Chapter 1

I was the only female of this generation in the Golden Feather Clan born with a complete beast core.

From the day I was born, the priestess declared that I would become the queen of all beastfolk and bear the cub destined to unite the Twelve Clans.

Three years in a row, I offered him my bonding ring at the Moon Festival.

And he had refused me for three years.

The first year, he claimed the war was still ongoing on the northern border.

The second year, his excuse was that he hadn't inherited the Black Wolf Knights yet.

The third year, he told me he didn't want me to suffer with him.

On the eve of the fourth Moon Festival, he came to find me beneath the Golden Feather Tree.

He took my hand and promised, "Evelyn, tomorrow I'll accept the bonding ring.

"This time, I promise you the grandest bonding ceremony."

That single promise washed away three years of hurt. I could already picture what would happen: blood would awaken the bonding ring, and the blessings of the Twelve Clans would pour down upon us.

But the next day, the moment I held out the bonding ring woven from goldvine, he raised his wolf's paw and sent it flying.

The ring tumbled off the altar and landed in the mud.

The entire crowd fell silent.

A great weight seemed to have finally lifted from Ronan's shoulders. He turned and walked over to Selena.

Selena was a wandering healer from the White Deer Clan. Dressed in a pristine white gown, she had a slender neck and gentle eyes.

Right before my eyes, Ronan placed the silver fang necklace, the symbol of lifelong protection, around Selena's neck.

That necklace was something a Black Wolf male would only give to the mate he was willing to die for.

The whispers around us erupted, their buzzing filling my ears.

My throat tightened.

"You promised me last night."

He didn't look at me.

"I promised because I thought I could go through with it.

"But the moment I stood on this altar, I realized I didn't want to spend the rest of my life living under the shadow of that prophecy."

He finally turned around. His eyes were pure ice, stripped of all warmth.

"Everyone says that if I marry you, I'll become Prince Consort. I can't help feeling that all the military honors I earned by risking my life on the border are worth less than a single divine prophecy declaring you the chosen queen.

"Evelyn, I've had enough."

A chill ran through me.

"So you stomped my bonding ring into the mud in front of everyone?"

Selena tugged gently at Ronan's sleeve.

"Ronan, don't be so harsh. Evelyn just depends on you too much."

She looked at me, her voice soft and sweet.

"I'm leaving for the Moonless Wasteland to search for a lost healing art. Ronan only agreed to escort me because it would be too dangerous to travel alone. You have the divine prophecy naming you the chosen queen and your entire clan behind you. Unlike you, I have no one to rely on. I'm lucky I found Ronan."

Every word masqueraded as an attempt to smooth things over, yet with each one, she claimed the place that should have been mine as though it were rightfully hers.

Ronan frowned.

"Three years. You've pushed me for three years. Isn't that enough?

"I won't bond with you today."

I looked at him.

"Ronan, if you walk off this altar, there'll be no future for us."

He laughed.

"You say that every year, but you would never let go of me."

He took Selena's hand.

"You can go ahead and bond with some pus-covered Rotskin Beastman for all I care. I still wouldn't go back to you."

Then he led Selena down from the altar.

No one spoke.

No one dared look at me.

The noble females who had envied me moments earlier all turned away, as though my misfortune might rub off on them.

I stood there for what felt like forever, until someone let out a soft gasp.

"That creature... picked up the bonding ring."

I followed the crowd's gaze.

At the very edge of the altar stood a beastman draped in a tattered cloak.

He was tall, but his back was hunched. His bare arms were covered in dark red sores, festering sores, some already split open, with cloudy fluid oozing down his skin.

The beastfolk around him backed away in revulsion.

He bent down and picked up the bonding ring from the mud.

His hands were filthy, yet he never touched the ring with his bare hands.

He tore the only clean piece of cloth from the inside of his cloak and carefully wiped away the mud.

My chest tightened.

I descended from the altar one step at a time. The closer I got, the stronger the stench of corrupted blood became.

He retreated the moment he saw me approaching, only a broken sound escaping his throat.

He was warning me to stay away.

I stopped in front of him.

"None of them would even touch it. You were the only one willing to pick it up."

He raised his head.

Beneath the hood was a face covered with festering sores, but his eyes still shone.

I cut my finger and let my blood fall onto the bonding ring.

"My name is Evelyn.

"Will you bond with me?"

He froze.

Someone in the crowd finally shouted.

"Have you lost your mind? He doesn't even have a clan mark! How can someone from the Golden Feather Clan bond with... that?"

I didn't glance back at the crowd.

He was silent for a long time. Then slowly, he extended his hand, nicked his fingertip, and let his blood fall.

The dim bonding ring blazed to life with a silver-white glow.

That was not the bonding glow of a low-ranking beastman.

Only the White Lion royal bloodline bore that color.

But in that moment, no one recognized it.

I did not recognize it, either.

All I saw was him holding the bonding ring with his claws retracted, refusing to let their sharp tips touch me.

In that moment, I let go of everything I'd held onto for Ronan. From that day on, we were done.