5

"Selena! You better explain this to me! These… these are all props you prepared beforehand, right?"

Ryker's voice was sharp and shrill from extreme shock and panic. He stalked towards me, his eyes filled with fear. "You're still lying to me! You deliberately set all this up to scare me, to make me feel sorry for you, to make me feel guilty. It's… it's all fake, isn't it? Answer me!"

I had no energy, no desire to deal with his near-hysterical questions.

My whole world had collapsed the moment I saw my mother's "Soul Stone" so carelessly crushed.

I sank to the cold stone floor, my hands shaking uncontrollably as I carefully gathered the broken pieces of the "Soul Stone" and my mother's scattered belongings.

Every shard felt like it was tearing my soul apart.

Every item was like a knife twisting in my already ravaged heart.

I ignored the moonstone Ryker had carved for me; let it lie forgotten in the corner.

Ryker was still yelling hysterically in my ear:

"Answer me! Selena! Stop acting in front of me! Your mother… she was perfectly healthy before you and I mated! How could she… how could she suddenly fall ill within a few short months, and even… even have her 'Soul Stone' break? I don't believe it! I absolutely will not believe your nonsense! Stop pretending!"

He stubbornly clung to his own version, trying to convince himself it was all a lie.

But his obvious panic betrayed his true feelings.

Meanwhile, Brynn, who had been so smug, was now also at a loss, her expression extremely unnatural.

She tried to act calm, but her voice lacked conviction:

"Ryker… you… don't believe her. She must be trying to scam you one last time, that's why… why she cooked up these scary props… What bad luck! Isn't she afraid of karma? These wolves from outlying packs, they have no bottom line when it comes to getting what they want!"

"Selena, stop your spooky act! You got the 'Moon Soul Crystal' back, and Ryker has seen you for who you really are! It's over between you two! If you keep this up, aren't you afraid… afraid your evil curses will actually come true for your mother?" Brynn threatened, trying to sound tough but clearly shaken.

I had no mental energy left to deal with her vicious attacks and weak excuses.

I just wanted to quickly gather the last traces of my mother left in this world, to protect them from any further desecration.

But that cruel woman, she still wouldn't leave me alone, wouldn't leave my poor mother alone.

She rushed over, lifted her foot, and kicked hard at the small pile of belongings I had just gathered!

"If you're going to act, at least make it look real! What normal werewolf uses such a raggedy piece of animal skin to hold relics? Even if they're props, put some effort into it, will you? It's laughable! I feel embarrassed for you!" Brynn shrieked, her face a mask of malicious glee.

The belongings were cruelly scattered again, fluttering in the air before settling humbly back on the ground.

It was like all my strength had been drained. I couldn't hold myself up anymore and collapsed onto the floor.

I looked at the scattered items, at Brynn's face twisted with jealousy, and at Ryker's shocked and confused expression. Suddenly, I started to laugh.

A self-mocking, desperate laugh.

"A soul urn…" I whispered, my voice barely audible. "In the Howling Moon Pack, a soul urn carved from ordinary moon-wood costs three hundred silver wolf coins."

I slowly raised my head, numbly looking at Ryker, whose pupils were constricting wildly in disbelief. I explained, pathetically:

"My mother… to make sure I could safely deliver the 'Moon Soul Crystal' to you, she sold off the last few furs our Willow Creek Pack had to survive the winter. She even… even pawned the moon-grass amulet she'd worn her whole life to a passing merchant… She also humbled herself to borrow over three hundred silver wolf coins from other small, outlying pack leaders, just to scrape together enough for the journey to Howling Moon and the… 'tribute' to safely deliver the crystal."

"After she gave you the 'Moon Soul Crystal,' her body completely broke down. I knelt before you, begging you for just a little 'Silverleaf Herb' to save my mother. But you were convinced I was deceiving you. You took away the child in my womb, took away my right to be a mother. I didn't even have time to gather herbs for my mother; I could only do the most demeaning chores in the lowest levels of the wolf fort, just to earn enough for ordinary herbs to ease her pain. And you accused me of neglecting you because I wasn't getting your so-called 'favor,' trying to force your hand."

"You never listened to my pleas. Even… even when my mother was dying, her only wish was to see you one last time, to personally ask you to take care of me. But you cruelly refused even that humble request, and just blocked my messages…"

"Yes, I admit it, I'm useless! I couldn't even afford a decent soul urn for my mother to rest in peace! I could only use this tattered animal skin to wrap her belongings! Are you… are you satisfied now? Seeing me so wretched, seeing my mother unable to find peace even after death, does it… does it make you feel especially good?"

My words were so helpless.

I bowed my head and laughed silently, a laugh full of blood and tears.

My gaze fell on the piece of animal skin where I had drawn Ryker and me "first meeting." It was now covered in… the dust from my mother's belongings.

My father died young. My mother worked tirelessly, raising me alone, teaching me to gather herbs, to heal, teaching me how to survive in the harsh werewolf world.

I thought, by becoming the fated mate of the Howling Moon Alpha, I could finally let her stop worrying about survival, let her enjoy her old age.

Later, when I brought Ryker back to Willow Creek, he told me his parents died when he was young, that he'd fought his way to the Alpha position through brutal power struggles, surrounded by deceit.

My mother heard this, and her heart ached for him. She told me again and again:

"Selena, Alpha Ryker had a pitiful childhood, starved for love. You must love him well, soften him with your tenderness. You absolutely cannot let him feel wronged again, cannot let him feel lonely."

So, when Ryker said he needed Willow Creek's "Moon Soul Crystal" to solidify his position, to nourish the Howling Moon's "Blood Moon Altar," my mother, though heartbroken, agreed even faster and more firmly than I did.

But no one expected things to go wrong so suddenly, so quickly.

Ryker was right. Why was it such a coincidence? I wanted to know too, why was it such a coincidence?

Maybe, if my mother hadn't trusted him so easily, maybe, if I hadn't been so foolish as to fall in love with him, maybe, if it had been a little earlier, or a little later, the outcome would have been completely different. My mother wouldn't have been worn down, her life exhausted, because of this damned "Moon Soul Crystal," because of his cold, merciless "test."

Now, no matter how much I regretted, how much I suffered, how much I hated, the ending wouldn't change.

I just wanted, I just wanted to finally let my poor mother's soul return to the earth with dignity, to let her find true rest. But why, why even now, did they have to bully her like this, to trample her dignity like this!

My mother, what did she ever do wrong? Her whole life, she was kind and upright, helped countless injured wolves and creatures. She didn't deserve this ending!

I shot my head up, and with all my strength, I screamed at Ryker, whose face was pale with extreme shock and remorse, a hysterical, blood-and-tear-filled roar:

"What did my mother do wrong?! And what did I do wrong?! To be played with so carelessly by you powerful ones! To be so cruelly humiliated! To be pushed step by step into this desperate situation, with my family destroyed and nowhere to go?!"

"Ryker! I was wrong! My biggest mistake was believing your seemingly affectionate golden wolf eyes! It was foolishly falling in love with you, you cold-hearted monster!"

"I misjudged you! I killed my mother! I know I was wrong now! I regret it! I'm begging you! Ryker! Let me go! And let my poor mother go too! Don't torture us anymore! Please? I'm begging you!"