Chapter 2

Stella froze for a second. Then she let out a harsh laugh.

"Ha! I knew it!" Her eyes gleamed with malice. "You were born to be a pathetic Omega, Isolde. Even you know it."

She patted my cheek, a condescending, proprietary gesture.

"Don't count on being a servant, though. They have to be at least a little pretty." She looked me up and down. "A wreck like you is better off digging through trash."

I kept that pathetic smile plastered on my face. "That would be fine, too. As long as I can be near you."

Stella nodded, satisfied.

My only purpose was to be her shadow, to make her shine.

"Come on, let's go to the medical bay. And remember—walk behind me, don't talk, and don't draw any attention."

Inside the medical bay, the air was thick with the smell of herbs and blood.

Everyone was waiting anxiously for news.

Stella immediately started fixing her hair and clothes.

She had to look perfect at all times.

"Isolde, go stand in the corner," she ordered, turning on me. "The Alpha will be here any second. I don't want you distracting him for even a moment."

She paused, then covered her mouth in a fake little laugh.

It was just loud enough for everyone nearby to hear.

"Oh, wait. I forgot. With that pale, shriveled face and those dead-fish eyes, the Alpha probably couldn't even tell if you're a boy or a girl. Don't poison the air with your pathetic stench. Get lost."

I obeyed.

I walked to a corner and sat down in a rickety chair.

Just then, the main doors swung open.

A powerful Alpha presence swept through the room.

Everyone bowed their heads in submission.

Andrew walked in.

Even from the corner, I could feel the raw power rolling off him.

He was tall, casting long shadows under the lights.

His deep eyes scanned the room.

Stella immediately straightened up, pushing out her chest as she walked toward him. Her face was a perfect mask of sorrow.

"Alpha, I'm so worried about the Luna." Her voice was soft and full of concern. "If there's anything I can do, please, just ask."

Andrew’s gaze rested on her for a moment before turning toward the back of the bay.

"How is she?"

"Not good, Alpha." Thane, the head physician, emerged, his face grim. "The feral's attack was definitely cursed, and..."

He lowered his voice, but I still heard him. "I found traces of black silver in her blood."

Black silver.

Stella's expression didn't change, but I saw her fingers twitch.

"Prepare the Blood Resonance Ritual," Andrew’s voice was ice. "Now."

I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes, pretending to be exhausted.

In that hazy state, my senses sharpened.

Then I caught it.

An almost undetectable tremor in the air.

A mind link between two powerful wolves.

It was Andrew and his Beta, Liam.

How could I hear it?

An Alpha’s private link is sacred. Unbreakable.

Not even the highest-ranking wolves could listen in.

Before I could even process it, the words burned through my mind, sharp and clear.

“Alpha, everything is going according to plan. The energy signature at the attack site was altered. It wasn't a normal feral. We also traced the purchase of the black silver powder to the black market.”

Andrew’s response froze my blood.

“Start with that Omega, Stella. Anyone who touches what is mine... I will erase their entire line. Soul by soul.”

I forced myself to stay calm.

To keep pretending I was asleep.

But my mind was reeling.

Andrew already knew.

He knew the attack was staged.

He knew about the black silver.

He was already targeting Stella!

I had to get out of here.

I stood up and walked toward the exit as casually as I could.

"Where are you going?" Stella snapped.

"I... I don't feel well. I'm going home to rest."

She frowned, but her attention was already back on Andrew. She waved me away.

My heart hammering against my ribs, I fled the pack infirmary.

I paused only once—before the Moon Temple—to beg the Goddess for a way out.

But prayer alone wouldn’t save me. I needed money.

I had to go back for the small stash of silver I’d hidden in that house.

Without it, escape was just a dream.

I reached the house and eased the door open, only to be met with the sound of gleeful laughter.

"My brilliant daughter! You were amazing today!" My mother, Mara, sounded ecstatic.

"Did you see the way the Alpha looked at you, Stella?" My father, Darius, was grinning from ear to ear. "I bet he's already fallen for you!"

"Of course he has!" Stella preened from her seat in the middle of the living room. "Didn't you see his eyes? That was... desire."

She pulled out the Moonglow necklace, showing it off in the light.

"And besides, I've made sure Seraphina won't last long."

My mother leaned in. "How did you do it?"

Stella's smile turned sinister. "I mixed a tiny bit of black silver powder into the herbs. For the Moonstone bloodline, it's a slow, agonizing poison. It looks like she's been saved, but the toxin is already eating away at her soul."

"How long?" my father asked eagerly.

"Three days, max." Stella flicked the gemstone on the necklace. "In three days, she'll be dead. And I will be the new Luna."

I was floored by her arrogance. A single word escaped my lips.

“Insane.”

But then, all three of them whipped around to face me, their expressions shifting from shock to fury.

My father kicked me to the ground.

The force knocked the wind out of me.

Pain shot through my ribs as I hit the floor.

"You ungrateful bitch!" he roared. "Stella is doing this for our family! How dare you betray your own sister?"

I struggled to get up.

He kicked me again, this time in the small of my back.

Stella stood there with her arms crossed, watching coldly.

Her voice was pure ice.

"Dad, hit her harder. Teach her what happens when you betray your family."