Chapter 3

The Moon Goddess Blessing Ceremony was held once a year—an event symbolizing the highest recognition of mate bonds, bloodline continuation, and spiritual contracts in the werewolf world.

On this day, all Alpha nobles were required to bring their spouses or chosen mates to swear loyalty and union before the Temple of the Moon and receive the tribe’s approval.

I stood at the foot of the stone steps, looking up at the altar draped in nightglow vines, my heart soaking in ice.

I had arrived an hour early. As one of the nominal assistants from the Silver Fang Pack, I was tasked with handing over the sacred offering for the ritual—an ancient pair of bone seal rings left by a former Alpha couple, representing eternal union and soul bonds.

The irony wasn’t lost on me—I was the one delivering them in a place like this.

I planned to leave immediately, but as I passed the side hall, familiar voices drifted through a wooden lattice screen from the resting chamber beside the temple.

It was Alpha Nathan—

Along with his self-proclaimed “brothers”—those Alpha socialites who once praised my midnight meals with “Better than my mother’s,” now laughing like hunters circling prey.

“Finally, Nathan, this time you brought Liora—guess you finally ditched that secretary who blended into the background.”

“Ella?” another one chuckled. “She’s just an emotional stabilizer. A placeholder at best. No one really took her seriously.”

“She’s infertile, right? I heard she failed four IVF rounds? Makes me cringe just thinking about it.”

I instinctively held my breath. Then came Nathan’s voice—steady, detached, like reciting an annual report.

“The pregnancy was an accident. I never intended to have that child.”

A stunned silence.

“Later, I gave her contraceptives. She thought it was for her health—I watched her take them every night. The harder she tried, the more absurd it all felt.”

A strong smell of blood rose from my throat, my stomach churned, and my eyes seemed to sink into boundless darkness. My legs felt weak, unable to support me even to stand.

He continued, “She was a transitional figure. My father liked her for being ‘pure and clean.’ I didn’t have a choice back then. But I can’t let a she-wolf without bloodline value carry on my Alpha legacy.”

That sealed it.

“Damn, you're cold,” someone whistled.

“Liora is everything I want,” he said with a laugh. “She has the family, the status, the cunning—I love that in a Luna.”

I couldn’t listen anymore. I turned and staggered away.

My footsteps echoed against the stone floor as I held a hand over my mouth, forcing myself not to break. The altar walls were part of the Moon Goddess's emotional projection field—any loss of control could be magnified for all to see. I couldn’t fall apart here.

Just then, my communication stone buzzed.

[Alpha Nathan: Where are you? I need you on stage. Don’t mess this up.]

I stared at the message, lips curling into a slow, cold smile.

He still thought I was some well-trained pet wolf—obedient, prompt, ready to perform.

I whispered into the direct line of the Silver Voice Tower, “Send me my moon-stitched ceremonial robe and the bone-seal document. Now.”

The ceremony began.

One by one, the Alphas stepped onto the moon altar, presenting their mates to the priestess and tribal elders, declaring their commitment and earning public recognition.

When Alpha Nathan’s turn came, all eyes turned.

He led Liora forward slowly. She wore a silver veil, feigning fragility like a saint. She walked carefully, afraid of drawing too much attention—yet desperate not to be overlooked.

As he handed over the “union seal,” I stepped onto the altar stairs, clad in an obsidian ceremonial robe that wrapped around my figure like frost. A pair of dragon bone earrings dangled from my ears—symbols of private oaths not yet made public.

The press erupted. Whispers surged through the crowd.

“Mr. Nathan!” a reporter called out. “Wasn’t Ella your bonded partner? There were rumors you completed a private marking ceremony—is that true?”

Liora’s expression shifted instantly. She clutched Nathan’s arm, visibly tense. He opened his mouth to respond—but I beat him to it.

“I’ll answer that.”

My voice was clear, calm—yet sharp as a blade slicing through air.

“There was never any formal oath between Alpha Nathan and me. No soul link, no blood-pairing contract, none of the rites required between an Alpha and his Luna.”

Gasps rippled through the audience.

“I was never his Luna—just an old role, summoned when convenient to ‘play along.’”

The officiant looked stunned, ready to smooth things over, but I reached into my robe and withdrew a glowing bone scroll, raising it for all to see.

“This is the Goddess Contract Archive, verified by the Bone Seal Tower—it affirms that no contract ever existed between Alpha Nathan and me.”

Liora turned pale as snow.

“In fact,” I said, sweeping my gaze across the crowd, “I have already formed a blood vow with another Alpha. Our marking ceremony will take place on the next moonrise.”

An uproar shook the gathering.

“Are you talking about… the Alpha from Silver Claw?” someone called out.

I slowly raised a hand, removed the dragon bone earring from my ear, and tossed it into the sacred flame basin at the altar—an act symbolizing the dissolution of a former vow.

The hook hit the fire, igniting a flash of silver-white flames—like everything in my heart that had already turned to ash.

Alpha Nathan stared at me as though witnessing a reversal he never saw coming.

I gave him a final, cool glance, then turned and walked away.

Before everyone.

Without a trace of regret.