Chapter 1

As my body crumpled to the ground, my first instinct was to shield my pregnant belly. However, my hand passed straight through it.

I looked down and saw my own body lying motionless on the ground, my dress soaked in blood. The familiar flutter of life inside me had gone still.

The third and final dragon scale had burned to ash. The blood curse had claimed both my life and the life of my unborn pup.

Rhaine leaped down the hillside and reached my side in just a few strides. He gathered my body into his arms.

When he spoke, his voice carried the unmistakable ease of a man whose plan had gone exactly as intended.

"Selene, wake up. The pups are safe now. You've saved the entire pack once again. Why aren't you saying anything?"

I floated nearby, watching him with sorrow.

This was the man I had loved with everything I had. He was also the same man who had stolen all three of my lives with his own hands.

He pressed a hand to my cheek. When he felt the lingering warmth of my corpse, the tension finally left his shoulders.

"Thank goodness. She's only exhausted herself. Take her back so she can rest."

A childish voice rang out from beside the cages.

"Alpha, did we do a good job pretending?"

A bloodied pup wiped the red liquid from his face, then giggled as he threw himself into his mother's arms.

The warriors who had posed as rogue wolves removed their masks. One of them even complained that the dragonfire I summoned had nearly singed his tail.

The she-wolves tore away their bloodstained bandages, revealing perfectly uninjured skin underneath.

"She actually fell for it."

"Of course she did. Selene has always had a soft spot for pups."

The woman who spoke was Mara. Three years earlier, when she endured a difficult labor, I braved the pouring rain to reach her and stayed by her side all night.

I pored over countless medical texts until I found a way to save both her and her pup.

After I became pregnant, she started bringing me a bowl of goat's milk every day to help me regain my strength.

"You're far too thin! Giving birth will be much harder on you if you don't eat properly. From now on, I'll make sure you drink every last drop of this milk every single day."

Now, she had taught her own pup to lie inside a cage and cry just to trick me into sacrificing my life.

When Oren, the warrior pretending to be a rogue wolf, injured his arm during a hunt, I treated him and saved it from becoming permanently crippled.

Now he bowed respectfully before Rhaine.

"Alpha can finally rest easy. Without her dragon scales, Selene no longer has any way to leave this pack."

Several elders nodded in agreement.

"Why would a Luna need so much power anyway? A Luna who obediently depends on her Alpha is worth far more than one who can stand on her own."

Yet when the beast plague ravaged their lands, these very elders had knelt outside my door and begged me for medicine. They called every bowl of herbal remedy I brewed a divine gift from me.

Vivian approached Rhaine, gazing at him with unmistakable tenderness.

"Take her home first. Once she wakes up and realizes she's saved the entire pack with her divine power once again, she'll naturally stop worrying about losing it."

Rhaine tightened his hold on me and lowered his eyes to my bloodless face.

"Of course she won't blame me. After all, I'm all she has now. This pack is the only place she can stay. An Omega who has no choice but to depend on her mate won't get very far on her own."

His words pierced me like a blade, even though my heart had already stopped beating.

For all these years, I had shared my life with this man. Yet only now did I see his true face.

Rhaine carried me back to our bedroom. He changed my bloodstained clothes and tucked me beneath the blankets, his movements as practiced and gentle as they had been on countless ordinary nights.

Still, this time I would never wake up to press a loving kiss against his lips.

Rhaine brushed his fingers across my cheek, then frowned.

"Why is Selene's body getting so cold? Send for the physician."

Vivian gently reassured him.

"She's completely exhausted her divine power. It's only natural that her body is weak. An ordinary physician would only cause unnecessary trouble. Besides, she's pregnant. Giving her the wrong medicine could harm the pup she's carrying."

Rhaine studied me for a moment before accepting her explanation.

"Have her favorite roast meat and berry juice prepared. When she wakes up, I'll sit down and eat with her."

Floating above them, I watched Vivian nod obediently. However, beneath her demure expression, a flash of hatred flickered in her eyes.

Seeing that Rhaine was beginning to scrutinize my condition a little too closely, she hurriedly slipped her arm through his.

"We shouldn't disturb Selene's sweet dreams by talking in here. Come outside. Let's have a few drinks to celebrate. From this day forward, you'll have a Luna who is completely under your control."

Rhaine smiled and brushed his palm across Vivian's cheek.

"That certainly is worth celebrating. We'll drink until neither of us can stand tonight."

The man who had promised only moments earlier that we would be together forever was now preparing to spend the entire night drinking with the woman who had helped orchestrate my death.

This was the very mate I had fallen in love with at first sight. He was the man I had once wept and pleaded with the dragon to let me marry, swearing that I would never love anyone else.

I still remembered how the dragon had let out a heavy sigh back then. It poured the last of its divine power into my scales, turning them into a talisman that would protect my life.

"If the day ever comes when you regret your choice and wish to leave, these will be enough to let you survive on your own."

Now, Rhaine had turned those very scales into the weapons of my own destruction.

I turned away, unable to bear the sight of his hypocrisy any longer.

That was when I noticed a thin crack running through the dragon fang talisman hanging beside the window.

After the beast plague ended, I had sealed the residual power from the first scale inside that fang. Every month, I infused it with my heart's blood and divine energy, using it to protect the entire territory.

Now that I was dead, the dragon fang would last no more than 3 months at best.

Rhaine, however, had no idea.

Before leaving, he cast one last lingering glance at me and gently smoothed my disheveled hair.

"When you wake up, I'll finally be able to tell you the truth. From now on, you'll have no choice but to stay by my side."