Chapter 3

Chapter 3

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Eight years later…

“Hey, you mixed-blood, hurry up and clean everything! The warriors will be back soon!”

A sharp voice echoed, immediately startling the young girl who was arranging several medicinal plants she had just gathered from the forest.

“Yes, Miss Cairis,” she replied softly, quickly preparing the large hall with her small hands and remarkable diligence.

“Ugh! Just looking at you makes me want to throw up. I really don’t understand why Moon Seer Hera asked to save you! The smell of your blood is absolutely disgusting!”

Cairis’s voice made Elena fall silent. She did not respond at all. She simply smiled and continued tidying up the beds inside the hall.

However, her pure gaze always looked sorrowful. It was as if she was constantly holding back her tears, accustomed to being insulted.

Pack Blackthorn was currently repelling monsters that emerged from the Underworld Abyss Realm.

For more than eighty years, the great seal that was once created directly by the Moon Goddess had weakened once every year, allowing underworld monsters to occasionally break free into this world.

Therefore, before the full moon began, Pack Blackthorn would stand guard in front of the great seal and fight those mindless monsters.

That was why a large hall had been prepared to welcome all the warriors who were injured by those creatures.

Elena’s task was to prepare the entire place and ensure everything was clean. She saw several healers already waiting inside, all of them looking at her with expressions full of disgust.

Elena smiled bitterly. Even though her hands trembled, she was a mixed-blood, half werewolf and half human, considered impure blood and a disgrace within this Pack.

Elena had grown into a very beautiful girl. Her hair was golden, her round eyes a soft green, and her pale skin stood in sharp contrast to her golden hair. Yet no one dared approach her. She was seen as a tainted creature.

Loud noises echoed.

Elena’s eyes widened as she quickly took her position. The warriors led by Alpha Caelan Blackthorn had returned, and this year there were more injured than before.

“Ah!”

Countless screams filled the hall as the healers immediately began chanting spells. Blue circular lights appeared as they attempted to heal the injured wolf warriors.

The Wolf race was indeed strong, possessing rapid self-healing abilities. However, if their wounds were contaminated by underworld monster blood, they would never heal, and unbearable pain would follow.

Thus, the healers’ task was to separate the monster blood from the wolves’ bodies and seal it inside glass containers reinforced with spells.

“The Umbreals are far larger and more lethal this year. They seem to be mutating,” said Alpha Caelan Blackthorn, the current leader of the Blackthorn Pack.

He had rightfully succeeded his father. After the rebellion eight years ago, Caelan had grown obsessed with strength and was now one of the strongest Alphas.

He reported to a representative of the High Kingdom of Lupus so it could be delivered directly to their King.

“Understood. I will report this to His Majesty immediately,” the man replied before leaving Alpha Caelan, who then entered the healing hall to oversee his injured pack members.

He was a firm and responsible Alpha, making sure all his warriors received proper treatment.

At that moment, his gaze fell upon a fragile-looking girl in worn clothes who was lifting a box filled with Umbreal blood. Her golden hair made her stand out effortlessly.

“Hk!” Alpha Caelan felt a sharp pain in his chest every time he saw Elena, the mixed-blood girl.

He hated this feeling.

For a fleeting moment, a memory surfaced—

a small girl smiling brightly, running after him in the fields.

His jaw tightened.

That girl no longer existed.

Since the rebellion eight years ago, Alpha Caelan had cast aside all promises he once made to Elena.

He despised half-human, believing them to be descendants of demons.

“Alpha Caelan, tonight is the full moon. According to the prophecy delivered by the High Priest, you must choose your Luna tonight,” said his Beta, Elias Frostclaw.

“At a time when my pack is injured like this… yet I cannot delay it if the High Priest has already determined the time,”

Alpha Caelan replied coldly, still unable to pull his gaze away from Elena, who was carrying the heavy box of Umbreal blood while following the healers to the next wounded wolf.

“You are already 25 years old. Among all the Pack leaders, only you have yet to take a Luna,” Elias responded with a faint smile, following Alpha Caelan’s lingering gaze toward Elena.

“Hm!” Alpha Caelan gave no further response and handed the supervision over to the healers in the hall.

Without another glance, he turned and left the hall.

“Elena, let me help you.”

Meanwhile, Beta Elias Frostclaw followed Elena as she walked toward the back of the building. Elena was heading to the Black Forest as usual to bury the sealed Umbreal blood so it would not contaminate nature.

“Sir Elias…” Elena stopped for a moment, then smiled gently. In the entire Pack, Elias Frostclaw was the only one who treated her kindly.

“Thank you for wanting to help me, but I don’t want to trouble you. This blood is extremely dangerous…”

Her response made Elias let out a long sigh.

He knew very well—

that even standing too close to her could invite whispers… and suspicion from the Pack.

But he still stepped forward anyway.

“At least let me walk with you.”

He already knew she would refuse, yet he still insisted—at the very least, he wanted to accompany her into the Black Forest.

Feeling uneasy about refusing again, Elena finally accepted his offer.

However, before they could leave together, the Head Healer called Elias Frostclaw back regarding several findings about the wounds they had just treated.

“Hmm, Elena, wait for me for a moment. I’ll handle this quickly,” Elias said as he stepped back into the building.

Elena smiled without saying anything. She knew she was nothing more than a filthy creature, unworthy of comfortably accepting Elias’s kindness.

That was why she continued on alone. She was already used to entering the forbidden Black Forest, so it was nothing unusual for her.

As Elena walked by herself, she passed several female wolves carrying their children home. In every Pack, all wolf descendants were required to attend school and receive education according to the Pack they belonged to.

Pack Blackthorn, being the strongest military Pack of the kingdom, required all its descendants to be trained in warfare and the extermination of Umbreals.

Seeing Elena carrying Umbreal blood, the women immediately pulled their curious children away from her.

“Mother, who is she? Her hair is so beautiful!” one child exclaimed, pointing at Elena.

Hearing that, Elena’s eyes sparkled.

No one had ever said her hair was beautiful before.

For a brief second—

she almost smiled like a normal girl her age.

“Don’t talk to her. She’s a curse bearer!” the mother whispered, causing Elena to freeze. The words pierced her painfully.

Still, she never cried in front of anyone. She kept smiling as if her heart was not breaking.

“Wow, look at this pretty sister. Her hair is so beautiful…”

But the other children ran toward Elena instead. They were still young wolves and difficult for their parents to control.

This infuriated their mothers when one child’s hand grabbed Elena’s hand.

Swack!

One of the women lunged forward, almost tearing Elena apart with her partially transformed claws.

She stopped herself just in time—

remembering that harming Elena would bring serious consequences.

Instead, she shoved Elena away forcefully.

The impact sent Elena’s frail body crashing hard against the ground, the breath knocked out of her chest-

causing drops of Umbreal blood to spill onto her arm.

“Hk!”

It hurts… ah!.

Elena felt excruciating pain, as if her arm were being burned alive—

as if something inside her flesh was being eaten away, rejecting the blood yet unable to escape it.

But she did not scream.

Her skin sizzled faintly, thin wisps of smoke rising from the contact.

A strange golden shimmer flickered for a split second beneath her skin—then vanished.

She clamped her hand over her mouth and cried silently. The women had already left, taking their children with them.

Elena was left lying on the ground, enduring unbearable pain.

“Uhk!”

“It hurts…”

She cried miserably, but there was no time to indulge in the pain. Even though her arm blistered and turned black, she still lifted the box and entered the forest.

She walked with her head lowered deeply, hiding her tears so no one would see her cry.

Her vision blurred, but she refused to stop.

Because stopping meant feeling—

and feeling meant breaking.

Once she entered the Black Forest, the physical and emotional pain finally overwhelmed her, and Elena began to cry loudly.

“Hic… hic… hic…”

“If I’m truly a filthy creature, why was I born? My heart hurts too…”

“I didn’t choose this…”

Her voice trembled, raw and broken.

She swallowed all her pain and hurried to bury the box before returning.

Tonight was the selection of Alpha Caelan’s Luna, and she still had to wash the cloths stained with Umbreal blood.

There was so much she had to do. As a servant of this Pack, Elena was accustomed to performing harsh labor with her small hands.

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