Chapter 5

Moonlight began to pierce the clouds, gathering toward this altar of revenge.

"Nineteenth day of the spring storms.

"My little moonbeam, I don't think I can hold on much longer.

"Lilith has been using the witch's charm to suppress me for a whole month.

"My wolf inside is dying.

"The first night I wore the collar, Lilith handed me over to the lowest slaves in the pack."

My voice mimicked my sister's sweet tone. "'Have fun with your new toy,' she'd purred. 'She's less than an Omega now. Do what you will.'

"She dangled the key in front of my face. 'Admit you used witchcraft to bewitch Kaelan, admit you're a liar, and I'll let you go.'

"I refused to yield."

"Their filthy hands tore at my clothes. I tried to fight back, but the charm kept my wolf chained.

"I could only let them… have their way with me.

"When I vomited from the pain and disgust, they just laughed.

"'Look at the noble jinx now!'"

My voice faltered. The clearing was silent. Kaelan's fists were clenched so tight his veins bulged.

"The next day, Kaelan saw the state I was in.

"I thought he would feel pity, that he would avenge me.

"But he just frowned in disgust and ordered me to my knees.

"'Selene, the sight of you makes me sick. As punishment, you will not stand up tonight.'

"I knelt for the entire night, until my knees were a bloody mess.

"Little moonbeam, I'm going mad.

"If only you were real, you could at least give me a hug."

"Twenty-first day of the spring storms.

"Lilith had a new plan.

"She sent me to Gareth, the Alpha of the Ironclaw pack.

"'This is my sister,'" Lilith's false voice echoed from the recording. "'She wants to contribute to the peace between our two packs.'

"Gareth was a brutal Alpha. More than that, he was a sadist."

My voice began to break. "Every night, I prayed to the Moon Goddess to let me die.

"But the charm prevented me from taking my own life. I could only endure the endless humiliation.

"A month later, Kaelan suddenly stormed the Ironclaw camp.

"He saw me on my knees at Gareth's feet, clad only in rags.

"That night, my Alpha fell into a bloodthirsty rage.

"He dragged me, naked, through the entire castle, interrogating every male who might have touched me.

"Blood stained the stone steps. Screams echoed through the halls.

"My throat was too raw to scream. I could only watch in silence as he slaughtered them.

"Something warm dripped onto my face. It took me a moment to realize it was a tear. His tear.

"He held me and roared, 'I hate you, Selene! I hate you for making me this way!'"

"I thought he would save me, take me back. I tried with all my might to call his name.

"But his eyes held only fury and disgust.

"His rage wasn't for my suffering. It was for the stain on his honor."

Kaelan couldn't control the shaking in his body. He remembered that night, how he had held my blood-streaked wrist, silent for a long, long time.

Then he had pushed me onto a stone table and taken me in the most primitive, savage way.

At dawn, he finally stopped, whispering a final warning in my ear.

If I ever shamed him again, we would never see each other again.

Not in this life, or the next.

"I dragged my aching body, trying to follow him, but then word came: the Alpha King had already led his army to war against the Shadowfang pack."

In the recording, my voice was firm. "Kaelan, I will wait for you to return."

CRACK.

Kaelan hurled the pendant against the gravestone, his eyes shot with blood.

A spiderweb of cracks spread across the moonstone.

"Impossible… absolutely impossible!"

Lilith sobbed, hiding her face. "My Alpha, I never imagined my sister would weave such lies even after death to drive us apart. How could I ever do something so vile?"

The Beta commander glared at Rhea and boomed, "The Luna's character is known to all! Even if any of this were true, it doesn't absolve her of her final crime of breaking her mate bond!"

"This little mongrel is likely her bastard, sired by some enemy Alpha! Execute her immediately!"

Rhea seemed oblivious to the murderous intent, trembling as she crawled toward the shattered pendant.

My faint voice sounded one last time:

"I can't wait for my Alpha any longer.

"Viktor's Bloodwolf legion has breached our territory.

"There's no more time to talk. I have to go protect the other she-wolves, the ones weaker than me.

"Little moonbeam, if you can, please tell Kaelan one last thing for me.

"I love him. My Alpha. Always. And I never betrayed him."

The pendant fell silent, its light extinguished. A dead quiet fell over the pack.

After a long moment, Kaelan let out a harsh, cold laugh. "Love me? What new trick is this to confuse me?"

He shot to his feet, his rage boiling over. "No! This can't be!"

"Selene would never… She was a traitor!"

His eyes were bloodshot with fury, his Alpha's aura radiating in waves of uncontrolled power.

"I don't believe it! I want to hear it from her own lips!"

He closed his eyes, activating the unique psychic link of an Alpha King, and began to search the entire Rogue Lands for any trace of me.

Still nothing.

His face grew darker. He pulled out a silver dagger and pressed it to Rhea's chest.

"Speak! Where is your traitor mother hiding? Tell her to crawl out here and face me!"

Rhea, as if feeling no pain, gently touched the moonstone shards in her hair and smiled a tragic smile.

"Father… you will have your wish very soon."

The word "Father" made Kaelan flinch.

The next moment, Rhea threw herself onto the blade, allowing it to pierce her heart.

Blood sprayed across Kaelan's face. He felt a strange, tearing pain in his own chest and viciously pushed the dagger an inch deeper.

"Stop the act! Speak!"

Rhea didn't answer.

The blood-drawn spell on the ground beneath her suddenly erupted in a blinding light.

The Beta warriors cried out in terror.

"It's a Bloodline Recall! She's sacrificing her own life to resurrect the memories of the dead!"

Kaelan ripped the silver dagger out and looked up.

Countless unknown scenes began to materialize in the air above, and his pupils contracted in shock.