Chapter 4

"Vampires! Vampires are attacking!"

The guard's shouts tore through the night sky. I jolted awake to see flames blazing outside the window.

We'd come to the border to inspect the defenses, but Damon had insisted on bringing Lydia along. Now, danger had truly arrived.

"Luna!" A soldier's voice carried up from downstairs, more urgent than I'd ever heard.

I hastily threw on my coat and rushed out of my room, nearly colliding with an equally panicked Lydia.

"What do we do?" She grabbed my arm in terror. "I'm scared! Elena, I don't want to die!"

"Don't be afraid. We'll figure something out together." I tried to comfort her while scanning for an escape route.

But the fire spread too quickly. The staircase was already blocked by flames. Thick smoke billowed up from below, and we were trapped on the second floor.

"Damon!" Lydia leaned out the left window, screaming for help. "Save me! Please save me!"

I called for help from the right window as well, but unease crept into my heart. If Damon could only save one person, who would he choose?

The answer came quickly.

A massive black wolf leaped onto the windowsill. It was Damon in his wolf form. His golden eyes swept over both of us, pausing for less than a second. Then, without hesitation, he charged toward Lydia.

"Damon!" Lydia cried out and threw herself at him. "I knew you'd come save me!"

The black wolf gently allowed her to climb onto his back. He didn't even glance back at me. He carried Lydia and jumped out the window, disappearing into the night.

I stood frozen in place, staring in the direction they'd gone. The flames roared behind me, smoke choking my lungs, but none of it compared to the despair in my heart.

Damon had chosen her. At a life-or-death moment, he chose her without hesitation. I was his mate, the Luna he'd sworn to protect, but I was completely abandoned at a critical time like this.

Though I had a stronger bloodline, no one had guided me in using my own power after I returned. I wondered if I was going to die here.

The flames drew closer, and my wolf went feral in extreme rage. The border warriors were all fighting, so I couldn't find anyone to help me.

"No! I can't die here!" I gritted my teeth, struggling to hold on. "I want to survive!"

Just as my strength was about to run out, another wolf burst in. This wolf was larger than Damon, its fur a deep silver gray. Without any hesitation, it bit down on my clothes and dragged me out of the inferno.

When I woke again, I found myself lying in an unfamiliar cave. My wounds had been carefully bandaged.

"You're awake." A deep voice sounded.

I turned my head to see a tall man sitting at the cave entrance, his silhouette proud and solitary. Hearing me stir, he turned around, revealing a handsome but stern face.

"You are..." I began weakly.

"Kane Thorne. Alpha of the Blackstone pack," he introduced himself concisely.

The Blackstone pack, sworn enemies of the Silvermoon pack. Yet now, this enemy had saved me.

"Why did you save me?" I struggled to sit up.

Kane's expression was complex. "Every life is worth saving, even an enemy pack's Luna."

Those words pierced my heart like a blade. My husband hadn't saved me, but his enemy had.

I recalled that scene in the flames, to Damon's cold eyes and unhesitating choice. In that moment, my heart died completely.

"May I ask..." I looked at this stranger of an Alpha who had saved me, my voice more resolute than ever. "Do you know how to completely dissolve a mate bond?"

Surprise flickered in Kane's eyes, followed by deep sympathy. "Are you certain you want to do this? That's a sacred vow from the Moon Goddess."

"I'm certain." My words were cold and firm.

…

After dissolving the mate bond, I came to the small cabin at the border with what few belongings I had. Now I had a new goal. I would win the Moon Goddess priestess selection, held once every century.

At night, I pored over ancient texts by candlelight, obtained from a friend. These precious records documented the secrets of the priestess selection, knowledge passed down through generations of the Blackstone pack.

Every day, I absorbed knowledge relentlessly, constantly attempting to channel my own power. This was something no one in the pack had taught me after I returned.

Moonlight spilled through the window lattice onto the ancient texts. I could feel the restlessness of the power within me. On full moon nights, this sensation would grow even stronger.

When I reached the final ancient text, my breath caught sharply. On the title page, written in ancient wolf script, was a line of blood red warning.

"Those who participate in the priestess selection and fail at the third stage will forever lose the Moon Goddess's power and become ordinary werewolves. Throughout history, only three have successfully passed all the trials."

My fingers traced lightly over those words as unprecedented excitement surged through me. Only those who had truly inherited the priestess' bloodline understood how terrifying its power was.

And I would inevitably become the fourth priestess in werewolf history. An existence truly above even Alphas.