Chapter 1

On a stormy night, I stood at the center of the stone circle and removed the bone ring embedded with a shard of moonlight, placing it into the crack of the ancestral altar.

“I will follow the arrangement,” I said, my voice flickering like a lantern in the wind. “From this day forward, I voluntarily remove myself from Alpha Nathan’s sight and accept the task of completing the bond with Silver Claw’s heir.”

An uproar spread through the crowd.

In that moment, the mountain mist rolled, and wolves howled beyond the western ridge—like ancient souls mourning this transaction.

My father, Vince, slowly rose from the wolf-head stone throne, the mark on his temple faintly glowing with anger.

“Do you even understand what you're saying?” His golden eyes widened as if they could pierce through me. “You want to replace Liora and bond with a cripple?”

“Yes.” I spoke clearly and firmly, meeting his gaze. “This is your choice. I’m merely surrendering early.”

He tried to speak, his throat tightening on unsaid words. My mother, Jane, sat silently beside him, eyes lowered, as though the ceremony had nothing to do with her.

Liora is the daughter that Vince and Jane raised for many years, yet even at this point, I, their biological daughter, still don’t receive love or protection.

I knew they didn’t want Liora to bear this fate. And I wasn’t born to be loved. I was born to fill any vacant space in their schemes.

Five years ago, I was still one of Nathan’s attendants.

At first, I was simply tasked with caring for him during nights of wound recovery. Back then, I had no idea we bore the same soul mark—that at the age of eighteen, during the coming-of-age ritual, when our eyes met for the first time, my heart paused. A phenomenon only the Moon Goddess’s chosen mates would experience.

But he turned away and embraced another name: Liora.

I buried everything deep within me and stayed by his side as a “training assistant,” hoping—perhaps one day—he would wake up. But all I received in the end was abandonment.

Three months ago, on a patrol night, I was scouting the eastern ridge alone when I was ambushed in the hunting valley by a strange wolf pack.

They wielded ropes and arrowheads, trapping me in the mountains. The silver-tipped needles didn’t pierce bone, but they injected something into my neck—burning venom that severed my link to my wolf form. They said nothing, only kept activating a communication stone over and over—clearly with a target.

One of them amplified the audio.

“The one you’re looking for is on a date with me tonight, Alpha. He won’t be available.”

That voice—soft, sweet, familiar.

Liora.

I didn't lose consciousness, but I wish this cold venom could make me lose my hearing. I don't want to hear her laughter. My eyes closed from exhaustion.

By the time I was found, part of my hearing was gone. The pack healer said I kept repeating the same sentence in a semi-conscious state:

“Did he know I was taken?”

But Alpha Nathan never came.

Three days later, the engagement notice flooded the entire territory:

[Winsor and the Silver Fang Pack will complete their union on the Night of the Moon Mark. Liora is confirmed as the official Luna candidate.]

Not a single word mentioned me，as if I had never existed.

So today, I came to exchange fate.

Not for him. Not for the pack.

But for myself.

When I arrived at the northern stronghold of the Silver Fang Pack, the rain had just stopped.

It used to be the secluded healing home of the former Alpha. Now it served as the resting quarters for the heir—so quiet even the wind circled around it.

I pushed open the door. Inside, only a dim wall lamp was lit. Two sets of tableware and a bouquet of blue bell thorn flowers sealed in an icy crystal vase rested neatly on the wooden table.

Alpha Nathan was back.

He wore simple clothes, still damp with rain, his calm demeanor untouched by emotion. He looked surprised to see me but quickly regained composure.

“You arrived earlier than expected,” he said. “I thought… tonight, no one would disturb me.”

I didn’t respond. I simply sat down, my gaze landing on the bouquet of blue bell thorn flowers; he knew those were Liora’s favorite. But they were also the same flowers I had once planted on the southern slope, long ago passed into her hands.

“You’re not meant to touch those,” he said suddenly, stopping my hand. His fingers brushed the back of mine, and in that moment, I saw a fleeting emotion in his eyes—not love, but a habitual rejection.

I pulled my hand back, voice steady: “I’m not here to fight for anything. I’m just here to fulfill the agreement.”

He stayed silent for a long time, then picked up the pen and signed his name hastily on the last page of the bone oath scroll—as if unwilling to waste another second.

“That’s that,” he said, turning to leave without hesitation.

I stared at the paper—as if staring at a once-secret, bitter, hidden relationship, finally settled into dust.

When I photographed and sent the document, my phone soon buzzed softly.

[Now that you’ve severed the bond, on the next full moon, I will come for my Luna. — Alpha of Silver Claw Pack]