Chapter 1

When that severely decomposed, headless corpse was dug up, a lot of the werewolves vomited.

But I just stared at the lush green forest around us. It suddenly dawned on me that four years had passed.

Four years ago, my mate, Antoine Swanson, offended Logan Benton, an Alpha of a high-ranking pack, and almost got driven into bankruptcy.

For Antoine's sake, I swallowed my pride and begged everyone I could for help. In the end I managed to earn Logan's forgiveness and even secured a massive investment for him.

But just as I was heading back to tell Antoine the good news, his puphood sweetheart, Kailyn Greene, lured me deep into the forest and trapped me in a cave.

She used a silver cage to bind me, completely severing my connection to my wolf. Then, she shattered my bones one by one and ripped my wolf fangs out of my jaw.

By the time Antoine finally arrived, my head had already been severed.

Kailyn wiped away her tears and claimed I had stolen the investment money she worked so hard to secure and run off with a lover.

And Antoine—my mate who swore he loved me—believed her without a second thought.

From that day on, he hated me.

He banned the other wolves from even mentioning my name, ordered the pack warriors to stop looking for me, and stripped me of my title as Luna of the Moonlight pack.

He left me to rot out there, entirely on my own.

Because I couldn't rest in peace, my soul was tethered to that cave, unable to leave.

Until today.

When my brother, Jason Welch, dug up my body, my broken remains finally saw the light of day. I was finally free to leave the cave that had imprisoned me for four years.

First, I floated over to Jason and waved, hoping he could see me, but he couldn't. Masked and frowning, he methodically examined my body. "Unlike the previous bodies, this one is missing its head."

He paused. "Why do I feel so uneasy looking at this?"

His eyes lingered on my remains, his frown deepening.

Just when I thought Jason might finally recognize me, he simply rubbed his temples. "Something's different about this one. Not only is the head missing, but the bones were completely shattered."

A flash of pity crossed his eyes, and he turned to the others. "She was brutally tortured before she died. Have the council prioritize this body. Compare it against the wolves reported missing across all packs these past few years. We need to identify her as soon as possible."

After giving his orders, Jason took off his hazmat suit.

Maybe it was the bond of blood, but he kept looking back at my body as he walked away. Still, he didn't realize it was me.

As a dull ache blossomed in my chest, I saw Kailyn and Antoine walking in, hand in hand.

Jason immediately stepped forward, blocking Kailyn's path. His eyes overflowed with affection.

Then, he shot a disapproving look at Antoine. "What are you doing bringing Kailyn here? This place is full of corpses. She's pregnant. What if it affects the pup? She should be resting."

Smiling, Antoine pulled Kailyn into his arms. "The healer said she needs to walk around. Kailyn missed you, so I figured I'd bring her to see you."

Jason smiled and patted Kailyn on the head. "Antoine, you're going to spoil her rotten. First, you buy her a 30-million-dollar wolf fang necklace, and now you're skipping three major meetings just to take her for a walk."

"And you're one to talk. Ever since you took Kailyn in as your foster sister four years ago, everyone knows you're totally obsessed with spoiling her," Antoine teased back.

He added, "Besides, if Kailyn hadn't saved me with that new investment back then, I wouldn't be where I am today. Now that I have all this, of course I'm going to give her the best of everything."

The three of them chatted and laughed as they walked out of the cave, and my soul floated right along with them.

Jason stole one last glance toward my body before speaking up again. "We found a headless she-wolf corpse in the cave today. Judging by the bone age, she was in her early 20s, right around Irene's age—"

Before he could finish, Antoine cut him off, visibly annoyed. Disgust filled his face. "I don't want to hear her name. I'm about to hold the marking ceremony with Kailyn. She's your sister, so we're family now. That irrelevant she-wolf has nothing to do with me."

Those cruel words would have shattered me in the past. But right now, my eyes were locked onto the wolf fang necklace around Kailyn's neck. It was a bone-deep calling.

I had felt a wave of unease the moment I saw Kailyn. And now, I finally recognized what she was wearing.

Those were my wolf fangs.

Kailyn had ripped eight fangs from my mouth. Now, they were carved into a piece of art. And Antoine had bought them for an astronomical price, presenting them to Kailyn as a pregnancy gift.