Chapter 1

A sharp scream from Lilian Wolfhart cut through the chatter, bringing the entire room to a sudden halt.

Alicia Wolfhart's face turned ashen. Alicia was Lilian's sister, and her mate was Lucas Nightshade, one of the Elders of the Scarlet Flame pack.

With one arm wrapped around the visibly shaken Lilian, she snapped at me, "The Alpha hasn't even spoken yet. What gives a worthless she-wolf like you, who's lost her wolf spirit, the right to interrupt?"

For seven years, Alicia had made no effort to hide her contempt for me, often humiliating me in front of the entire pack.

I had endured it for seven years for Evan Stormhowl's sake, but today, I'd had enough. I wasn't going to put up with it anymore.

Ignoring her, I stared expressionlessly at the stiff-faced Lucas and said, enunciating each word clearly, "If Lilian wants to give birth to Evan's pups, either Evan and I break the mate bond, or there's no way it's happening."

As soon as the words left my mouth, Evan, seated beside me, scowled darkly. "Erin, this is the Scarlet Flame pack, not the Forest Shadow pack. You can't have everything go exactly the way you want it! Now, apologize to Elder Nightshade and Lilian immediately!"

Hearing that, I clenched my fists. My disappointment in Evan was reaching its peak.

When I stayed silent, he spoke again, his voice icy. "You haven't given birth to a single pup yet. That alone is a failure to fulfill your duties as Luna. And now, you're throwing a tantrum at the banquet, humiliating Elder Nightshade and Lilian. You're incorrigible! Get down on your knees!"

I whipped my head around, staring at Evan in disbelief. His profile, illuminated by the firelight, looked exceptionally cold and hard.

The next second, a blatant threat came through our mind-link. "Erin, your father's dead! Ayden Bloodmoon is the Alpha of the Forest Shadow pack now! Ayden—that brother of yours who hates your guts!

"You have no one backing you up anymore, Erin. If you refuse to do as you're told, I don't mind handing you over to him and have him punish you."

Those words felt like an icy dagger, stabbing deep into my heart. I couldn't hold back any longer and swept my arm across the oak table in front of me, sending wine glasses and food crashing to the floor. "Evan, you must be drunk!"

All the werewolves at the banquet collectively held their breath as soon as the words left my mouth.

But I stared straight at Evan. My voice came out hoarse and resolute when I asked him, "Have you forgotten the promise your father made seven years ago, when I joined the Scarlet Flame pack?"

My gaze swept across every werewolf present, and my voice rang through the hall. "I, Erin Bloodmoon of the Forest Shadow pack, kneel only to the Moon Goddess!"

At that moment, Lilian, her eyes red from crying, moved. Ignoring her disheveled state, she refilled a glass of wine, raised it high above her head with both hands, and slowly approached me.

"Honorable Luna, it's a celebratory banquet. Please, don't let me ruin the celebration." Her expression was humble and reverent, her voice choked with tears.

"I don't mean to come between you and the Alpha. I was only thinking of the pack—the Alpha cannot be without pups. What I mean is, even if I do eventually bear his pups one day, you will still be his mate."

Why, listen to that! How considerate she was! How magnanimous! But I wasn't about to believe a word of it anymore.

I watched her performance coldly and refused her once more, clearly and deliberately. "I do not agree."

My gaze, sharp as a knife, landed on the mate ring on her left ring finger. Evan had given it to her. As far as I knew, the two of them had once shared a love that never came to fruition.

In fact, on the very night of my mating ceremony with Evan, Lilian had sworn to the Moon Goddess that she would accept no other wolf as her mate, that she loved only Evan.

And so, she had rejected her fated mate and solemnly put on that mate ring in front of Evan. She'd worn it ever since, for seven years.

I spoke again. "For seven years, you've proven your loyalty to Evan. But that is your choice. I don't care."

I paused, then raised my voice, making sure every word carried clearly to everyone present. "I, Erin Bloodmoon, will never share my mate with another she-wolf. So..."

I glanced coldly at Evan, whose expression had soured, and Lucas, whose face had stiffened further, before finally fixing my gaze on Lilian.

"Ms. Wolfhart, even if you wear that mate ring till the day you die, it means nothing to me."

Those words shattered whatever hope Lilian had left. She let out a short, pitiful wail, then her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed unconscious.

Evan rushed to her at once, gathering her into his arms with an unmistakable look of pain in his eyes. When he looked back at me, the barely suppressed fury in his gaze nearly burned me to ashes.

Alicia slammed her palm on the table and roared, "Luna, you've gone too far! If you hadn't set foot in their relationship seven years ago, the Alpha's mate—the current Luna—would have been Lilian!"

My gaze swept over her dismissively. "Oh? Is that so? Well, have you forgotten why it was me who became Evan's mate seven years ago?"