Chapter 2

My family and Jack's pack are ancient allies.

When I was 18 years old, my mother was dying from silver poisoning. Thanks to his mother's rare healing abilities, my mother was saved.

Before the healing ritual, she lay on the sacred ground and cried, "How can we repay this life debt!"

Jack's mother half-jokingly said, "If you truly want to repay, let Anna be my son's Luna?"

I stood there, my omega instincts confused, but Jack's wolf decided first.

"It's settled, Alpha. I want Anna as my mate and will claim her when my wolf is strong enough."

The young alpha made a blood oath, as if he would never break the sacred bond.

So three years ago, Jack and I were moon-promised. I stayed with the pack while he fought in the Northern Territories.

Perhaps out of gratitude, I learned omega healing and pack care, and went to Jack's den to tend to his parents whenever I could.

The whispers among the pack became more and more cruel.

They said I was just Jack's omega servant, and I started working as a caretaker before we even completed the mate bond.

But when I thought of my mother, I endured it all.

To prove my worth, I secretly trained my wolf, becoming stronger than any omega in the pack and winning many hunting challenges.

Later, my mother succumbed to lingering silver poisoning, and my father took a new mate for strength. My status in the family pack became increasingly marginal.

It seemed that there was no one to protect me except Jack.

But now, he told me he wanted another mate.

It turns out that for his alpha, I was just a youthful mistake, far less important than the battle bond formed in mere weeks.

I thought my omega would howl in pain, but I didn't shed a single tear. I just silently took out the token exchanged during our moon-promise from my den's sacred corner.

It was an exquisite silver claw pendant, which symbolized Luna's protection, meant to always guard me.

And what I gave him was the moonstone amulet my mother entrusted to me, which signified alpha strength and wisdom, as powerful as the moon itself.

That moonstone was the only thing my mother left me.

I made arrangements to meet Jack again. Since the moon-promise had been broken, the tokens would naturally be exchanged back.

After midnight, Jack updated his pack status.

He and Bethel embraced each other tightly, their wolves forming a unified silhouette against the moon.

Jack declared, "My wolf has found its true mate on the day we hunted together in the full moon."

So he was in a hurry to break our bond and wanted to announce his new Luna on his ascension day.

I sent my acknowledgment through the pack link.

Since his wolf had chosen, I would release him completely.

A few minutes later, a private message suddenly appeared in my mind-link.

Nathan: "I hope your omega spirit remains strong."

I recognized the alpha name and my wolf perked up in surprise. I didn't expect he would be the first to reach out.

It's said throughout the territories that Nathan is the Alpha of Alphas and untouchable by lesser wolves.

And I had only encountered him a few times during territory gatherings.

Maybe it was a misdirected mind-link.

But the next second, he sent another message.

"Your wolf deserves a stronger alpha."