Chapter 3

In the middle of the night, Lily started convulsing violently.

It was “Moon Phase Fever,” the deadliest illness for werewolf cubs.

Her little body was burning up, hot enough to scorch.

I was out of my mind with fear. I wrapped her in a blanket, rushed her to the Southern Alliance’s most basic clinic, and didn’t dare close my eyes all night.

The fever finally broke at dawn.

I carried a listless Lily on my back and pushed open the door to a pharmacy.

It was the only place to buy the rare “Moonpetal Herb.”

I had just paid when another hand snatched the paper bag off the counter.

The man’s index finger wore an Alpha signet ring.

The familiar scent locked me in place.

My head snapped up. My heart stopped.

Sterling.

“Ster—”

Before I could finish, the memory of the altar judgment flashed in my mind.

Four years ago, it was his Alpha command that made every pack allied with the Crescent Moon shun me.

I had dragged my ruined right hand across the wilderness, nearly starving to death.

My wolf soul trembled.

I took a step back, bowed my head low, my voice shaking uncontrollably. “Alpha Sterling.”

Sterling’s tall frame went rigid. He stared at my cowering, evasive posture.

“I’ll carry it for you,” he said, his voice barely a whisper.

“Don’t!” I lunged for the bag like I was seeing a ghost.

The sudden move was too much. A whole night of exhaustion hit me at once. My legs gave out.

He caught my arm.

The absolute, undeniable power of an Alpha.

“Cora.” His voice was hoarse. His eyes swept over Lily, asleep in my arms. “Get in the car. I’ll take you home.”

A few minutes later.

I sat in the back of that familiar car, holding Lily, huddled in the corner farthest from him.

This car used to be mine.

Back when he was the good brother who doted on me, who took me everywhere.

But then Morgana came back. And everything changed.

He forced me to give up everything. One thing after another.

My bedroom was given to Morgana. My favorite dresses were worn by Morgana.

And finally, even the state-of-the-art genetics lab I had spent ten years building for the pack!

“Cora, Morgana suffered a lot out there. She’s interested in genetics now, so let her have the lab to play with. You’re the younger sister, be sensible.”

He used that matter-of-fact tone to strip away the one thing I was proud of.

He shamelessly used the pack’s top resources to prop up Morgana, packaging a complete novice into a so-called genius.

And in the end, he ground me, the “fake princess,” into the mud.

A violent throb pulsed behind my eyes.

Why was he here?

Was he here to clean up Morgana’s mess by getting rid of me?

Did he find out I hadn’t died, that I had even dared to escape, and was he here to punish me for offending his almighty Alpha authority?!

The car was terrifyingly quiet.

Sterling sat beside me, his gaze nailed to me.

Those eyes, usually so cold and commanding, now held a trace of guilt.

“Cora…” His voice trembled. “These four years… we all thought you were dead.”

"I'm not dead!" I babbled, cutting him off. "But I'm just a lone wolf! I have nothing!"

“Alpha, I have no interest in pack politics! I swear!”

I frantically held up my hands. “I will never take my daughter to see Blake! I will never threaten Morgana’s position as Luna! I’ve changed my name, I have nothing to do with the Crescent Moon pack anymore!”

Sterling stared at me in disbelief, his face ashen.

“Please, just leave us alone, Alpha…” I clutched Lily tighter. Tears streamed onto her blanket. I was nothing. Utterly debased. “Please. I don’t want anything. Just don’t kill us…”

The air in the car seemed to get sucked out.

Sterling’s breathing grew heavy, his chest heaving.

He leaned in suddenly. His eyes were red. He grabbed my trembling hands.

“I just… I want to bring you home…”