Chapter 5

Three days later.

The full-moon banquet was held in the Starfall Hall, the most sacred gathering place in the werewolf lands.

I walked into the great hall wearing a simple, dark blue gown.

It looked plain, but it was woven from Moon-Silk.

A fabric exclusive to the royal family, with every fiber imbued with powerful protective magic.

The moment I stepped into the hall, I felt several familiar, malicious gazes land on me.

Asher, dressed in a tailored designer suit, stood in the reception area with a lavishly dressed Cora on his arm.

When he saw me, a smug smile crossed his face.

"Says she doesn't care, but she couldn't stay away," he murmured to Cora, a smug smirk on his face. "Five years, and she's still pining. So predictable."

Cora clung to his arm, her eyes flashing with jealousy.

"How dare she wear that color? Dark blue is reserved for a Luna."

"Let her," Asher said dismissively. "Everyone will find out what she really is soon enough."

I ignored their chatter and walked directly toward the main table at the front of the hall.

Two ornate chairs sat there.

Thrones, prepared for the Alpha King and his Luna Queen.

"Stop!"

Asher's voice echoed through the hall.

All the guests turned to look our way.

"Evelyn, where do you think you're going?" Asher strode toward me, his face a mask of exaggerated shock. "You're not actually thinking of sitting on the throne, are you?"

A ripple of snickering went through the crowd.

"Is she insane?"

"Those seats are for the King and his Luna!"

"She has no idea of her place."

Cora followed behind Asher, her eyes fixed on me with pure venom.

"Evelyn, I warned you to behave yourself. What do you think this place is?"

"This is a sacred banquet to welcome the King and the Luna Queen!"

Her voice grew louder, drawing more attention.

"What right does a rejected, useless wolf like you have to even be here?"

I remained silent and continued walking forward.

"I'm talking to you!" Cora blocked my path, her face contorted with rage. "Are you deaf?"

Just then, her gaze fell upon my neck.

My hair was pinned up tonight, leaving the sacred crescent mark completely exposed. After three days of healing, the mark was even more radiant than before.

"You..." Cora's eyes bulged. "You shameless fraud!"

Her shriek captured the entire hall's attention.

"Everyone, look!" Cora pointed at my neck. "This woman is still parading around with that fake sacred mark!"

"She's trying to impersonate the Luna Queen!"

The hall erupted in shocked murmurs.

"What? Impersonating the Luna?"

"How dare she!"

"That's a death sentence!"

Asher's face turned ashen as he rushed to my side.

"Evelyn, I'm giving you one last warning. Get out of here, now!"

"I have nothing to do with you! Don't drag me down with you!"

His voice was filled with fear and anger.

The fear that I would implicate him.

Seeing her chance, Cora pressed her attack.

She unleashed her Luna's aura.

A crushing wave of dominance meant to force a weaker wolf to their knees.

"Kneel! You blasphemous fraud!"

The force hit me square in the chest.

I stumbled back, my hands flying instinctively to my stomach as I crashed to the cold marble floor.

A sharp pain shot through me, and my first thought was a blast of pure terror for my pup.

"Did you see that?" Cora looked down at me triumphantly. "A real Luna can expose a fake with a single glance!"

She pulled a silver pin from her hair.

It was a weapon made specifically to harm werewolves, laced with a potent poison.

"Since you love that fake mark so much," Cora crouched down, pressing the pin against my neck, "let me help you destroy it for good."

The moment the silver touched my skin, a burning agony shot through me.

Werewolves were naturally vulnerable to silver, let alone having it pressed directly against a sacred mark.

"No..." I tried weakly to push her away.

"Shut up!" Cora swiped at my cheek with her other hand, her claws extended.

Blood welled up instantly.

"Get her out of here!" Cora ordered the pack warriors. "Throw this fraud outside!"

"Don't let her defile this sacred banquet!"

Several guards moved to drag me away.

Asher crouched down, his eyes filled with cold disgust.

"How long are you going to keep up this pathetic act, Evelyn?" he whispered, his voice a low hiss. "Did you really think playing the victim would make me feel sorry for you? You're so naive."

Just then, a commotion erupted at the entrance of the hall.

An Alpha's presence, so powerful it was suffocating, washed over the room like a tidal wave.

Every wolf in the hall instinctively turned toward the source of the power.

Alpha King Ronan strode into the hall, holding our four-year-old son, Dotty, in his arms, flanked by a retinue of his most powerful warriors.

The moment Asher saw the King, his face changed.

He leaned down, hissing urgently in my ear.

"The King is here. Don't you dare make a scene and embarrass me."

His tone shifted, becoming a grotesque imitation of seduction. "Don't worry, I know this is all for me. Just be a good girl, and I'll take you back..."

Asher's words were cut short by a new wave of Alpha presence.

One that was young, but so potent it was staggering.

I watched as my son, Dotty, leaped from Ronan's arms, his golden eyes burning with a furious fire.

The sheer power radiating from this four-year-old child made every adult Alpha in the room tremble.

Dotty's small voice echoed through the hall, yet it carried the deep.

"Who dared to hurt my Mama?"