Chapter 1

"He took a forbidden potion tonight, and you're still letting him pass?"

The moment my mother finished speaking, pain tore through my body. I coughed up a mouthful of black blood onto the leather seat.

Owen Mercer, the patrol captain, looked grim. He wasn't going to look the other way, even for the Alpha. He yanked down the lever to seal the checkpoint. "Everyone out of the carriage! Inspection!"

My father looked at my mother like he wanted to rip her apart. "Diana! Have you lost your mind?! I've never touched a banned potion! Evelyn is dying!"

Leo turned deathly pale with fear. He clutched my mother's cloak. "Mother! Please! Evelyn took wolfsbane extract. If we wait any longer, she won't make it!"

But my mother refused to yield. She insisted my father had broken the rules. Under the Blood Moon Lockdown Act, even the Alpha had to undergo inspection.

As the patrolmen approached, I forced myself to sit up, using every bit of strength I had left. My voice came out hoarse. "My father didn't break any rules. Please help me. I took wolfsbane by mistake. It's tearing me apart inside..."

Before I could finish, another violent coughing fit brought up black blood mixed with shreds of my own organs.

The patrolmen went pale. But during the Blood Moon Lockdown, no carriage could pass the checkpoint without special authorization from the Elder Council.

Owen snapped at my mother, "Did he take a forbidden potion or not?! If he didn't, we let him through right now. If he did, we hold him for inspection. And if someone dies, that's on you!"

I was crying as I begged her, "Mother, please, just tell them the truth..."

Another pack member trapped at the checkpoint spoke up as well. "Luna, Princess Evelyn never awakened her wolf. She's weak, and she's barely breathing. Please, save her first!"

After being confronted in front of everyone, my mother simply waved a hand dismissively. "Fine. It's not a big deal. I was only testing how alert the patrol was."

I'd barely had time to feel relieved when my father snapped the reins to race through the checkpoint. Then my mother let out another soft laugh. "See? You're so easy to fool. He really did take a banned potion tonight. If you just let him go and he loses control on the road, he'll tear half the pack apart."

Owen's face darkened with anger, and he stopped my father on the spot.

Pain tore through my chest, and my vision went black.

As Leo watched me convulse, something in him broke. He roared at my mother, "Mother! Are you out of your mind?! Can't you see she's coughing up blood?!"

My mother calmly straightened her collar. "You dare talk to me like that, Leo? I'm making sure you learn this lesson.

"Today, your sister suffers because you need to learn this lesson. Remember this: an Alpha's self-control comes before everything else. Never think being the heir gives you the right to act without consequences!"

My life was slipping away, and she was still using it to teach her son a lesson.

My father roared at her, "Evelyn is dying! And you're still busy making an example of her!"

My mother snorted coldly. "I diluted the wolfsbane. It wasn't enough to kill her. Even without her wolf, she should be able to endure it. Stop overreacting."

Just as my consciousness began to slip away, a carriage bearing the Elder Council's crest suddenly pulled up beside us.

Julian Hale, a healer and my father's close friend, jumped down from it. "Captain! I'm a healer! I'll vouch for them! I'm taking Evelyn for treatment!"

Leo scooped me up and rushed toward Julian's carriage, my body cold and weak in his arms.

If I could just reach Julian's altar, he could purge the poison and save me.

But just as Leo was about to lift me into the carriage, my mother lunged at us like a madwoman, grabbed the door, and refused to let us in.