. Now!”

The order hung heavily in the air.

I slowly touched my burning cheek, feeling the heat of his hatred lingering on my skin.

"No." The word escaped as nothing more than a whisper.

A humorless laugh fell from his lips.

"Fine."

His voice became frighteningly calm.

"Then I will request judgment before the Pack Elders. You stand accused of attempting to murder a pregnant she-wolf."

"Threatening an unborn pup is among the gravest crimes in Pack Law and since Victoria’s is Shadow fang’s gamma, the punishment won’t be light.

I will make sure…you learn a lesson you will never forget."

The words were the final nail in the coffin of our shared life.

Teach me. As if I were nothing more than a disobedient wolf that needed punishment. I looked at him. The man who had once torn through a pack of rogues to save my life.

The man I loved more than my own life. The man whose silence I had mistaken for depth.

In that moment... A profound, chilling calm settled over me.

Without breaking his gaze, I reached into my robe and withdrew my communication crystal. Moonlight spread across its surface.

The crystal glowed. Every wolf fell silent.

"As Luna Elena of Shadow Fang..." My voice echoed clearly through the Healing Hall. "I stand accused of attempting to murder the pregnant gamma of the Shadow Fang pack."

"I hereby invoke the Moon Goddess's Judgment." Gasps erupted throughout the hall.

Under Pack Law... No wolf invoked the Moon's Judgment lightly. Because once invoked... neither Alpha nor Luna could interfere and the lowest punishment was death.

The truth would be investigated by the Pack Elders themselves.

"If I am guilty...I will willingly surrender my Luna title and accept whatever punishment the Moon Goddess decrees, I am ready to die."

"But if I am innocent..." My eyes slowly lifted to Victoria's chamber. "May the true sinner answer before the Moon Goddess."
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