Chapter 1

The ceremony came to an abrupt halt.

At least Stellan Caldwell wasn't foolish enough to openly sever our mate bond during a memorial ceremony. He even took the initiative to offer me a ride back to the den, all in the name of preserving an Alpha's dignity.

Once on the sleigh, I tactfully shifted toward the far end of the compartment, where thick pelts were laid. I deliberately put some distance between myself and Stellan.

The sound of the runners crunching over ice and snow grated harshly on my ears.

Stellan's movements stilled for a brief moment as he asked, "What?"

I immediately understood what he meant. This was our tacit understanding forged over ten years of going through countless moments of life and death together.

My voice was icy and calm as I replied, "We agreed on it during the mate-bonding ceremony. I won't have any delusions about taking Nigella's place."

Ten years ago, Nigella Starveil had been the fated mate of Stellan, the Alpha of the Nocturne pack. However, she rejected him and fled the pack.

The Greenwood pack rushed to retrieve me from a small subordinate pack on the borderlands. In haste, they announced my identity to the entire Northern Territories. They told everyone I was Nigella's long-lost elder sister who had just returned.

To Stellan, what the Nocturne pack needed was a Luna who carried the bloodline of the Greenwood pack's Alpha to stabilize their alliance. Who that she-wolf was didn't really matter.

On our mate-bonding night, Stellan shifted into a massive black wolf and howled at the full moon all night long.

It was the lament of one who had lost his fated mate. Each of his howls was a blatant insult to me, his new mate.

In the ten years that passed, Nigella wandered the world beyond the Northern Territories. I negotiated with neighboring packs on Stellan's behalf to stabilize his rule.

While Nigella admired endless flower fields in the warm southern lands, I had my abdomen torn open by claws while helping Stellan suppress rebellious packs of rogue wolves.

Nigella tasted the freedom she had always wanted. In contrast, I was caught in the power struggle between Stellan and his uncle, Hadrian Caldwell.

I lost my first pup, and then my second. I once had an assassin press a bone blade dipped with liquid silver against my throat.

Nigella had lived freely for ten whole years. Then, she came back and demanded that I give up the position of Luna without a shred of shame.

Did she think she could reap the fruits of victory without lifting a finger every single time? What right did she have to do that?

After hearing my words, Stellan's lips moved slightly as he spoke up. "Judith, actually, we—"

Before he could finish, an urgent voice intruded into his mind through the mind-link.

Stellan's back instantly straightened and tensed.

"Stellan, I heard from the elders that you still don't have a single healthy pup." Nigella's voice rang out directly inside his head.

She could hardly contain her shyness and excitement as she went on, "Is it because you've been waiting for me?"

The subject of pups had always been taboo for me. It left an open wound in my chest that would never heal.

At 25, I became pregnant for the first time. Hadrian's mother, Constance Wilde, had been the Luna of the Nocturne pack back then. She tricked me into drinking a potion laced with wolfsbane, which caused a miscarriage.

At 28, I conceived again. I hid my pregnancy carefully until the sixth month, only to be poisoned with slow-acting silver. The pup died in my womb.

That day, my wails echoed through the entire valley. Stellan had held me tightly as he pressed his forehead against mine. Through tears, he swore he would never let me suffer again.

He did keep that promise.

Within three years, he exiled Hadrian's entire family and seized absolute control over the Nocturne pack. He became the most powerful Alpha in the entirety of the Northern Territories.

When I was 32 years old, Stellan celebrated my birthday for the first time. During the banquet, he uttered a few polite words as thanks to me, his Luna, for everything I had done over the years in front of the Alphas of every pack.

Less than a week after that banquet, Nigella returned. Smelling an opportunity to take my place, she swooped down like a vulture drawn to the scent of decaying flesh.

Upon seeing all the color drain from my face, Stellan forcefully cut off the mind-link. A flicker of panic appeared on his face.

He quickly explained, "Judith, Nigella doesn't know what happened over the past ten years. Don't take it to heart. She's been sheltered too well, so she speaks without thinking sometimes…"

"That's enough," I cut him off impatiently. "Why does the cold and ruthless Alpha King of the North suddenly have so much to say when it comes to Nigella? Look at you speaking up on her behalf now."

Stellan frowned and yanked the reins abruptly. The sleigh screeched to a halt at the edge of the forest.

He murmured, "Judith, do you still resent me for that?"