Chapter 3

I returned to the manor, the veil on my face doing nothing to hide the death in my heart.

"Your Highness, you're back."

Gordon, the butler, hurried to greet me. He was a loyal attendant my father had sent to care for me, a respected Beta.

But he looked deeply unsettled.

"What is it?" I asked, removing my veil.

Gordon’s eyes flashed with rage when he saw the spreading mark, but he quickly suppressed it.

"Your Highness, there is something I must tell you." His voice trembled slightly. "An hour ago, Alpha Zane returned."

My heart skipped a beat. "What did he say?"

"He said nothing," Gordon said, his fists clenching. "He went straight to your private vault and took the Moon Goddess's Tear necklace."

My world collapsed.

The Moon Goddess's Tear?

It was the necklace I wore at our sacred bonding ceremony, crafted from the purest energy crystals of the Moon Well.

It was a sacred artifact, passed down through generations of wolf royalty, a symbol of the vow: "Witnessed by the Goddess, my one and only for all eternity."

It was the symbol of our love. The proof of his vow that he had placed around my neck himself.

And now, he had taken it to give to another woman.

"Your Highness?" Gordon asked, his voice laced with worry.

I didn't answer. I just walked mechanically toward my room upstairs.

My phone rang.

It was my best friend, Lydia, a powerful Beta female and the leader of a neighboring pack.

"Cassia! Have you seen what Dahlia posted on PackNet?" she roared. "That bitch! How dare she humiliate you like that!"

I opened my phone and went to our pack's internal social media platform.

Pinned to the top of the feed was a photo of me, wearing the humiliating brand.

The photo was crystal clear, capturing my shame from every angle.

The caption was even more vicious:

"Look at our 'noble princess'! Turns out pure-blood Alphas aren't so special after all. Can't even take a little joke. What a delicate little doll. But what can you expect from a pretty face with no sense of humor?"

The comments were already exploding.

Some defended me, others were confused, and a few sycophants were already echoing Dahlia's insults.

"That goddamn bitch!" Lydia snarled through the phone. "Cassia, you have to make her pay! I'm bringing my warriors over to tear her apart right now!"

"Don't," I said, my voice eerily calm. "I'll handle this myself."

"But—"

"Lydia. Trust me." I ended the call.

I sat by the window and waited.

Less than an hour later, there was a commotion outside.

Two wolf guards in silver armor dragged a figure bound in ropes into the great hall.

It was Dahlia.

Her hair was a mess, her eyes wild with terror, a gag stuffed in her mouth.

"Your Highness, as you commanded, we brought her from the Full Moon Gala," one of the guards reported respectfully.

"Good. Throw her on the floor," I said, pointing to the center of the hall.

They roughly tossed Dahlia onto the marble, where she landed with a heavy thud.

I rose slowly and walked to her.

"Take the gag out."

The cloth was removed, and Dahlia immediately started screaming hysterically.

"You're insane! You can't do this to me! Zane will kill you!"

I crouched down to meet her eyes.

"Dahlia, it seems you still don't understand who I am." My voice was as calm as still water. "Let me reintroduce myself. I am Cassia. The only daughter of the Wolf King. A pure-blood Alpha princess. Not some pathetic she-wolf clinging to a common Alpha."

Her screaming stopped.

"My bloodline represents absolute authority. Under ancient wolf law, any disrespect to the royal bloodline is a death sentence."

Dahlia's face turned white as a sheet.

"And that little post you made on PackNet..." I traced a finger along her terrified cheek. "That's enough to have you executed ten times over."

"No... it wasn't..." she stammered. "It was just... just a joke..."

"A joke?" I smiled. "You're right. I love jokes, too."

I clapped my hands.

Four guards entered, carrying a large wooden crate.

"Open it."

The lid was lifted, revealing one hundred identical seals, neatly arranged inside.

Every single one was engraved with the words "Blackmoon Pack's Slut."

Dahlia’s eyes were practically bulging from her skull.

"No! You can't! Zane won't let you!"

"Zane?" I sneered. "I imagine he's quite busy right now, wondering where his little darling has gone."

I motioned for the guards to proceed.

Another guard brought in the special enchanted ink.

The custom blend I'd ordered, which would forever reek of failure.

"Begin," I commanded calmly.

"No! Please! Stop!" Dahlia thrashed wildly. "I was wrong! I know I was wrong!"

But her struggles were useless.

The first stamp hit her forehead.

A bloodcurdling scream tore from her throat.

The second. The third. The fourth...

The stamps fell again and again, on her face, her arms, her body.

With every impact, another desperate shriek.

"Please! Stop! I'll never do it again!"

But I had no intention of stopping.

One hundred stamps. Not one less. Every inch of her was covered.

Now, Dahlia was a walking canvas of the words "Blackmoon Pack's Slut."

She lay limp on the floor, her body shaking with silent sobs.

I knelt down, stroking her cheek just as she had done to me earlier.

"Dahlia, there's one more thing I forgot to tell you."

She looked at me with dead eyes.

"This special ink... its scent never fades," I said, my voice as soft as a feather, but more terrifying than any threat. "From now on, every wolf who smells you will know exactly what you are."

The light in her eyes died completely.

I stood up, looking down on her.

"I’m just playing a little game with you," I mimicked her sickly sweet tone. "You're not going to be a sore loser, are you?"