Chapter 4

Night fell, and I sat alone in my cold room.

The decree stripping me of my Luna title had just arrived. Damian's flamboyant signature stared at me like something alive, grotesque, and mocking.

I stared at the blank space where my Luna name should have been, my gaze empty.

I didn't cry. My tears had long since dried.

Suddenly, my chest convulsed with pain.

A wave of indescribable grief washed over me.

I felt it clearly—my destined mate had marked another she-wolf.

I collapsed to the floor, powerless, gasping for air.

Then, a mind-link pierced into my mind without warning.

It was Chloe.

"I've officially been accepted into the Blackrock pack. When Damian left his mark on my neck, he was gentle. Too bad you never got to feel that."

Her words were the last straw, snapping the taut cord of my sanity.

I pressed my hands to my smooth neck, feeling as though I could no longer breathe.

Suddenly, the door burst open, and Chloe's loyalist entered, sneering, holding a steaming bowl of herbal tonic.

A pungent stench immediately filled the room.

I recognized the smell instantly.

It was wolfsbane.

I understood his intent immediately.

I struggled to resist, to get back on my feet, but my heartbroken, exhausted body wouldn't obey.

The scalding wolfsbane was forced into my mouth.

A scorching agony flared from my throat all the way down to my abdomen.

Like a ball of flame, it raced through my body, threatening to turn both me and my unborn pup to ash.

At that moment, I finally understood.

Every vow had been a lie.

My unborn pup and I had been nothing but a joke.

I had been nothing but a mere tool.

The last thread of light vanished, and darkness swallowed me whole.

My consciousness began to blur.

The red antidote—the only thing that could counter wolfsbane—was the final thread keeping me awake.

Right then, cold and familiar footsteps echoed from the distance.

I struggled to open my eyes, my vision blurry, only to make out two figures entwined together.

It was Damian. And at his side, clutching his arm, was Chloe.

She deliberately swept her long hair aside, exposing the mark on her neck. Her voice dripped with saccharine sweetness. "Eva, my mating ceremony with Damian is set for next month. The pack can only have one Luna, so you'll need to pack up and leave as soon as possible."

The agony in my abdomen nearly made me pass out. I stretched a trembling hand toward Damian, my voice hoarse. "Damian… The red antidote… Give me the red antidote…"

Damian's cold gaze swept over me, taking in every ounce of my suffering, before finally resting on the unsigned decree on the table.

"Still acting, are you? I don't have time for your silly performance. Sign it," he said, indifferent.

"It was her! She poisoned me!" I pointed at Chloe with all the strength I had, my voice shaking with pain.

Chloe instantly shrank against Damian, feigning fear. "She's accusing me… Darling, I'm so scared…"

Damian's impatience vanished, replaced by utter disgust. He sneered, "Hopeless wretch. Until you sign the decree, you will not step out of this room!"

With that, he summoned a squad of guards to stand watch outside my door.

Damian left, Chloe in his arms, her satisfaction obvious to anyone who looked.

Before leaving, Chloe glanced back at me, her eyes locking on my abdomen, a cruel, triumphant smile curling her lips.

The door slammed shut behind them.

The searing pain in my belly and the icy chill of despair intertwined—but they couldn't extinguish the flame of vengeance igniting in my heart.

My pup… I had to save my pup!

With no way out, I would carve a lifeline with my own life.

I struggled to tuck the decree into a deerskin pouch, pressing it close to my body.

Then I sent a mind-link to Liam, asking him to bring the red antidote and meet me.

The rendezvous point was the deep pool beneath the castle.

Moments later, Liam arrived.

I pushed open the window. The deep pool below the castle yawned like a bottomless black void.

I took a deep breath, gathering every last ounce of strength, and leaped toward the abyss.