Chapter 3

Damien and I stood side by side in wolf form atop the tallest boulder.

Below us, the entire pack cheered.

The moment we prepared to leap, a grey wolf none of us recognized charged into the plaza.

It was Selene's brother.

He shifted back to human form right in front of us, eyes blazing with rage.

Before the entire pack, he pointed straight up at Damien on the boulder and roared:

"You ungrateful hypocrite!"

"My sister took a blade for you! She threw herself between you and that knife!"

"She spent three months bedridden, and to this day her wound still makes her tremble in agony every full moon!"

"How do you think you held onto your Alpha position?"

"My sister dragged you out of a rogue ambush with her bare hands! She nearly died for you!"

"Without Selene, you'd be dead, Damien!"

"And now you turn around and demote her to the lowest outcast rank?"

His furious shouts echoed across the entire plaza.

The crowd went silent. The cheering died instantly.

Every wolf's eyes locked onto Damien.

I didn't hesitate. I spoke first, cutting through the tension.

My voice was calm but carried clearly to every corner of the plaza.

"Selene saved him because she chose to. No one forced her."

"If one act of rescue entitles someone to claim another woman's husband as her lover, then who in this pack would ever dare save anyone again?"

Selene's brother choked on his response, his face flushing red.

At that moment, Selene herself pushed through the crowd, eyes brimming with tears.

She rushed forward and grabbed her brother's arm.

"Stop it. The Luna's right—I shouldn't have had feelings for the Alpha that I had no right to."

"I saved him because I wanted to. I never expected anything in return."

Her brother was shaking with anger. He gripped her shoulders.

"You're letting yourself suffer for nothing. He's not worth it!"

Damien finally spoke.

His voice was low, carrying absolute authority.

"Elena is my only Luna. She was then, she is now, and she always will be."

"Leave. Don't make a scene here."

He reached out and pulled me tightly into his arms.

His grip was strong.

But pressed against him, I could feel the arm wrapped around me trembling.

I followed his line of sight.

In the firelight, I caught what flickered through his eyes as he looked at Selene.

It wasn't anger. It was unmistakable heartache.

A sharp pain stabbed through my chest.

I'd already made up my mind to leave. But it still hurt.

Just then, a piercing howl ripped through the forest at the edge of the plaza.

Rogues. A raid.

A dozen feral wolves burst from the darkness, lunging straight at the crowd.

Chaos erupted instantly.

The largest rogue charged directly at Selene, who stood exposed at the edge of the crowd.

Damien's reaction was pure instinct.

He shoved me toward the Beta standing nearby.

In the same breath, he shifted and threw himself in front of Selene.

He used his own body to shield her from the rogue's claws.

The rogue tore three gashes down Damien's back, deep enough to expose bone.

Selene escaped with a scraped knee from being knocked over.

And me—shoved carelessly toward the Beta—I fell hard onto the gravel.

The back of my skull cracked against the stone corner of the altar. Blood poured immediately.

Everything around me was chaos.

Someone screamed: "The Luna's down! She's bleeding!"

But Damien's back was still gushing blood.

When he shifted back to human form, his first move wasn't to turn and look at me.

He bent down, pulled Selene to her feet, and asked in a low voice if she was hurt.

My vision was already going dark.

I watched Damien support Selene as they walked toward the safe zone.

Then I blacked out completely.

When I came to, I was lying in the pack's medical wing.

Voices drifted in from the next room.

Two young she-wolves were chatting. They assumed I was still unconscious, so they didn't bother keeping their voices down.

"Did you see that?"

"The Alpha shielded that Omega with his own body—the rogues ripped three gashes down his back. He's still bleeding."

The other voice chimed in immediately.

"Right? He was torn up that badly, and the first thing he did was run to check on Selene and give her painkillers."

"The Luna was unconscious for two hours and no one even looked in on her."

"Honestly? I think the Alpha and that Omega are the real pair."

"You can see how worried he gets about her."

I lay in bed staring at the white ceiling.

My face showed nothing.

A long time passed before the door finally opened.

Damien stood in the doorway.