Chapter 2

I pushed up my sleeve, showing the silver scars on my arm, burned there by moon energy. Each one was a mark of my humiliation.

My voice shook. "Ethan, these scars on my forearm... Sophia got the betas to deliberately set off a moon energy crystal while I was mixing moonlight potions. I got blown up! I almost lost my hand!"

"Last week, she suggested a moonlit hunt. But she put poisonous herbs on my arrows. I was almost torn apart by wild beasts. Do you even know what it feels like to almost die?"

"The day before yesterday, she…"

The cave was dead silent, except for my ragged breathing.

Ethan's golden wolf eyes were dark, unreadable. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, and it sent a chill down my spine.

Sophia and the others stood there with their arms crossed, smirking at me like they were watching a good show, sure I couldn't do a thing.

I kept talking, telling him about how the moonlight alchemy circle went out of control just now, my voice getting quieter and quieter.

Finally, exhausted, I used my last bit of strength. "Ethan, I don't want to go through this damn trial anymore."

"If you still believe in our bond, the mating ceremony will happen as planned." I still had a sliver of hope.

"If you don't, then we…"

Before I could finish, Sophia cut me off. She actually knocked over the Moon Goddess sacred water I'd just finished making! That was my grandma's recipe!

Sophia pulled back her wolf paw, her voice dripping with challenge.

"Bitch!"

"How dare you try to come between me and Ethan after all these years, and try to break up our pack's unity!"

I wiped the sacred water off my cheek. It stung like crazy, but that pain was nothing compared to the ache in my heart. I looked at Ethan, waiting to see what he'd do.

My heart sank like a stone into an icy pit. It was so cold I could barely breathe.

Before, if I even got a tiny cut on my finger, Ethan would be so worried. He'd put my finger in his mouth, licking it gently with his warm tongue for ages. His tenderness back then made me melt.

But now, he just rubbed his temples and sighed. "Aria, you're going to be the Luna of my pack. How can you not handle a little trial like this?"

He didn't even try to stand up for me. Instead, he told the betas to go to the bonfire party by the Moon Spring, leaving me alone in this cold, humiliating place.

Before he left, he dropped a line, like a final judgment.

"Your lone wolf status and my pure pack bloodline are worlds apart. If you don't humble yourself, how will you ever fit into my pack?"

Ethan's attitude decided my place in the pack: a plaything they could walk all over.

Me, a lone wolf. I used to be under his fierce protection, and no one in the pack dared to disrespect me even a little.

Now that he treated me like dirt, the betas' teasing got cruder and bolder, full of nasty suggestions.

"Look at her, all messed up by the moon energy. Imagine what she's like under the Alpha, must be quite a ride."

"Of course! Why else would our young master be obsessed with her for seven whole months? A lone wolf's body must taste different…"

My claws dug deep into my palms, drawing blood. I wanted to turn and run from this hell.

But when I heard someone say, "Like father, like son. Aria's family, those scum, they were definitely cowards in the vampire wars. They deserved to die!" something inside me snapped.

When I came to my senses, I'd already slapped the beta who said it right across the face, so hard he screamed and couldn't see for a moment.

Growing up under my grandma's protection was tough. I learned early on to suck it up and swallow all my pain.

But my grandma, she was the greatest Moon Goddess Priestess of the Silver Wolves. In the holy war against the vampires, she sacrificed herself, using her own soul to protect countless pack members.

My parents, too, died defending the Moon Goddess's sacred land from the vampires' final, desperate attack. Their blood stained the Moon Goddess altar.

For the peace of the entire wolf kind, they're forever etched in my memory, a sacred monument in my heart.

I will not let anyone tarnish their honorable names! Not a single word!

I don't know how long it was before Ethan, who must have heard the commotion, rushed back and pulled me and those betas apart. He was so strong I couldn't break free.

We were all hurt. Every time I moved, my wounds burned like fire.

The moon energy in my chest was churning, and every breath was a dull, tearing pain.

"Enough!"

Ethan's golden eyes blazed with anger. His Alpha aura crashed down on me like a tidal wave, almost suffocating me.

My throat choked up, tears blurring my vision until he looked distorted.

"Ethan, they insulted my ancestors! I want them to apologize!" I screamed, my voice desperate, pleading.

I admit, in that moment, I laid all my helplessness and weakness bare, hoping that Ethan, with all his power, would stand up for me, just once.

Clear my family's name, give my parents back their dignity.

But he said, "Aria, as the future Luna, how can you act like a shrew and misuse the Moon Goddess's power to hurt wolves?"

"If word of this gets to the Elders' Council, they'll question your bloodline purity again." All he cared about was his pack, his status.

It was like having a bucket of ice water dumped over my head in the dead of winter. The cold seeped into my bones, freezing my last hope.

I stared blankly into Ethan's golden wolf eyes, trying to find a trace of the warmth that used to be there.

The deep affection and passion from before? Gone. Not a single trace left.

Only a cold, judgmental look, like he was looking down on me.

Fine then.

A mate like that? I don't want him.

I looked at Sophia and let out a weak, bitter laugh, full of self-mockery.

"You win. The trial's off. The mating ceremony… that's off too." Saying those words felt like my soul was being ripped out.

Ethan's face changed instantly. He grabbed my wrist, so hard it felt like he was going to crush my bones.

"Aria, I forbid you to joke about canceling the mating ceremony!" he growled, his eyes filled with hurt and anger.

Sophia and the others let out scornful wolf howls, thrilled with their victory.

"Aria, stop trying to threaten Ethan like that."

"You have no parents, and the only things your family left you are some old, broken Moon Goddess artifacts. Without our young master, you're nothing!"

"If you leave Ethan, where are you going to find such a strong Alpha to lean on? What other wolf would want a lone wolf like you?"

Ethan's tense expression softened a bit. He licked my forehead, like he used to. The touch that once made my heart flutter now just made me sick. He whispered:

"The mating ceremony is the day after tomorrow. Grandfather is coming all the way back from the North. He's bringing a wedding gift, our pack's heirloom Moon Soulstone necklace."

"Go back to your cave and rest for now. When the Moon Soulstone arrives this afternoon, try it on. It'll make you even more beautiful." He tried to sound gentle, but there was an undeniable command in his voice.

My heart was dead. I had no energy to argue, and I didn't want to see his hypocritical face anymore.

I just shook off his hand and, with all my strength, turned and ran back to my little alchemy cave, like a wounded lone wolf.

Behind me, I could faintly hear Ethan's beta friends talking. Every word was like a whip lashing my back.

"That lone wolf is testing you. Ignore her. The more you humor her, the more she'll walk all over you."

"She won't actually leave. You're the future Alpha King! Being manipulated by a woman with impure blood? What kind of talk is that?"

I forced a smile, a bitter taste in my mouth. My heart was bleeding.

Every wolf thought that me, a lone wolf, snagging a noble Alpha like Ethan was the luckiest thing ever, a blessing I'd earned over lifetimes.

That I'd never leave him.

They were all wrong.

I had already secretly contacted a distant friend my grandma once mentioned. My hand trembled as I activated the communication link.

"Elder, I've thought it through. That advanced study in the Northern Moon Mystic Realm you mentioned? I'll go."

An old, happy voice came from the other end.

"Wonderful, wonderful! Aria, you're the most gifted Silver Wolf descendant in Moon Goddess alchemy I've ever seen! Those hands of yours, they were born to pray to the Moon Goddess!"

"Study hard in the North. Become a great Moon Goddess Alchemy Master one day, and bring back the glory of your Silver Wolf clan!"