Chapter 3

"Oh dear! It slipped…" Kelly, panicked and flustered, threw herself into Elio’s arms, sobbing loudly.

"I'm sorry, Elio. Those Rogues were so scary, I couldn't hold it steady…"

Elio's brow furrowed deeply, but he didn't reprimand her at all. Instead, he wiped away Kelly's tears, his face full of concern.

"It's okay. If it broke, then it's broken. Sofia, don't look at Kelly with that resentful gaze. She didn't mean to. You're the Luna. Don't you even have that much tolerance?"

A suffocating despair wrapped around me at those words. A broken, rasping sound came from my throat, and I didn't even have the strength left to argue.

Soon, as more and more Rogue wolves appeared, the guards fell one after the other.

Elio's gaze suddenly locked onto my neck. Hanging there was a necklace emitting a faint white glow.

That was the only keepsake my mother left me before she died—a moonstone imbued with the power of absolute protection. It could block any attack from a wolf.

"Elio, no! That was something my mother left for me!" I shouted, trying desperately to hold onto the last memory of my mother.

But Elio raised his foot and stomped hard on my already broken ribs.

I screamed in agony, and cold sweat soaked through my body in an instant.

He looked down at me from above, his voice cruel as he spoke.

"Sofia, the wolfsbane has already spread to your heart. Even if I took you back, the healers probably couldn't save you.

"Since you're going to die anyway, hand over the moonstone!"

Elio grabbed my collar and lifted me halfway off the ground. "Kelly is pure! Not only can she bear me an heir, but she can also help hold things together behind the scenes. By protecting her with your relic, I'm helping you earn honor even after death!"

He actually had the nerve to dress up his selfish act of stealing my life as some lofty gift!

"No… Please…" I begged hopelessly, clutching the necklace for dear life.

A crack rang out. Elio mercilessly snapped each of my fingers one by one, then yanked sharply with one hand.

The sharp chain instantly cut into my neck, causing blood to gush out. The metal locket with my mother's picture fell into the mud, while Elio tightly clutched the moonstone in his hand.

"Oh my! What's this piece of junk?"

Kelly acted scared and stepped back, but her heel landed on the pendant. She then ground down forcefully.

With a sharp crack, my mother's photo disappeared into the mud and blood.

"My necklace! Mom…"

My eyes burned with rage as I struggled to crawl forward and grab the locket.

Elio pulled Kelly into his arms. He glanced at the locket on the ground with utter disgust and said, "Don't touch that trash, Kelly. Be careful. You might cut your foot."

The Rogues' growling was beginning to sound dangerously close.

Elio turned his head, looking at me writhing on the ground in pain, and commanded coldly, "Sofia, as your Alpha, I command you to stay where you are. Hold them off with your body!"