Chapter 1

"Quick! Get some tools and lift the pillar a little!

"Where's the hot water? Where are the thermal blankets? Hurry up!" Jack yelled.

"Alpha took them all for Lucy. He said Luna awakened her wolf spirit before turning eighteen. She's a prodigy and can wait a little longer, but Lucy has always been frail. Without those supplies, her life could be in danger."

Another aftershock struck. The already unstable stone pillar snapped completely, and the whole thing crashed down on me.

I couldn't move anymore. I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen.

The scent of blood quickly filled the confined space.

I could feel warm liquid continuously flowing out of me.

Jack stood outside while desperately trying to move the pillar pinning me down, but against its crushing weight, his strength meant nothing.

He was very worried about me. Even after his voice turned hoarse, he never stopped talking to me. "Luna, talk to me. Don't give up. Alpha will be back for you soon.

"Think about the pup. Think about Alpha."

I wanted to answer him, but I no longer had the strength to even open my mouth.

My wolf spirit continued to fade. By the time they finally pulled me free, I gave no response at all.

"Luna's heartbeat is too weak! It's almost gone! She's lost so much blood! We can't stop the bleeding at all!" Even the experienced healer's hands trembled.

"Where's the stretcher? Why isn't it here yet?"

Jack sounded defeated. "Alpha took it. He said Lucy was too weak and needed it to be carried home."

One of the werewolves who came to rescue me looked at me before turning to Jack. "I heard Lucy say Luna always pretends to be sick to trick Alpha into coming home. Is this another one of those acts?"

Jack shouted back angrily. "Can't you see she's covered in blood?"

Lying on the ground, I had no strength left to defend myself.

After becoming the pack's Luna, I learned that our territory lay along an active fault line where earthquakes happened frequently.

For that reason, I'd gone out of my way to study the possible aftermath of earthquakes.

My family had once been healers, so I had also learned quite a bit about medicine growing up.

That was why I knew exactly how serious my condition was.

I was terrified.

It wasn't because I was afraid of dying, but because my pup might leave this world without ever seeing it.

Jack reached out to William repeatedly, but the only response he received was William's cold instruction. "Stabilize Annie's vital signs. After I get Lucy home, I'll come back."

Jack sounded close to tears. "Alpha, Luna's heartbeat is getting weaker! We can't stop the bleeding! Can you come and save her first? She really isn't going to make it if this drags on!"

There was a brief pause before William answered. "Annie awakened her wolf spirit before she turned eighteen. She's one of the rare prodigies. I'm sure she'll make it.

"Besides, Lucy once saved my life and ruined her health because of it. I can't abandon her during an earthquake like this."

Seeing the despair on Jack's face, I knew he wanted to argue, but William had already lost his patience and cut off the mind-link.

I slowly closed my eyes as memories drifted through my mind.

When I had just become with pup, I caught a fever and called William.

He told me Lucy was on her period and needed him more.

"Annie, every shewolf with pup goes through this. You need to be more independent instead of calling me all the time. Lucy has stomach cramps right now. She needs me by her side."

It wasn't the first time William had said something like that to me.

Back when we'd just become mates, Lucy and I had fallen into the water together. I couldn't swim and struggled desperately, but William still chose to save Lucy first.

He'd said something similar then. "Your wolf spirit is stronger than Lucy's. Even if you're injured, you'll recover faster. That's why I have to save her first."

That day, when I was on the verge of drowning, it was Jack who saved me.

'You're the genius who awakened your wolf spirit by the age of eighteen. You're stronger than Lucy. You should let her have her way.'

Those words had followed me almost every day since I became Luna.

I used to think that if I did as William said, he would eventually love me a little more.

That never happened.

Instead, we only grew further and further apart.

While my wolf spirit was gradually fading away right now, William was carrying Lucy farther and farther away from me.

I wanted to reach out one last time just to touch my pup in my belly, but the moment I exhausted my final bit of strength to raise my hand, I lost consciousness.

The heart monitor made a shrill beep.

The healer looked at it, sighed softly, and slowly shook his head.

It was three minutes past ten.

I died, and my pup died with me.