LOGINKael’s POV“Dad, is this the mother you told me about?”A little boy ran up behind me and stopped in front of Eileen’s grave.His name was Noah.Three years earlier, I had found him near the border of Moonshadow territory.His parents had died in the war, leaving him alone.When I first saw him, he was covered in wounds but still protecting an injured wolf pup in his arms.The moment he looked up at me, I forgot how to breathe.His eyes reminded me of Eileen when she was young.I adopted him, but not to replace the child we had lost.No one could ever replace that child.I only wanted to protect one child who had lost his family to war, the way Eileen would have.“Yes.”I knelt and straightened Noah’s collar.“Her name was Eileen.”“She was the person I wronged most in this life.”Noah placed the white flowers he had brought in front of the grave.“Did Mom like these?”“Yes.”“Would she have liked me?”I was silent for a moment.“She would have.”Eileen had always loved children.If sh
Kael’s POVI looked at Selena and thought of Eileen.Eileen had loved me too.But she had swallowed blood worms to save my life.Selena’s version of love had killed my parents, started a war between two packs, and destroyed Eileen’s life.And I had believed her for ten years.“You do not love me.”My voice was cold.“You only wanted to become Luna.”The last of Selena’s mask finally broke.She stared at me and laughed wildly.“So what if I lied to you?”“You were the one who killed Eileen’s family. You locked her in a silver cage, forced medicine down her throat, and made her kneel before everyone.”“Even if you punish me now, even if you kill me, Eileen will never forgive you.”“Enough.”I ordered the guards to take her away.Her father would stand trial under pack law for murder, betrayal, and starting the war.Selena was stripped of her title as Luna and banished from the Black Pack forever.After the guards left, I picked up the moonstone bracelet from the table.“This belongs to y
Kael’s POVThe bowl slipped from my hand and shattered on the floor.I stepped back, my knee striking the edge of the bed.For ten years, I had refused to let her die.I forced her to drink medicine, forced her to stay alive, and forced her to repay a blood debt that had never belonged to her.But she had done nothing wrong.She was the one who had saved me.She had traded her life for mine.And I had repaid her by killing her parents and brother, taking away our child, locking her in a silver cage, and torturing her for ten years.“Wake her up.”My voice no longer sounded like my own.“I will pay any price. Just make her wake up.”The witch doctor was silent for a moment before taking out a bottle of dark red liquid.“This medicine can suppress the blood worms long enough for her to regain consciousness, but only for one day. After that, she will still die.”“It requires the blood of the mate bound to her.”“Once she drinks it, the blood worm curse will pass through your mate bond.”“
Kael’s POVAfter Eileen closed her eyes, her body began to grow cold in my arms.I held her and, for the first time, had no idea what to do.Over the past ten years, she had bled countless times and lost consciousness more times than I could remember. Each time, I had the healers bandage her wounds and force a bowl of medicine down her throat. In the end, she always woke up.This time would be no different.I told myself she was pretending again. She was only trying to frighten me.She had always been afraid of pain. When we were children, she would cry in my arms over a scraped knee. How could someone like her truly choose to die?“Eileen.”I patted her cold cheek, but she did not open her eyes.“Stop pretending.”She still did not respond.Blood continued to run from the corner of her mouth, staining my hands and soaking through the front of her dress.I finally lost control and roared,“Where are the healers? Bring every healer here now!”The door flew open.Several healers rushed i
I instinctively raised my arm to shield my face.Sharp teeth sank into my forearm.The sound of flesh tearing was horrifyingly clear.Blood splattered across the fallen petals.The maids screamed and backed away, but not one of them tried to pull the animal off me.The young panther lunged again.It clamped its jaws around my shoulder and tore at me.I no longer had the strength to fight back.All I could do was curl into myself and protect my face and chest.By the time Selena finally arrived, my arm and shoulder had been torn open.“Come back!”She called the panther off, then covered her mouth and pretended to be horrified.“This is my fault. Kael only just started teaching me how to control the battle beast. I haven’t mastered it yet.”Her personal maid immediately said,“Why should the Luna apologize to a criminal?”“Even if the panther killed her, the Alpha would never blame you.”Their voices faded into the distance.All I could see was blood.“Eileen?”Someone lifted me into hi
“The seer said I was born to become a Luna.”“But your brother didn’t love me.”“And Kael was in love with you.”“So I had my father arrange an attack, kill Kael’s parents, and plant evidence that pointed to your father.”She spoke as if the dead were nothing more than stepping stones on her path to becoming Luna.“Once Kael lost his parents, he would naturally hate the Moonshadow Pack.”“Then my father opened the gates for him and helped him conquer your home. That made my family the Black Pack’s greatest ally.”Ten years of hatred between two packs had begun because of her ambition.“Do you regret it?” Selena asked. “Swallowing those blood worms to save Kael?”“I watched you carry him out of the Mistwood Forest.”“I watched you swallow the blood worms in exchange for the medicine that saved his life.”“But when Kael woke up, I was the first person he saw.”If I had learned the truth ten years ago, it might have destroyed me.But I was already dying.None of it mattered anymore.Selen







