Chapter 1

At the pack's annual ritual, everyone had their eyes closed in solemn prayer.

A piercing scream shattered the silence.

"Oh God, something just fell onto the altar!"

All eyes snapped open. There, on the sacrificial altar, lay a baby wrapped in red cloth.

His body shriveled before our eyes. In less than ten seconds, he was nothing but a desiccated corpse.

The crowd screamed in horror.

I heard a malicious giggle right beside me.

I looked up and caught Chloe watching from the bushes. She shot me a taunting smirk before bolting.

Damian immediately halted the ritual. His mother, Juliet, rushed forward to check on the baby.

The body was beyond recognition. All anyone could tell was that the victim had been a baby.

Damian barely glanced at the pup before shaking his head at me. "It's pointless. The baby's dead."

Chloe's smug smile flashed across my mind, and the last of my restraint snapped.

I stormed up to the bushes and shouted, "Chloe, get out here! What did you do?"

The thicket was vast and dense. A ten-year-old could hide in there and never be found.

"If you don't come out, I swear I'll burn this entire thicket to the ground."

My threat didn't faze Chloe in the slightest. She shot back without a hint of fear. "Go ahead. Burn it. If I die in the fire, you'll be a murderer too."

Damian arrived moments later and grabbed my arm. "Crystal, calm down. Chloe is just a pup. Don't scare her."

I clenched my jaw and glared at him, my eyes bloodshot.

In my past life, he was the same. Nate was dead, and all he cared about was his childhood sweetheart's daughter.

Juliet's eyes were red as she said, "Nate was supposed to become the next Alpha. What Chloe did was truly out of line.

"But Crystal, don't push this too far. You and Damian are still young. You can have another pup."

Damian stepped forward, trying to comfort me. "Mom's right, Crystal. You don't have to take it so hard. He was only three months old. We barely even knew him. But I've watched Chloe grow up."

I froze. "You think the one who died is Nate?"

I had already handed my son to my parents before the ritual began.

So who was the corpse lying on the altar?

Damian pulled me into his arms to stop me. "I know it's hard to accept, but what's done is done. And Chloe is still young. She doesn't know any better..."

Before he could finish, I shoved him away.

"She doesn't know any better? Is that your excuse? So killing someone is fine as long as you don't know any better? She just gets to walk away?"

I pulled a firestone from my bag.

"Chloe, I'm counting to three. If you don't come out on your own, I'll burn you alive in these bushes."

If I didn't stop this little monster now, more people would die at her hands.

"One!"

The firestone blazed in my hand, its flames illuminating half my face.

Chloe must have sensed I wasn't bluffing. She yelled back, "Go ahead and burn me! I'm not coming out! I'll die right here!"

"Two!"

Damian lunged forward and tried to snatch the fire stone from my grip. "Enough, Crystal! "If something happens to Chloe, can you bear the consequences?"

I shoved him away hard and locked eyes with him. "She just killed someone. Why aren't you asking her if she can live with that?"

The word "three" was already on my lips.

In the end, Chloe cracked under the pressure and crawled out of the bushes, sulking every step of the way.

"Who did you throw onto the altar?"

She stood there chewing on a blade of wild grass, looking completely unbothered.

"Who else? Your son."

I slapped her hard across the face.

The blade of grass went flying, along with half a bloody tooth.

The slap left Chloe's ears ringing.

When the shock wore off, her eyes turned red, and she clutched her cheek in disbelief.

"How dare you hit me? You bitch! My mom has never hit me!"

I grabbed her by the collar. "That slap is one your mother should've given you years ago—for spoiling you rotten and turning you into a monster."

I slapped her again. "That one was for the pup you killed. Aren't you afraid he'll come back to haunt you?"

Chloe clutched her cheek. "So what? I didn't mean to. I was just curious what would happen if a baby was sacrificed. I didn't think he'd actually die."