chapter 3

Xian'na pov

The golden light slowly shrank back, pulling itself from the shattered office windows and sinking deep into my skin.

I stood straight, no longer a maid, no longer Empty. The agonizing pain of the rejection was gone, replaced by a strange, quiet fullness. The silence inside my mind—the silence that had lasted eighteen years—was finally broken.

A deep, powerful voice, like the sound of wind over mountains, spoke inside my head.

"Finally. I am free. I am Xiuan, the holy wolf of your mother, Xi'an. And now, I am yours."

I didn't move my lips, but the words screamed in my mind. “You know my mother? How can you be my wolf? Were you not with her?”

"It is a long story," Xiuan answered, her voice calm despite the chaos outside. "But the time for stories is now. We must move. The pack is coming to destroy the holy thing they do not understand."

I looked at Jerick. My eyes didn't even register his shocked face, only the chaos of the room. I was focused inward, listening to the voice that was both ancient and my own. I turned my back on Jerick, on the pale wolf scrambling to cover herself, and on the destruction I had caused.

I walked straight out of the office.

“Tell me now,” I urged my wolf as I moved quickly through the deserted halls. The scent of the feast I had cooked was everywhere, a mocking reminder of my former life. “Tell me who I am.”

"We are the only bloodline of the Moon Goddess," Xiuan began as I reached the back door. "Your grandmother was the Moon Goddess’s daughter, Luna. She chose to love a powerful Alpha of the werewolf world, your grandfather, Rafael."

“The Goddess’s daughter married a werewolf?” I asked, pushing through the door and stepping onto the soft forest ground. The air was cold, but my skin felt warm, humming with power.

"Yes. That union was the first Holy Blood. Your mother, Xi’an, was the Alpha of all Alphas, the only one who could truly control the Goddess’s gift. When she gave birth to you, the chosen one, she gave you all the Holy Power, emptying herself and becoming just human. I, her wolf, was bound to you, waiting eighteen years for the pain of rejection to break the seal and awaken the Holy Blood."

“So, my mother is Xi’an, and she is alive?” I felt a sharp ache in my heart that was not the mate bond.

"She lived. She gave her life force for your strength. Your true father is Kael, your mother's chosen mate, a warrior who loved her beyond measure. You are the daughter of the first true Holy Alpha. Your brothers—Isaac, James, Samuel, and Davon—they are Alphas of powerful packs, and they will come for you."

The first rush of wolves, a flood of angry, heavy steps, reached the office door. I could hear their primal howls, smelling the impossible power that had ripped through their ceremony.

“They smell us!” I whispered.

"Let them smell royalty," Xiuan commanded. "They will never catch the Holy Wolf. Run, Xian’na. Run into the darkness. Your life starts now."

I did not need to be told twice. I pushed my legs harder, feeling a strength I never knew I possessed, fleeing the blue moon territory and running toward the freedom of the deeper woods.

third person pov

The golden light vanished. For a flash of a second, Jerick’s eyes locked with hers. It wasn't the maid looking back, but a creature of terrible beauty, her eyes burning with pure, golden fire before she was gone.

Jerick didn't move for a long time after that. He felt the cold air rush in from the shattered windows. He was still half-clothed, standing over the desk, shaking.

The first thing he felt was the silence where the mate bond had been. It was gone. He had done it. He had rejected the weakest wolf in the pack. He had saved his Alpha status.

The second thing he felt was the fear. It tasted metallic, like blood, in his mouth.

He looked at the open doorway, the glass shards on the carpet, the dent in the wall where the clock had hit. He heard the pack roaring outside, confused and terrified. They had never heard a sound like that. It wasn't a normal Alpha command. It was too pure, too sharp.

The maid. The Empty girl.

His wolf, the proud, dominant beast that was now the Alpha of the Blue Moon, was whimpering in his head. The light had been golden, not silver. It smelled like the moon itself, but stronger, purer.

Jerick finally turned to the pale wolf who was still crying behind the couch. "Get out," he barked, his voice raw.

He stumbled to the shattered window. He had to see. He had to prove she was just a trick. His eyes tracked the path Xian'na had taken to the door, stopping on the damp floor where she had stood. There, pressed deep into the old stone, was a single, unmistakable mark: a golden burn in the shape of a perfect crescent moon. It was a brand too clean, too powerful to be a simple curse.

He heard the heavy footsteps of his Beta and guards running up the stairs.

He turned, fighting the panic that gripped his throat. "Markus!" he roared when his Beta burst in. "The maid! The one with no wolf! She used a dark curse and ran! Gather the best trackers! Hunt the rogue!"

His voice was commanding, but his heart thumped a simple, fearful rhythm: What have I done? He had just rejected a power greater than anything he had ever known, and now it was loose in his woods. He looked at his own reflection in the intact part of the window. He was the new Alpha, but his first act was to hunt the woman who was meant to be his Luna. And for the first time, he felt truly alone.