3

I couldn't believe it. How could there be such a coincidence?

In my past life, my wolf had been writhing in agony from the stone's rejection. I couldn't even open my mouth to explain before Katherine claimed my enhancement moon stone as her own creation.

Even Ethan, the pack's Beta and my mate, stood up to testify. He said he had seen Katherine using her wolf fangs to craft the Beta enhancement stone.

There he was, my own mate, standing beside Katherine, glaring at me with hostility.

I couldn't speak, but I used all my strength to shake my head, trying to convey that I hadn't stolen Katherine's stone.

Ethan said if I just admitted to the theft, he would heal my wolf.

But I stubbornly shook my head.

The onlookers pointed and cursed at me. "How shameless! All the evidence is there, and she still won't admit it!"

"So much for being a prodigy! More like a prodigy thief, only capable of stealing others' stones!"

"According to pack law, stealing an enhancement stone means exile. Throw Emma out! She's a disgrace to our pack!"

Tears streaming down my face, my fingers trembling, I opened my wolf mouth, trying to show everyone my bloody gums.

I had seven fresh, bloody holes in my gum line. Even a wolf's powerful healing ability couldn't immediately regrow fangs - our most precious weapons. This was proof that I had extracted my own fangs to craft the stone.

But Katherine moved quickly. She shoved me aside, blocking me from view. She eagerly showed her own gum line with its holes, crying out:

"I use my wolf fangs every day to craft stones. I finally managed to create a Beta enhancement stone after so much effort. Emma, I know you're talented, and I've always been mediocre, but you can't just steal the stone I poured my heart and soul into..."

She angrily confronted me, her entire body radiating Alpha energy.

Under the influence of the moon stone I had crafted, her Alpha aura was so potent that the entire pack knelt in submission.

Everyone present was furious on behalf of the new Alpha, calling me a jealous schemer who couldn't stand to see others succeed.

Katherine declared that my sin was too great, that I was a disgrace to the entire pack. As the new Alpha, she had a duty to prevent such moon stone theft from ever happening again.

She then ordered the surrounding werewolves to attack me, even leading them in using silver-tipped torches to burn my wolf.

Blood poured from my wounds instantly, the silver-induced injuries weakening my wolf further, preventing any healing.

"Emma, you're a sinner against the pack," Katherine proclaimed. "Only the purest silver fire can burn away your evil. Only then can the pack accept you again."

She commanded other pack members to trap me on the ritual platform, burning me with silver for three days and three nights. My wolf was scorched, finally reduced to ashes.

Meanwhile, my mate Ethan was cavorting with his stepsister, holding their mating ceremony right in front of me.

As I lay dying in unbearable agony, my mate stayed by Katherine's side, watching her don the Alpha's ceremonial furs and accept everyone's blessings.

She had defeated my wolf through underhanded means and become the pack's shining star.

My agonized howls filled the entire pack territory as I struggled in the silver fire.

Remembering this, tears streamed down my face.

If it was just about a sensitivity enhancement stone, I didn't want it anymore.

My eyes darkened as I reached into my clothes.

Once again, I threw the newly crafted enhancement stone into silver powder, destroying it.

After ruining the stone, I returned home, my gaze calm.

I sat at home, thinking hard for several hours before deciding to use the most primitive method.

This method was favored by our pack's ancestors when they first started crafting stones, but it had fallen out of use as stone crafting research advanced.

I discarded all the recipes and directly selected dozens of minerals - some to enhance speed, some for strength, some for healing ability - and threw them all into the furnace to start crafting.

With dozens of randomly selected minerals, each with a different function, even I didn't know what effect the final stone would have.

Surely this stone wouldn't be the same as Katherine's, right?

Or rather, surely this stone wouldn't end up bonding with Katherine instead of me?

I waited anxiously for several days. Finally, the flames in the furnace gradually died down, leaving only a residue behind.

I carefully opened the forge. The stone I had crafted this way was something I couldn't even name.

The stone was dull and gray, not at all attractive, but it had a fatal attraction for my wolf, Zoe. Zoe howled inside me, saying this was a unique stone that belonged only to her.

I carefully put the stone away, keeping it close to my body at all times to prevent anyone from seeing it. Its effect seemed even better than the Beta enhancement stone or the sensitivity enhancement stone.

Tomorrow was the day of the Alpha selection. This time, I was even more cautious. Before competing with Katherine, I decided to experiment first.

I found a stray dog and fed it a bit of my blood so it could temporarily become a substitute for my wolf. This way, I could test the stone's effect without risking myself. I chipped off a small piece of the newly crafted stone and let it merge with the dog.

After merging with the stone, the improvement in the dog was very noticeable. It grew larger, with a more robust skeleton, and its speed and strength clearly increased.

Just as I was breathing a sigh of relief and preparing to put away the rest of the stone, the stray dog suddenly lost control, vomiting blood. I felt cold all over, and this dog's symptoms were exactly the same as in my previous life.

It was clearly suffering from the stone's rejection, and finally died, weak and frail.

The fusion had failed again. The stone still rejected my blood, preventing the dog from absorbing its power.

Could it be that this newly forged stone, like in my past life, would still end up serving Katherine?

Was it my destiny, Emma's fate, to be falsely accused of theft and thrown into the pack's ritual fire?

Even though everything had changed from my past life, I still couldn't escape this destiny!

Where had I gone wrong?