Chapter 4

I had barely managed to stand up when my mind flared with the desperate call of the apprentice of my private infirmary.

“Elise, Elder Emily is critical. If we don't give her the rare herb you discovered the other day that could heal her, we might lose her soon. Please hurry up.”

Elder Emily was my mentor, who had adopted me sixteen years ago and taught me her skills and techniques. I could not disappoint her when she needed me the most. She was the last person on the planet I saw as my family.

Disregarding my own frail, dying condition, I had forced myself to push through the physical weakness and drag my collapsing body to the pack house again.

But the moment I stepped inside, I discovered that Erica—who had supposedly been given a temporary leave from the pack council—was back.

Not just that, she had been sitting on the throne of Pack’s Luna, next to Claus. A place that should have rightfully been mine. I recalled what Claus told me years ago.

“Love, you are too weak to handle Pack’s politics. Just stay at home and let me handle it for you. Your throne will always be vacant until you are fit enough to claim it.”

It was only now that I realised he didn't keep the throne vacant because he cared about me. It was because he never intended to make me sit there. The throne… he kept it vacant for Erica.

“The white moon flower… my mentor needs it, Claus. Please give it to me.” I whispered.

Claus froze for a fraction of a second when he saw me walk in, blood still dried on my chin from my earlier collapse. Right then, Erica slipped off her throne and sat directly on his lap, mocking me:

“You walked into a pack house for this trivial matter, looking so pathetic. Instead of disturbing our Alpha, you should come to me. I’m appointed to perform Luna’s duty after all, something that you could never do.”

I ignored her and walked closer to Claus. My voice trembled as I said, “Emily is dying, Claus. You promised to give it to me. I’m begging you. I need it right now.”

Claus stared at me, his eyes cold and predatory. "Instead of begging me, you might as well beg Erica. You paid no respect to her while visiting us. That's an insult to Luna's position. As long as she forgives you, I'll save your mentor!"

I bit my lower lip so hard that the taste of metallic blood filled my mouth. Hesitating for only a single second, I fell to my knees with a thud right at Erica's feet and kowtowed three times, my forehead hitting the cold office floor.

"Please forgive me! Please forgive me! Please forgive me!"

My utter submissiveness caused Erica to burst into a loud, mocking laugh. But soon her laughter came to an abrupt halt as she turned to look at Claus.

“White moon flower is our Pack's treasure. If you are to give her, don't you think she should pay for it?”

Claus's eyes instantly flared with heat as he growled under his breath, "You little goblin."

At that exact moment, my heart died completely. The last shred of the bond snapped.

Only after Erica had laughed at her fill did she finally speak. “What do you have to offer, Elise?”

Biting my lower lip raw, I said, “The severity of my mate's bond with Alpha Claus. Does it work, ‘Luna’?”

By that time, Claus’s beta had already brought the white moon flower. I grabbed it and stood up.

“I’ll settle my payment tomorrow,” I said as I headed towards the door without looking back.

Before closing the door, I caught Claus giving me a startled, suddenly uneasy look.

I headed straight to my private infirmary, where I had transferred my mentor to keep her away from the pack. But her condition wasn't looking good. The delay in her treatment had done its damage.

Yet, I never could have anticipated that just one week after I broke my bond with Claus, my mentor would suddenly leave this world.

The only person I had left to care about in this universe was gone. I no longer knew what reason I had left to keep on living. My daughters hated me, my mate had replaced me, and my body was failing.

On the day of my mentor's cremation, I held her urn close to my chest and traveled back to our abandoned hometown, far away from the werewolf territories.

Returning to the empty, desolate old house where I grew up before the pack took me in, I placed my mentor's urn right alongside those of my parents.

Without a single shred of regret or attachment left, I severed the pack bond I formed after mating with Claus. I knew the price. One more blow and my wolf would be gone. It was the last string connecting me to the werewolves, to Claus.

After I sacrificed my wolf, Claus would never be able to track me down. It was as if I were dead. Losing a wolf is indeed a fate worse than death.

But I was ready to pay this price!

Miles away in the packhouse, Claus's wolf had been restless for a week, but tonight his condition was worse.

Claus woke up in the middle of the night, his wolf roaring at him. “You killed her! You killed my mate. I could still feel her presence, but now it's gone! She is dead.”