Chapter 4

I had been dead for four days when the Great Elder, the most respected member of our pack, broke his seclusion, having sensed the alarming fade of the Luna's life force.

He came to the command center in person.

The moment I saw the venerable old man, my soul stirred with excitement.

After my parents died in the war, it was the Great Elder who took my hand and saw to it that I was cared for.

He told me himself that if I was ever wronged, I should come to him.

No matter what, he would have my back.

In front of Fenrir, the Great Elder reached a trembling hand toward his own forehead.

"Her spirit has left her body... The mate bond is so faint, it's nearly extinguished..."

The Great Elder's face turned ashen.

"Great Elder, what are you saying?" Fenrir's expression turned grim.

"The Luna is just throwing a tantrum, it's no big deal, she'll be back in a couple of days..." Tessa interjected hurriedly.

"Silence!" The Great Elder roared, raising his staff.

The staff struck Tessa hard.

"You lying outsider!"

"How dare you lie in front of me?"

Tessa stumbled back a few steps, her face deathly pale.

"Great Elder... I don't understand what you mean..."

"You don't understand?" The Elder's eyes blazed with fury.

"The Luna's soul has clearly left her body, yet you claim she's just playing games?"

"Great Elder, you have me wrong," she said, her eyes welling with tears.

The Great Elder was merciless.

"You ungrateful creature!"

"Selene's parents adopted you, loved you like their own daughter!"

"Yet you covet her position as Luna, your words and actions overstep your bounds!"

"An adopted Beta, and you dare dream of becoming the Luna?"

Tessa covered her face, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Great Elder... I didn't... I was just worried about my sister..."

"Worried?" the Elder sneered.

"Worried about when she'll finally die so you can take her place, is that it?"

Seeing Tessa's swollen cheek, Fenrir's face turned to ice as he moved to shield her.

"She is part of this family."

He looked at the Great Elder, his expression blank. "As long as I am here, I'd like to see anyone try to touch her!"

Fenrir's dominance erupted, and the temperature in the room plummeted.

The Great Elder, leaning on his staff, met his gaze without flinching.

"Fenrir, you've lost your mind!"

"This she-wolf is poison!"

"She is Selene's adopted sister!" Fenrir roared back.

"She grew up with us! On what grounds do you accuse her of meaning us harm?"

The Great Elder said, with his body trembling.

"Why do you think you haven't been able to find Selene?"

"This she-wolf has been lying the entire time!"

Tessa hid behind Fenrir, her eyes filled with tears.

Fenrir was thoroughly enraged.

He took a step forward, his Alpha presence overwhelming.

"Enough! I will not allow anyone to harm Tessa!"

"Not even you!"

The Great Elder stared at him in shock.

"Fenrir, do you know what you are saying?"

"I know perfectly well!" Fenrir's eyes burned with a manic fire.

Before he could finish, his flagrant disrespect for the sacred mate bond triggered a violent spiritual backlash.

Waves of the Moon Goddess's wrath pulsed through the air.

As the Moon Goddess's most devout follower, the Great Elder bore the brunt of this terrifying power.

He coughed up a spray of blood, the divine backlash shattering his strength as he collapsed.

My soul rushed over, trying to see how he was.

Fenrir was also struck by the backlash from the mate bond.

A searing pain shot through his chest, making it impossible for him to stand.

Healers rushed in and carried the Great Elder away for emergency treatment.

Hearing the news, members of the Pack Council rushed back from across the territory.

They already held the Great Elder's authority in high esteem, and now they were deeply concerned.

"We're gone for just a few days and this happens!"

"Alpha! If something happens to the Great Elder, can you bear that responsibility?"

The Council members bombarded Fenrir with accusations.

But their true anger was directed at me.

Tessa saw her chance and spoke up, her voice trembling with feigned sincerity.

"I think... maybe sister really is a bad omen..."

"She's turned the entire pack upside down..."

The Pack Council immediately agreed.

"Exactly! How can she cause so much trouble while she's just missing!"

"Does she really think her bloodline is so special? That she can do whatever she wants just because she holds the Luna title!"

Fenrir frowned at their words.

"Elders, don't say that..."

"After all, Selene's parents died to save the pack. She is one of our own..."

"Enough!"

An elder cut him off impatiently.

"Are we supposed to let the entire pack cater to her forever just because her parents were heroes?"

"She's such a curse. If you insist on completing the Luna coronation with her, what will become of the pack?"

"You'd be better off rejecting this walking disaster sooner rather than later!"

Another elder chimed in.

"That's right, let her get far away from here and stop plaguing our pack!"

Fenrir's first instinct was to refuse.

He just wanted me to come back; he had never considered actually severing the mate bond.

But Tessa stopped him, her eyes filled with tears as she spoke softly.

"Fenrir, if you keep insisting, won't that just make the elders even angrier with sister?"

"And..." she glanced in the direction the Great Elder had been carried off. "The Great Elder is in this state because of my sister..."

After a moment's thought, she offered a suggestion.

"To stabilize the pack, why don't we... just cancel the coronation for now?"

"No."

This time, Fenrir refused without a second thought.

Canceling the coronation was equivalent to stripping me of my Luna status, a mark of shame for any Alpha.

Given Fenrir's personality, he would never choose that path.

Besides, a compliant Luna like me wasn't easy to find.

"But if we let her go on like this..." Tessa's eyes held a flicker of resentment, which she quickly concealed. "It won't just hurt her, it will cause you pain as well, Alpha."

Fenrir considered for a moment, but still shook his head.

"The coronation is the will of the Moon Goddess. It cannot be lightly canceled."

"That's final. I've made my decision."