Chapter 3

The stone floor of the dungeon felt like ice, but my heart was colder. My stomach hurt like it was being torn apart by knives. Axel's kick had been brutal.

I curled up, trying to protect the pup that might already be gone.

In the darkness, there was only the sound of dripping water. It reminded me of that snowy night ten years ago.

Before that night, I was the daughter of the Moonshadow pack's Alpha. After that night, the pack was destroyed, and I was the only one left.

I crawled out from under a pile of bodies and found Axel. For some reason, he was barely alive too. He was covered in blood with his chest torn open.

Maybe it was because we were both on the brink of death, but I used my frozen hands to dig him out bit by bit. I carried him on my back across the wilderness, running from those who hunted us. I chewed herbs and fed them to him, and I used my body to keep him warm.

When he woke up, he only said one thing. "From now on, my life is yours."

Later, he became the Alpha of the Shadowcrest pack. The elders opposed me because of my background, calling me 'the cursed survivor of a dead pack'. They thought I was bad luck.

However, Axel shifted into his wolf form and stood in front of me. "If you want to hurt her, you'll have to go through me first."

For ten years, he gave me everything he could. Even a month ago, when Vanessa, that damned fated mate, showed up, he did not push me away.

That night, he held my trembling body and kissed my forehead over and over.

"Seraphina, don't be afraid. That bond is just a physical reaction, something the Moon Goddess forced on us. You saved me. My heart belongs only to you."

This past month, he lived like a monk. Vanessa moved into the pack, but he told me where he was every single day.

"Vanessa brought me soup today. I had someone throw it out."

"The elders tried to make me see her. I refused."

He even took suppressants to fight the instinct that made his heart race around his fated mate, all for me. He did everything right, so much so that I truly believed we could beat destiny. Now, however...

The man who had sworn he would fight fate destroyed our ten years with his own hands over some fake photos and a misunderstanding. He even killed our pup.

Tears fell silently.

If he knew the truth, would he regret it?

A bucket of salt water hit me, and I screamed in agony.

Vanessa stood outside the cell holding the empty bucket, grinning. Where was that fragile act from earlier?

"Still alive?" She looked thrilled.

"Vanessa..." I gritted my teeth.

"Those photos... That Rogue... And the recent intelligence leak... It was all you, wasn't it? Why would you do this to me?"

"Do this to you?" Vanessa laughed softly. She dismissed the guards, opened the cell door, and walked in. "If Axel didn't love you so much, I wouldn't have bothered competing with a lowlife wolf like you."

She crouched down and patted my filthy face with her perfectly manicured hand.

"For an entire month, he wouldn't even touch me, his fated mate. And he was secretly preparing a Luna ceremony for you! Why should you get that?"

Vanessa suddenly grabbed my chin hard. "I'm the fated mate the Moon Goddess gave him! Since he was willing to throw me away for you, I decided to ruin you. I decided to make you dirty and disgusting. I'd drag you through the mud until he saw you as nothing but a cheater!

"That way, he'd have no choice but to pick me."

"You..." My whole body shook with rage. "Just for that... you had a Rogue attack me?"

The vile memories flooded back. The shame, the helplessness… Combined with the despair of losing my pup, it made me snap. I lunged at her and wrapped my hands around her throat.

"You evil witch... Give me back my innocence! Give me back my pup! I'll kill you!"

However, Vanessa did not struggle. Instead, she smiled strangely. She mouthed silently, "You fell for it."

The next second, she pulled out a knife she had prepared and stabbed herself in the shoulder. She quickly shoved the knife into my hand, then screamed.

"Seraphina, don't kill me! Help!"

The cell door burst open.

Axel stood in the doorway, his eyes bloodshot. With him was Vanessa's uncle, Leon Graystone. He was also an elder of the pack.

What they saw was Vanessa covered in blood on the ground, a knife in her shoulder. There was also me, with my hands soaked in blood. It looked like I was about to stab her again.

"By the goddess!" Elder Graystone shouted. "Axel! How long are you going to protect this lunatic?"

He turned and stared at Axel, enunciating every word, "She leaked classified information and conspired with enemies. Now, she's trying to murder the future Luna! Alpha! For the sake of the pack, this menace must be executed!"