Chapter 1

The ninth bonding ceremony between me and the Alpha King, Thorne Ravencrest, is finally here. Yet once again, I failed to become his Luna Queen.

Not because he broke his promise, but because I'm not qualified enough.

The Elders made it crystal clear that every Luna Queen recognized by the Moon Goddess throughout history must cultivate 365 Moonlight Flowers using their own blood essence. But every year on the eve of the ceremony, no matter how careful I am, there's always one flower missing.

This year, I nearly drained myself completely and barely managed to grow the right number. Ecstatic, I go to find Thorne, wanting to surprise him.

Through the partially open door of the throne hall, I hear his Beta say to him, "Alpha King, Sera's been waiting for you for eight years now. Are you ever going to bond with her?"

Thorne shakes his head. "I promised Willow we can't bond this year either."

His Beta hesitates. "What if Sera actually manages to grow enough Moonlight Flowers?"

Thorne goes silent for a moment, then claps his hands. A shadow wolf appears and melts into the darkness.

Before long, a shadow wolf returns with a Moonlight Flower clamped in its jaws. He tears the flower into shreds and lets out a sigh.

"Sera has plenty of blood. Forget one year. She could keep cultivating for another ten years and still be fine.

"But Willow's been poisoned with wolfsbane. I'm all she has left, and she wants me by her side in her final days.

"I can't bear to refuse Willow, which means Sera will just have to wait a bit longer."

I bite my lip hard, barely able to believe what I'm hearing. So the Moonlight Flowers that kept mysteriously disappearing were all destroyed by him.

Becoming Luna Queen has been my dream since childhood. But if he never intended to bond with me at all, then it's time I leave him.

...

When I came to my senses, I had already stumbled back to the flower garden. The Moonlight Flowers glowed with an ethereal blue light in the darkness.

My chest ached painfully as I fought to keep my tears from falling. Footsteps sounded behind me, followed by Thorne Ravencrest's voice.

"Sera, did you get your Moonlight Flowers ready this year?" he asked.

I took a deep breath and quickly composed myself before answering, "The flowers are ready."

His Beta, Garrett Stone, stepped forward to count them. Garrett had just learned a massive secret, and now his expression was stiff. He couldn't even look me in the eye.

"One, two, three—"

Before he could finish counting, Thorne cut him off. "Don't bother counting. There's one missing."

He turned around and pulled me into his embrace, just like he had every year before. It was warm and familiar, yet suffocating.

"Looks like you still didn't try hard enough this year. You know the rules. Even one flower short means we can't hold the bonding ceremony. We'll wait until next year, all right?"

My heart felt like someone had struck it with a hammer, and my hands trembled at my sides.

He was the one who destroyed that flower with his own hands, yet now he blamed me for not trying hard enough.

"Alpha King…" Beside us, Garrett finally interrupted cautiously. "Actually, there are 365 flowers. The count is right."

Thorne turned toward Garrett, his gaze instantly sharp. "Are you sure? There's clearly one missing."

A flower had been torn to shreds just minutes ago, so of course, Thorne was certain one was missing. Garrett swallowed hard but steeled himself and pointed toward the corner of the garden.

"I counted correctly!"

Thorne followed the direction of his finger. There, a small but stubborn Moonlight Flower bloomed. It was the extra one I'd cultivated in case something went wrong. I'd even damaged my wolf to grow it.

Shock flashed through Thorne's eyes before his expression darkened. To prove he hadn't miscounted, Garrett counted again right in front of Thorne.

"363, 364, 365… Not a single one is missing. It meets the requirements perfectly."

Thorne stared at the extra flower in silence. In that silence, the last shred of hope in my heart died completely.

It was never about whether there were enough flowers. He simply didn't want to bond with me.

"There is one missing, actually." I said suddenly—even though I knew it wasn’t true.

Thorne looked at me, and relief actually flickered in his eyes. My eyes burned as my voice cracked.

"But I can make up for the missing one. Please, let's complete the ceremony first.

"My wolf is on the verge of collapse. To grow these flowers, I've pushed myself past my limit. The healer said if I don't bond with an Alpha soon to restore my wolf's energy, my wolf will..."

Thorne's expression turned cold and hard again. He shook his head, his tone dripping with false sympathy.

"Sera, don't be unreasonable. One short is one short. How can we break the rules?

"Wait until next year. If you grow enough next year, I promise I'll give you the grandest ceremony."

Another year, huh? This would be the ninth one.

"Rules?" Tears spilled from my eyes as my voice turned hoarse. "Are the rules more important than all the years we've spent together? Thorne, I really can't wait anymore…"

This might have been the first time I'd ever lost control in front of him. For a moment, Thorne wavered.

He sighed and wiped away my tears with his thumb. His touch was warm, but it did nothing to warm my heart.

"Sera, don't push me. I'm the Alpha King. I'm not just responsible to you, but to the entire pack.

"Our bonding ceremony has to be perfect, without a single flaw. Understood?"

My whole body trembled. I was about to tear away the facade and reveal exactly where that missing flower had gone when a soft, sweet voice called out from behind us.

"Alpha King Thorne!"

It was Willow Clearwater's voice. She had come to the flower garden too.

The moment she entered, she threw herself into Thorne's arms. Thorne didn't push her away. Instead, he caught her waist and held her steady right in front of me.