CHAPTER ONE

DELILIAH

“Deliliah, what have you done?!”

The words echoed through the temple, but they barely reached me over the sound of my own heartbeat.

I knelt on the cold stone floor, my palms pressed flat against the ground to keep from collapsing. The sacred circle of priestesses loomed around me, their faces twisted with disgust, their whispers cutting deeper than any blade.

My head throbbed, threatening to pull me into darkness. But I forced myself to stay strong tonight. Because my life...no, my very existence depended on the outcome of this meeting, and I couldn't afford to show any more weakness.

Not after the crime I'd just committed.

Not after him.

“Do you understand the consequences that loom over you and that boy after what you two did?” One of the older priestesses said, her voice filled with disgust. “Just imagine! A priestess losing her purity to the alpha's adopted son! Imagine what the wolves of the pack would say when they find out about this...this scandal!”

Another voice joined, smooth and condemning. “She must have been deceived by his sweet words. Charmed by his false promises and led astray. A pity, truly.”

My wolf and I immediately took offense to her words. I was never forced to do anything I didn't want to do. And truthfully, I still couldn't bring myself to regret it. But my instincts told me that saying those words would only worsen my situation, so I focused my attention on my mentor, who has been standing at the center of the circle all this time.

“So what is going to happen to Viktor and me now?” I asked. My throat felt dry and painful after kneeling in the stone of Punishment, but I didn't let that stop me.

If there were anyone who could offer me some form of leniency, it would be this woman who held the highest power in the order of the Moon Priestesses.

The High Priestess let out a disappointed sigh as she clasped her hands in front of her, watching me with calm, wise eyes. She always had a way of seeing through me since I was little, so I knew it was meaningless to pretend now.

“Did you love him?” she asked, her voice resonating through the silent temple walls. Moonlight spilled through the temple's open roof, falling onto my figure. It should have scared me to have the moon goddess witness my act of disobedience.

But instead, my head lifted with defiance. If love were a crime, then I wanted to be the world's greatest criminal for the one I had chosen.

“Yes, I do,” I whispered, though my voice trembled.

The old woman sighed.

“It is a pity that he doesn't share the same sentiment with you, my dear,” she said, steady and firm. “He has agreed to leave the pack alone on the condition that Alpha Rafael spares his life.”

My breath caught after hearing her words. “What..?”

“He does not love you, Deliliah,” the High Priestess declared, her gaze piercing as she gave her verdict. “And now you shall pay for the cost of your mistake. You are to be imprisoned in the Hall of Punishment for three years.”

My hands, clutching my dress, suddenly trembled as I tried to protest. “Wait a minute. What do you mean Viktor is gone—”

The old woman continued to speak. “You will not speak with anyone. You will bear the mark of the Forsaken, those who have abandoned their vows towards the moon goddess for... worldly desires.”

Something in me shattered.

I sank to the floor, struggling to process her words. It felt like the world around me had faded away to this single revelation that she just made to me. My chest felt tight, and my hands kept trembling no matter how hard I tried to stop them.

Viktor...had abandoned me and fled the pack to save himself.

It felt like the moon goddess had finally stripped me of the one last important thing to me, leaving only emptiness and darkness. For a moment, I allowed the despair to consume me, leaving me grieving for the one who had betrayed me.

The priestesses’ countenances changed once their eyes landed on me again. Faces filled with disbelief, shock, and awe looked upon me like I had suddenly sprouted wings or something.

“It cannot be,” one of the old priestesses gasped, pointing at me with shaky fingers. “Evelyn, are you seeing what I am seeing?”

“I-Impossible!” another voice stammered. “H-How did she manage to retain her powers after losing her virginity?”

Me? I could barely register their words as I raised my fingertips in the air, letting the glow between them grow bigger until it felt too big for my body to contain. My body thrummed with the familiar surge of power I had trained my entire life to wield.

The High Priestess stumbled at the sight of the crescent shape hovering over my head, shining like a crown of moonlight.

“Could it...be the Mark of the Moon's Chosen?” she murmured with reverence.

I felt the power drain out of my fingertips once she raised hers towards me. The large crescent crown instantly vanished, causing me to collapse on the stony floor.

For the first time since the meeting began, the old woman stepped down from the high platform and walked towards me with slow, steady steps filled with authority. Once she stepped a few metres from me, she finally crouched to her knees to look at me at eye-level.

“You were to be given the mark of the Forsaken, but instead you will be given the mark of the Moon's Chosen. For I cannot punish someone whom the moon goddess has selected for her great purpose according to the prophecy,” she said, her voice softer with love. “Swear your allegiance to the moon goddess once again, and I will clear you of all your charges. Promise me that you would never give your heart to another man again.”

Tears slid down my cheeks as I looked at her with pain and heartache swirling in them. Deep down, my wolf urged me not to make such a vow, for it went against everything I ever wanted for myself.

Why should I refuse it? What else is left for me?

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing. Viktor made sure of that when he left.

My chest tightened with something cold and unrecognizable, settling deep in the place my heart used to be.

"I swear my sole allegiance to the Moon Goddess," I said, my voice quiet and final. "I swear I will never be led astray by love again. Never again."

The moment I said those words, it felt like something in me just died. I spotted a smile bloom on the Head Priestess's face, sending a chill down my spine.

For the first time throughout the night, I truly felt afraid.