2

Shiny moonstones scattered on the ground, beautiful as stars, but it all felt so ridiculous to me.

A few days ago, for my mother, I might have scrambled to pick them up.

But now, they looked dirtier than the dust on the floor.

I ignored the stinging pain on my face and didn't even look at Ryker's disgusted expression.

I bent down, picked up enough crystals to pay for two months' rent, and handed them to the Captain of the Guard.

Then, I pushed open the door to my hut and went inside.

This small, dark room was supposedly mine after Ryker and I "mated."

A few of his old things were still tossed in a corner; his overbearing scent still clung to the air.

I'd been so naive, thinking this would be our new beginning, a nest for our love and future.

My eyes fell on the table. On the day the Moon Goddess Stone showed our mate mark, he'd carved a vow of love for me there.

I couldn't forget how he first came to Willow Creek as an Alpha – powerful, cold, but with a hint of something… searching in his eyes.

He told me I was the Moon Goddess's choice, the future Luna of the Howling Moon Pack.

His words, like magic vines, wrapped around me, making it impossible to resist the pull of our blood connection.

Even though I knew we were worlds apart in status, I fell head over heels for him.

I tried so hard to learn the Howling Moon Pack's rules, to get used to their cold hierarchy, to be a good Luna, just to see a flicker of approval in his eyes.

Two years. I lived like a fool in the web of lies he spun.

Now, it was all gone.

All my dreams for the future were just me playing a pathetic role in his Alpha power games.

My heart was a mess of emotions.

Ryker didn't notice anything different about me. He strode in and sat right down in the only decent animal-skin chair, like he still owned the place.

"Satisfied, Selena?" His voice dripped with sarcasm. "That greedy look on your face really reminds me of the lowest hyenas."

"The way you look now, so greedy and cheap, it disgusts me. How did you turn into this? When you first came to Howling Moon, weren't you all pure, innocent, and submissive?"

"Just one 'Moon Soul Crystal,' a few worthless herbs, and you show your true colors! Ever since you gave me that crystal, you've done nothing but demand things from me! You even wanted treasures from our pack's forbidden grounds. Was all that obedience, all that loyalty you talked about, just a setup so you could get more from me today?"

I looked up, meeting his gaze calmly.

He was wearing the Alpha's ceremonial robes of the Howling Moon Pack today, radiating an authority he couldn't hide.

Looks like he was done pretending to be the "slightly testing" Alpha with me.

The disappointment and disgust in his eyes stabbed into my heart, bit by bit.

I didn't answer his accusations. I just calmly put the scattered crystals into a worn-out leather pouch and spoke softly, but my voice was firm. "I'll use these to get my mother the simplest headstone, and then I'm leaving. Ryker, I call upon the Moon Goddess to witness: from this moment on, I break our mate bond."

"I, Selena, willingly give up my title as Luna of the Howling Moon Pack."

A strange silence filled the small hut for a long time, so long I could almost hear my own heart breaking.

Suddenly, Ryker let out a low, cold laugh, full of contempt and anger.

"Break the bond? Selena, you think you have the right? Only the Alpha decides who stays and who goes!"

He shot up, his tall frame looming over me, full of menace. "You even lied about your mother dying just to get the 'Silverleaf Herb' from me! You know what I hate most? I hate liars! Two years, and I was completely wrong about you! Even if this bond is to be broken, it's not for a liar like you to say so!"

His voice was thick with the fury of being fooled.

He pulled out a "Bond-Breaking Stone" tablet, carved with ancient runes, from his belt and slammed it on the ground in front of me.

His fresh wolf blood already stained it.

"This is a 'Blood Oath of Rejection' tablet. I had it ready, just waiting for you to show your true colors. Now, use your blood, finish this ritual, and get out of the Howling Moon Pack! I don't have any more time to waste on you!"

So, he'd been ready all along.

He probably wanted to kick me out the first time I knelt and begged him for the Silverleaf Herb.

I carefully placed the tattered animal skin pouch holding my mother's things on the room's only wooden shelf. Her old wooden comb, the one she used to groom her fur, was already there.

Then, step by step, I calmly walked over to Ryker.

I picked up the stone tablet from the floor, bit my fingertip, and let my red blood drip onto the spot where my blood seal was needed.

No hesitation.

Even though the rejected party would suffer an irreversible soul-deep wound after marking the blood oath.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could feel Ryker's sharp wolf eyes scanning me up and down, filled with scrutiny, disgust, and a flicker of… something complex I couldn't understand.

I just felt sick. I wanted it all to be over.

After I marked the blood oath, he snorted, then pulled a faintly glowing crystal from another pouch on his waist.

It was the Willow Creek Pack's "Moon Soul Crystal."

Its light was much dimmer now than when my mother had given it to me.

He threw the crystal on the ground like trash.

"Your mother's 'Moon Soul Crystal,' take it back. I didn't use a single bit of its energy. Consider these past two years… my charity to you. I was blind to misjudge a vile woman like you."

I bent down and picked up the cold crystal.

It was once my mother's hope, and all of Willow Creek's. Now, it was just a witness to my endless pain.

I remembered a few days ago, when my mother was dying, she was delirious, mumbling that she wanted to see Ryker one last time. She said she wanted to see us okay, to tell him herself to take care of me.

Back then, Ryker had lost all patience with me because I kept "pestering" him for the "Silverleaf Herb."

But to grant my mother's last wish, I swallowed my pride and sent him a message through the wolf fort's messenger wolf.

I waited all night, only to get his cold reply.

Not a word of comfort, just a barrage of sarcasm.

"What trick is she trying to pull now? Is she trying to act like she's on her deathbed to get my pity, so you can keep bugging me for the 'Silverleaf Herb'? Selena, I'm tired of this cheap act. Tell her to save her breath."

The connection cut off.

When I tried to contact him again, I found he'd completely blocked me.

He never showed up, not even when my mother took her last breath.

I'll never forget my mother's last words to me.

She said, "Selena, my child. When… when you have your own pups… Mother won't be able to help you care for them. A mother wolf is weakest after giving birth… I still wanted… to tell Alpha Ryker myself… to ask him… to ask him to be good to you…"

"Alpha Ryker, he's a strong Alpha. You… you two must… make it work…"

Even at the very end, my mother was thinking of me, hoping Ryker and I would have a good future.

But she'd never know that the day after I begged Ryker for the "Silverleaf Herb," he forced me to drink that bowl of "calming herb" brew, the kind that could kill a life.

He said he didn't want to be threatened by a child of "possibly impure blood," that he wanted to crush any idea I had of "using my womb to hold onto the Luna position."

Having just lost my baby, I was incredibly weak. I didn't even have time to rest. I was buried under the kind of menial chores only the lowest-ranking wolves in the fort did, just to earn a tiny bit of money for ordinary herbs.

And what was he doing then?

Was he partying every night with Brynn and the other beautiful she-wolves of the Howling Moon Pack, enjoying his supreme Alpha power?

Or was he and his cronies laughing loudly at me, the stupid, pathetic "Luna" from a small, outlying pack?

Chapter3 3

I barely had the strength to be angry anymore, just endless sadness and a sense of the absurd.

I picked up the "Moon Soul Crystal," the one that once held all my mother's hopes and those of the Willow Creek Pack.

It was ice-cold, dull, just like my heart now.

My mother had given her life for it. It belonged to Willow Creek. I had to take it back.

As I bent down to pick up the crystal, I clearly heard Ryker snort in disdain, as if my action was a joke to him.

I ignored him, carefully put the crystal and the pouch with my mother's things away, and then started to pack my few belongings.

There wasn't much to pack, really. Just a few old animal-skin clothes my mother had sewn for me, already faded from washing, and some small tools for gathering herbs.

The "Moon Soul Crystal's" energy was extremely weak, but if I could find the right way, maybe I could still find a resting place for my mother in Willow Creek, and put up a stone with her name on it.

Just thinking about that made my nose sting.

I've never been one to cry easily.

I didn't cry during the hardest times in Willow Creek, nor when I was taking care of my sick mother day and night. Even when she took her last breath in my arms, I just ran out of tears; I didn't make a sound.

I always held onto some unrealistic fantasy, hoping for a miracle.

It wasn't until this moment, when I'd sealed that humiliating blood oath with my own hand.

It wasn't until I was holding my mother's cold belongings and this "Moon Soul Crystal," which Ryker treated like trash, that the harsh reality finally started to sink in.

My mother, the wolf who loved me more than anyone in the world, was gone forever.

Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably. My hands, trying to pack, wouldn't stop shaking.

Just then, someone knocked rudely on the flimsy door of the hut.

Ryker went to open it, annoyed.

I looked over too, out of habit.

Brynn was standing there.

Right now, she had a smug, undisguised smile on her face. She shot me a contemptuous look, then walked towards Ryker.

She giggled at Ryker, her voice sickeningly sweet, "My Alpha, I was worried this ungrateful woman might do something desperate, something to hurt you. After all, wolves from those small, outlying packs, they don't know any better. They can be pretty scary when they're cornered. Your bond with her should be broken by now, right? I came specifically to take you back to the Moonlit Tower."

The cold lines on Ryker's face softened a bit when he saw Brynn.

"You're always so thoughtful, Brynn."

Brynn lowered her head shyly, rubbing against Ryker's arm suggestively.

Then, she looked at me again.

"Such a pleasure, Selena 'Luna'," she said, deliberately emphasizing the word "Luna" with pure mockery. "I've often heard Alpha Ryker talk about you. I thought you were different from those short-sighted, clingy she-wolves from the outer packs. Turns out, you're just another liar trying to gain sympathy by 'sacrificing' your mother."

"Well, now," she smiled even wider, "you've got your 'Moon Soul Crystal' back. I heard your mother's spirit hasn't returned to the Moon Goddess yet? Well, after all the 'good deeds' she did, the Moon Goddess probably doesn't want her. Selena, you better be careful her resentful spirit doesn't come after you. After all, you're the one who pushed her to her death, aren't you?"

The emotions I'd been bottling up for so long finally exploded.

She could insult me, but I absolutely could not stand her making such a vicious joke about my mother's death!

On instinct, I threw down my luggage and lunged.

My claws sliced through the air, aimed at her twisted face.

"Ah—!" Brynn shrieked. She dodged quickly, but my claws still tore her fancy moon-silk cloak.

"Selena, are you crazy?!" Ryker roared, his voice full of disbelief. "How dare you attack someone in front of me? Did you think I really wouldn't dare touch you?"

Alpha, Howling Moon Pack, stupid rules!

None of it mattered to me right now! I had nothing left!

All I knew was that this woman had insulted my beloved mother!

I ignored Ryker's threats and roars, lunged forward again, grabbed a handful of Brynn's messy hair, dragged her up from the ground, and then, with a raised hand, slapped her hard across the other cheek.

"You venomous bitch! Say that again, I dare you!" My voice was hoarse and distorted with extreme anger.

But before I could vent all my fury, several burly male werewolves suddenly burst into the hut.

They moved fast and ferociously, instantly pinning me to the ground, immobilizing me.

Brynn scrambled up from the floor, looking a mess. She clutched her swollen cheek, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth, but her eyes were triumphant.

She threw herself into Ryker's arms, sobbing, "My Alpha… I'm okay… I… I provoked her on purpose! She… I've recorded all the evidence of her attacking me with the latest 'Memory Crystal'! We… we can immediately charge her with 'assaulting a packmate, insubordination'… and completely…"

I was pinned to the ground by several strong pack guards, my cheek pressed roughly against the floor, unable to move an inch.

Brynn pulled out a transparent crystal, only about the size of a fingernail.

It was the Howling Moon Pack's newest invention, a "Miniature Memory Crystal," capable of silently recording everything happening around it.

She smiled brightly at me.

"Now, I have all the evidence. That way she attacked me, like a mad dog, Alpha, you must teach her a lesson for me! Get me justice!"

Ryker looked at me, his face grim.

He slowly pulled off his combat boots, then, step by step, walked over to me.

He bent down, raised his hand, and gathered a swirling ball of wild Howling Moon energy – the hidden power in his bloodline, usually carefully concealed, but now unleashed without hesitation. Then, he slapped me hard across the face.

The shadow energy seared through me, an unbearable pain, like my very soul was burning.

The agonizing pain I expected hit me right on schedule.

I could even hear the faint crack of my own cheekbone.

Tears, I couldn't stop them, just gushed out.

Not because of the pain, but because of the bone-deep humiliation.

Ryker's eyes seemed to flicker with an almost imperceptible hint of pity, but it was quickly replaced by intense disappointment and disgust.

"Selena, I never thought we'd end up like this."

His voice was cold, devoid of any emotion. "You had a chance to prove your worth. If you could have just endured Brynn's provocation today, accepted all this silently, I would have confirmed your forbearance and loyalty. You could have truly become my Luna. Unfortunately, you disappointed me. You're no different from those lowly wild wolves, easily swayed by emotions."

"After all, we did have two years of 'history' between us, and I did… I did once have a tiny bit of genuine feeling for you."

He paused, his tone growing even colder. "This blow was just to pay you back for Brynn. Let's part on good terms. You and I, we're not wolves cut from the same cloth, you and I. The Luna position of the Howling Moon Pack… you're not worthy of it."

Brynn, sheltered behind Ryker, still seemed unsatisfied.

She clutched her face, her voice shrill, "Ryker, dear, you're just too soft! That's why you get tricked by gold-digging she-wolves from these small, outlying packs! Look at her now, completely unrepentant. I bet if she knew the true wealth and supreme power of the Howling Moon Alpha, she'd be on her knees instantly, crying and begging to come back to you, licking your boots!"

Ryker looked down at me, his eyes filled with a kind of pity, like he was looking at an insignificant ant that didn't know its place.

But in the two years we were together, he never truly cared about me, never even gave me a single decent gift.

Instead, it was me, trying my best to meet all his demands, suppressing my own nature, playing the role of the "gentle mate" he wanted.

Perhaps, all of this was also part of his damn "test."

But if you really counted it up, I, Selena, never owed Ryker anything!

I lifted my head, and with all my strength, spoke coldly and clearly:

"Is it fun to play with someone's genuine feelings, to trample on their dignity, Ryker? In this so-called 'relationship,' I never owed you a thing. It was my foolishness, I couldn't measure up to you, the noble Alpha of the Howling Moon Pack. But, Ryker, you also have no right to insult me, to insult my mother, to insult my genuine feelings!"

"From beginning to end, it was only you who wronged me! Who wronged my mother! Who wronged the Willow Creek Pack!"