Chapter 1

"Hand over Valerie, or watch this little bastard melt in the silver poison!"

There was no warmth in Gideon’s voice. His finger ruthlessly pressed the red button on the wall.

A piercing beep echoed through the basement.

"Five minutes," he announced coldly. "Then, a stronger dose of wolfsbane will be released."

My eyes widened in terror. My blood completely froze in my veins.

Right in front of me, my six-year-old daughter, Mia, was locked in a sealed cage made of pure silver.

"Cough... Mommy... it hurts..." Mia’s tiny body curled up in the corner of the cage. The moment her skin touched the silver bars, scarlet blisters bubbled up.

"No! Gideon, please turn it off!" I dropped to my knees on the freezing floor and crawled toward him.

I hugged his leg desperately, tears streaming down my face.

"I didn't kidnap Valerie! I have no idea where she is!" I screamed hoarsely, tasting blood in my throat. "Save Mia! She's your own flesh and blood!"

Gideon looked down at me as if I were a piece of disgusting trash.

"Four minutes." He counted down mercilessly and kicked me away.

"And she is not my daughter. She's just a rogue's bastard!"

"She is not a bastard! She has your blood!" I screamed in despair.

I crawled toward him again, my forehead hitting the ground hard.

"I swear, I didn't kidnap Valerie! I didn't do it!"

Gideon grabbed my hair and yanked me up violently. The blinding pain in my scalp made my vision go black.

A heavy slap landed across my face with a sickening smack.

The corner of my mouth tore open, and blood filled my mouth. A sharp ringing echoed in my left ear.

"You still dare to lie!" He gritted his teeth, a violent rage burning in his eyes. "The security cameras caught everything. Your car was outside her house yesterday, and your scent was all over the scene where she disappeared!"

He threw me back onto the floor and stepped heavily on my chest with his combat boot.

"Three minutes and thirty seconds." He watched me struggle under his foot. "Tell me where she is, or I'll let this little beast turn to ashes."

"Daddy..."

Mia's weak voice came from the cage.

Her tiny palm was pressed against the silver bars, the flesh burnt black. She was gasping for air, bloody white foam bubbling from her purple lips.

"Save... Mia..."

That word "Daddy" was like a rusty knife carving out my heart.

But Gideon just shot her a look of pure disgust.

"Shut up! I am not your father!" he roared, his voice bone-chillingly cold. "Valerie already showed me the real DNA report. You switched the hospital records, you bitch! You gave birth to a filthy rogue!"

I sobbed in absolute despair.

I didn't understand how we ended up like this.

In the beginning, Gideon was the one who fell in love with me and confessed his feelings first.

When I worried I wouldn't be a good Luna, he relentlessly pursued me, promising to protect me forever.

I believed him.

The day Mia was born, he kissed my forehead with teary eyes, swearing to protect us for the rest of his life.

But everything changed after Valerie showed up.

He believed her lies and that damn forged report.

Now, he had become the very demon pushing us into hell.

Just then, one of Gideon's men answered a call. His face changed, and he immediately handed the phone to his Alpha.

"Alpha, we found Valerie."

"She's in the abandoned warehouse of the orphanage Scarlett used to live in! She inhaled too much chloroform and is in a deep coma!"

Gideon snapped his head toward me and sneered.

"The orphanage you used to live in. What else do you have to say for yourself?"

I could only shake my head helplessly.

I honestly had no idea what was going on.

"No wonder you're an orphan, Scarlett. Your parents must have figured out what a vicious, shameless monster you are."

I stared blankly at him—the man I once loved so deeply.

I remembered when I told him about my past. He had kissed my forehead tenderly and said, "From now on, I am your family."

But now, he said I deserved to be abandoned.

It turned out the deepest pain always comes from the person you love the most.

With those words, he threw the key to the cage on the floor and crushed it under his boot.

Then he turned and walked away.

"No—!" I let out a heart-wrenching scream and lunged forward, desperately trying to piece the broken key together.

"Gideon! Come back! She'll die! She's going to die!"

The countdown had only sixty seconds left.

Mia had stopped struggling. Her tiny body lay in a pool of blood, barely breathing.

"Mia! Don't be afraid, Mommy's coming to save you!"

I grabbed the electrified silver bars with my bare hands, trying to pry them apart by force.

The high voltage, mixed with the burning silver, immediately ripped the flesh from my palms.

But I couldn't feel the pain.

Finally, I reached Mia.

"Mia, hold on! Mommy is taking you to the healer!"

Using the last of my strength, I carried her to the car and sped frantically toward the pack hospital.

At the same time, I dialed a number.

A man's slightly delighted voice answered, "Scarlett, what is it?"

It was the Alpha King. The supreme ruler of the werewolf world.

And my biological father, whom I had only recognized six months ago.

"Father..." My cracked lips trembled, and tears fell again. "I need your help."

Half a year ago, he found me and wanted to take me back to the royal family.

I refused because I thought I already had a happy family. I thought Gideon was just temporarily blinded by Valerie and would eventually find out the truth.

I was an absolute fool.

"Whatever you need, you have it," my father's voice resonated with unquestionable power.

I looked at my pup dying from silver poison in the passenger seat. The last trace of warmth in my eyes completely froze.

"I want you to erase all traces of me and my daughter from the Silver Eclipse Pack. Then, I will come back and take my place as your heir, just as you wished."

Silence fell on the other end of the line for a moment, followed by a firm promise:

"Seven days. In seven days, I will send someone to get you."

I hung up.

I turned to the unconscious Mia and gently held her ice-cold little hand.

"Just wait seven days, baby. Seven days... and our nightmare will be over."