Chapter 2

When the pack heard Morgana's words, panic swept through the crowd.

Their worship of me curdled into disgust in an instant.

They hurled ugly insults, accusing me of being selfish, of caring nothing for the greater good.

Some even screamed that I was a murderer, that I had doomed their entire families.

I wanted to explain, but no sound would come out.

Seeing me motionless, Vivian shook with rage.

"Crystal, do you hear what they're saying about you? You're dragging your own mother's name through the mud. Are you proud of yourself?

"The biggest regret of my life is giving birth to you."

I was nothing but a soul now, but hearing her say that, my heart still clenched, like a giant hand had squeezed it hard.

My parents had me late in life. I was their only child.

The day I was born, my mother was too happy to sleep all night. She invited the whole pack to a feast that lasted three days and three nights.

I'd had anemia since I was little, and she went everywhere looking for medicine for me.

To get the rare moonpetal grass, she ventured alone into the dangerous depths of the Moonlight Forest.

Even after a rogue attacked her, the first thing she worried about was my herbs.

But as I grew up, my mother changed.

She was the pack's Luna, and I was the Alpha's daughter.

In her mind, my position meant I existed to serve the pack, to give to the pack, to put the pack above everything.

When the pack went to war, she sent me to the front lines without a second thought for whether I'd get hurt.

When the pack needed building up, she shipped me off to the wastelands to gather supplies, dumping every filthy, exhausting job on me.

When I confronted her, she only said calmly, "Crystal, don't blame me. You're the Alpha's daughter, and one day you'll inherit your father's position. If you can't handle this little bit of hardship, how can I trust you with the Alpha's seat?"

I took everything my mother did as training meant to toughen me up.

So time after time, I shouldered my duties without a single word of complaint, no matter how hard it got.

But this time, she had me tied to the altar and offered up for the pack.

Once again, I endured.

I thought that if I gave in again, she might finally show me some concern.

And now she regretted ever giving birth to me.

Then came the next day, just as dawn was breaking.

Three hours remained until the ritual would end.

That was when the chains binding me snapped.

I fell stiff as a board into the pool of blood.

The crowd below went white with shock.

"This is a bad omen. Is our pack really finished?"

"It's Crystal playing dead to dodge her duty. She's going to get us all killed."

"If she enjoys the privileges of being the Alpha's daughter, she should carry out the duties too. It's just a little blood. Does she really have to play dead over it?"

Morgana, as if none of it concerned her, spoke to my corpse. "You act like a small sacrifice for the pack is the greatest injustice in the world.

"Your mother is the most devoted, most capable Luna among all werewolves. How did she end up with a daughter like you?"

In front of others, my mother had always kept up the image of the perfect Luna.

The one thing she could not stand was hearing a single bad word about herself.

Hearing Morgana and the crowd talk this way, she stared down at me with loathing.

"Guards, tie her back up. The ritual continues. Morgana, strengthen the spell. Drain her blood faster."

Several guards came forward and bound me to the post again.

With Vivian's permission, Morgana strengthened the spell, and my blood flowed even faster.

At that point, a white-haired old man in the crowd couldn't bear to watch any longer.

"Luna, Crystal has been bleeding for a full day and night. She has anemia. I'm afraid her body can't take it. Shouldn't we get her to a hospital first?"

But my mother wouldn't budge an inch.

"No need. I know exactly what my daughter's body can handle. She's just selfish, playing dead to get out of the sacrifice.

"Today I am going to break her of that rotten attitude once and for all."