Chapter 3

For two days, I watched Killian work like a man possessed.

He was planning a lavish mating ceremony while simultaneously sending out more search parties for the "runaway Selena" who didn't exist.

He seemed trapped in a sick obsession.

It all came to a head until the pre-ceremony party.

"To our Alpha!"

Marcus raised his glass, his face flushed with alcohol.

This was the man I had saved from a rogue ambush, and now his eyes were filled with nothing but contempt for me.

"Thank the Moon Goddess! Killian is finally free of that shameless woman!"

The room erupted in cheers. The noise was so loud it made my soul tremble.

Shameless?

I had saved the lives of almost every wolf in this room.

I had bled to expand this pack's territory. And now I was "shameless"?

"Marcus is right!" another Beta yelled. "Bianca is the Luna our Alpha deserves! Gentle, submissive… not like her. A brute who only knew how to fight. No feminine charm. No wonder some stray dog could turn her head."

"Hahaha!" The room filled with vicious laughter. "She was probably just desperate. Even a wild mutt was good enough for her!"

My spirit roared.

Have they forgotten who single-handedly defended the north gate during the Blood Moon?

Who was the first on the front lines when a rival pack laid siege?

Who almost died saving their children?

Killian listened to it all, his amber eyes showing no emotion.

He didn't agree, but more importantly—he didn't stop them.

He was allowing them to humiliate me.

"Good riddance!" Marcus laughed drunkenly. "I can't believe I used to admire her. Alpha, your 'hunt-on-sight' order was the right call. Traitors should never know peace! When you catch her, you have to strip her of her warrior title in front of everyone!"

"Yeah!" a younger wolf added. "I heard you even dug up her parents' graves from the Hero's Rest and threw them out! Serves the traitor right!"

Killian picked up his glass, swirling the amber liquid.

He finally spoke. His voice was cold and calm, but it cut deeper than any insult.

"That's not enough," he said, scanning the room. He spoke each word slowly. "When I find her," he said, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper, "I will personally sever her from her wolf. I will make her watch, in her weakest human form, as Bianca is crowned Luna. That is the price for betraying me and her pack."

The room went silent, then exploded into even wilder cheers.

"Alpha is wise!"

"Good thing she's gone!"

"Good thing she's never coming back!"

In the middle of the chaos, the door to the private room swung open.

A woman with a commanding presence walked in, silencing the entire room.

It was Elena Reynolds. Killian's mother. The former Luna of the Cedar Pack.

She was once the elder I respected most.

After my father, the pack's former Elder passed away, she was the one who taught me how to fight.

When she learned I was Killian's fated mate, she held my hands, her eyes shining with joy, and proudly announced to the pack that I was the daughter she had always hoped for.

Tears I could no longer shed pricked my soul.

If she heard them attacking me like this, surely she would defend me.

"Mother?" Killian looked surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Elena’s gaze swept over everyone in the room. The pressure of her rank quieted them all.

"I came to give you a surprise," she said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "A final preparation for tomorrow's ceremony."

She placed an elegant folder in front of Killian, stroking the gold-embossed wolf crest on the cover.

"What is this?" Killian asked, looking at the folder.

"An update to the Family Registry," Elena's voice was steel. "It's time to erase that traitor's name from our bloodline and welcome Bianca."

She paused, each word a dagger to my soul.

"After tomorrow, there will be no more Selena Reynolds."

Elena opened the folder. Inside was the family registry, written on ancient parchment.

The Reynolds family bloodline, stretching back three hundred years.

Each family member's name was written in a special silver ink that glowed faintly in the moonlight.

It was the most sacred tradition of a wolf pack. Only true blood kin and mates witnessed by the Moon Goddess could be recorded.

My name was at the very bottom: Selena Reynolds, Fated Mate to Killian.

I remember the day my name was written there. Elena, who was always so stern, looked at me with tears in her eyes.

She had placed her own Luna bracelet on my wrist, a pack heirloom, and said it was only for a truly worthy Luna.

She said she knew my parents were gone, and that from now on, they were my family.

Now, Elena was about to erase the last proof that I had ever existed.

"Look at this," Elena said, pointing at my name with disgust. "This stain has disgraced our family for three years."

A stain. She believed Bianca's lies too...

She took a small vial of silver liquid from her purse—Wolf's Blood Eraser, a solution used to dissolve blood pacts and vows.

"Tonight, we will finally remove this shame."

Elena dripped the silver liquid onto my name.

The once-shining letters began to smoke and dissolve, disappearing like they were being eaten by acid.

My soul screamed. The last trace of my existence was being wiped away.

"Mother, is this right?" Killian frowned. "The registry is sacred. It can't be altered so casually."

"Sacred?" Elena scoffed. "What right does a traitor have to defile our sacred history?"

She turned to the others, her voice a venomous curse.

"I curse that bitch!" Elena's voice boomed. "May she never find peace! May she die in some foul, forgotten ditch, to be torn apart by wild beasts, her bones scattered to the winds!"

The curse of an old Luna held terrible power. Everyone in the room felt the cold weight of her words.

"I curse her soul to burn in hell for all eternity!"

Every word was like a silver chain wrapping around my spirit, squeezing until I felt like I would dissipate.

"Well said!" Marcus roared, slamming his fist on the table. "A bitch like that deserves to die nameless and rot in an unmarked grave!"

"Yes! May her death be as gruesome as possible!" the others chimed in.

Elena nodded, satisfied. She took a golden pen from her purse and handed it to Killian.

"Here. Sign the new registry. Officially welcome Bianca into our family."

On the parchment, my name was completely gone. In its place was a line of elegant script: Bianca Reynolds, future Luna.

Killian took the pen.

"Once you sign this, there's no turning back," Elena said softly. "That woman will be gone from our lives forever. Bianca will be your only lawful mate."

Killian's voice was flat. "She's been dead to me for years."

He looked at Bianca's name on the registry, his eyes showing no hesitation.

Killian lowered the pen to the signature line. The golden ink began to flow.

At that exact moment, his phone rang.

The shrill sound was jarring in the silent room.

Killian frowned, glancing at the caller ID.

Cedar Pack Private Hospital.

"Damn it," he muttered, annoyed, but he answered. "I told you not to bother me during my personal time."

"Alpha!" The doctor’s voice on the other end was shaking, on the verge of tears. "I'm so sorry to disturb you, but this… this is too important!"

"Spit it out," Killian commanded.

"Before we incinerated the body… we did one last DNA comparison… It's standard hospital procedure for all unidentified remains…"

"Get to the point!"

"It's… it's her! It's Selena!" the doctor practically screamed. "The body is Selena Reynolds! She didn't run away with anyone! She's dead! She's been dead for three years!"

The pen in Killian's hand began to shake.

"Impossible," he rasped. "What did you say?"

"Alpha, there's more…" the doctor's voice trembled even harder. "And the pup, Alpha… The DNA results are back for the pup." The doctor choked on a sob. "He's yours. He's your son."

Killian's wolf snapped. A wave of raw, violent power slammed into every wolf in the room, making them tremble.

The room fell silent. No one knew why.

All they saw were Killian’s eyes, now blazing gold. His fangs began to descend.

"Say. That. Again." He didn't roar. He growled, each word a low, vibrating threat that promised death.

"The pup… it was yours and Selena's… He was a Reynolds by blood…"

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