Chapter 2

Chad seemed stumped by my question, and for a moment, the line fell into silence.

I saw his lips part, as if he wanted to say something. But before he could, Maddox snatched the phone from his hand.

"Tessa, do you have no shame? Do you think everyone is a fraud who steals the future Luna's place like you? I suggest you stop clinging to your delusions!

"You should just be a good little maid to Yelena to atone for your sins, and quit doing these pathetic things that bring disgrace to the entire pack!"

After that, he hung up without hesitation.

Chad frowned, seemingly displeased by what Maddox had done. But in the end, he said nothing.

While leaning against Chad's chest, Yelena reached out gently to pat Maddox's head, her touch soft yet carrying the air of a victor as she soothed him.

"There, there, Max. Don't be upset. I'm sure Tessa didn't mean it. She just needs time to come to terms with everything, that's all."

Then, to Chad, she said, "Chad, I'm so happy today. Thank you for giving me such a grand ceremony. Let's not bother with people who don't matter."

At her touch, Maddox seemed instantly tamed, and the vicious anger on his face melted away. He nodded firmly, his eyes brimming with fierce protectiveness for her.

And when Chad heard Yelena say she was happy, the deep furrow between his brows finally eased completely.

Surrounded by their pack, they were escorted in a lively procession toward Chad's residence.

When the noise finally faded, I was left alone beneath the cold moonlight, like a pathetic sinner no one cared to acknowledge.

From within my pocket, I drew out a whistle carved from wolf fang. It was a token sent by the Alpha King's envoy on the day I came of age.

The Alpha King once told me that whenever I needed a true home, all I had to do was blow the whistle. All these years, I never imagined I would ever have to use it.

I raised the whistle to my lips and breathed life into the note that had lain silent for so many years.

Then, I turned and walked away.

I no longer wanted Chad's heart, a heart I had tried to warm for 15 years, only to find it forever cold.

That night, I tossed and turned in the small cabin at the edge of the pack's forest. Only when the sky began to pale with dawn did drowsiness finally creep in.

But just as I was about to fall asleep, a piercing alarm jolted me awake. It was the pack's emergency summons—something that only sounded in times of grave crisis.

I unlocked my phone, and at once a message from someone on the Council of Elders came through, their tone frantic.

"Tessa, tonight is the eve of the full moon, and the warriors on the border have been thrown into violent energy surges under its influence!

"The situation is dire, and only your mind force can bring their frenzy under control. You must go and aid Alpha heir Chad immediately!"

With that, he broke off all contact.

I could only laugh at the irony. So, in their eyes, I still had some use left after all.

Still, for the sake of the pack, I resigned myself and got up to put on combat gear that allowed for quick movement.

I opened the pack's intranet, only to find the entire page dominated by Yelena's brag post from last night.

There was only one photo. In it, Yelena's slender hand was enclosed in Chad's broad, well-defined one, their interlaced fingers adorned with a pair of matching moonstone rings. And on the back of Chad's hand, a faint claw mark lingered.

My heart, not long deadened, still throbbed with irrepressible pain.

He had gotten that scar during the pack conflict three years ago, when he shielded me from a frenzied beast's claw. And for all this time, I had taken it as proof that he loved me.

So he could, without the slightest guilt, use the hand that once risked its life to protect me to hold another she-wolf.

The last shred of longing in my heart finally withered away.

I pulled out a vial of stimulant potion and drank it down. With its boost, I swiftly pushed past my fatigue and adjusted my mind force to its peak state.

By the time I reached the border frontline, chaos had already consumed the place. I channeled my mind force, working to calm the warriors whose eyes had gone blood-red from the energy backlash.

But the task of soothing them was far more draining than I had imagined. Before long, my face had gone deathly pale, and sweat poured down my back in torrents.

However, someone shoved me hard from behind the next second.

Caught off guard, I crashed to the ground. The mind-link I had just managed to establish snapped in an instant, and the violent backlash of energy forced a mouthful of blood up my throat.

Behind me, Maddox's voice rang out viciously and furiously.

"Tessa, you damn leech! You even chased all the way here just to cling to him? Have you lost your mind?"

At some point, Maddox seemed to have forgotten who had dragged him out of a beast's jaws, and who had stayed by his side through the darkest nights when his awakening failed and the pack had mocked him.

Now, he had become Yelena's most devoted protector.

How laughable.

As I wanted nothing more to do with such a two-faced, ungrateful brother, I rose in silence and wiped the blood from the corner of my lips.

Then, expressionless, I fixed my gaze on him and gathered the last of my mind force, then hurled it like an invisible blast straight into his mind.

Taken by surprise, Maddox cried out in pain and clutched his head as he staggered backward. He then stared at me in shock, never expecting I would attack him this way.

Before he could react, I stared at him coldly and said, "Don't flatter yourself. Since you like being someone's lapdog so much, then be my guest. That strike was just payback for shoving me. From now on, we owe each other nothing."

I ignored the fury in his eyes and turned to resume calming the warriors.

Not far away, Chad was approaching with Yelena clinging to him, her face pale with fright at the chaos of the warrior's energy surge. He had seen everything that happened between Maddox and me just now.

Perhaps my defiance had startled him more than he expected, or perhaps it was the blood at the corner of my lips that stirred the last trace of guilt in him—either way, a flicker of unease flickered across his face.

Then, he said slowly, "Tessa, I know you're upset. Once this is settled, I'll have someone take you to get familiar with your new role as Yelena's personal maid.

"Don't worry. I won't mistreat you. You'll have your own room, and I'll see to it you're given better pay and treatment than the other maids."