Chapter 3

I drifted in and out of consciousness as wolfsbane smoke gathered inside the moonless cell. Each time I surfaced, the room seemed to contain less air.

The same burning that had filled my lungs in the conservatory returned, sharper now that the vent was closed. My chest tightened until every breath became a shallow gasp, and I knew death had found me again.

I tried to raise my hand toward the door, but my arm fell back to the floor. Soon I could no longer knock or call out, so I curled against the cold stone and waited for my breathing to stop.

I had no idea how much time had passed when the heavy door finally opened.

A guard entered carrying the morning meal and a lantern. At first, he did not notice me lying beside the wall. He was about to leave when he saw the blood on the floor.

He crouched to check my breathing, then rushed out and called for a healer.

I was unconscious when they carried me back upstairs. The healer cleared the wolfsbane from my lungs and forced fresh air into them with moon-blessed water. It was late that night before I could breathe normally again.

Mother sat beside the bed when I woke.

“If you couldn’t breathe, why didn’t you knock?”

I looked at her but remained silent.

Father frowned. “There was a guard outside the cell the entire time. If you had made any sound, he would have checked on you.”

“No one would have heard me.”

It was always the same. I could call until my voice disappeared, and the moment people looked away, they forgot I had ever been there.

Adrian came to the bedside, his expression grim.

“You didn’t even try. How could you know he wouldn’t hear? You always lie somewhere waiting for people to find you, and then everyone is made to feel guilty afterward.”

The healer stopped putting away her bottles.

“The wolfsbane had already begun to paralyze her breathing. By the time the guard found her, she may not have been capable of making a sound.”

Adrian said nothing more, though he did not apologize.

A while later, he returned carrying a black wooden box. Inside was a silver moonstone pendant engraved with the Silver Moon Pack’s crest and surrounded by fine, blood-red lines.

“This blood-bound moonstone was made for you.”

Adrian pricked my fingertip with a silver needle and let one drop of blood fall onto the center of the stone. A faint red glow traveled along the carved lines before sinking into the moonstone.

“It is bound to your blood now. Press the silver moon crest, and Father, Mother, and I will receive a distress signal through the pack link. As long as it remains active, we’ll know you’re in danger.”

I held the pendant and felt warmth spreading from the stone.

“Will it still work when my wolf’s presence is so weak?”

“The blood bond doesn’t depend on your presence.”

Adrian fastened the chain around my neck and made sure the moonstone rested against my chest.

“Use it whenever you’re in danger. Stop lying down and waiting to die, and don’t expect us to realize something is wrong on our own.”

Mother adjusted the blanket beside my arm.

“We already lost you once, Ivy. We won’t let you face danger alone again.”

Father also promised that the moment the signal appeared, they would come for me.

In my previous life, no one had noticed that I was left behind the burning walls when vampires attacked the shelter. I had screamed and tried to follow the others, but all I could do was watch them vanish into the forest.

In this life, they had forgotten me inside the storage closet, and I had nearly died in the moonless cell.

The moonstone did not need anyone to notice my presence. As long as I had enough strength to activate it, they would know I needed help.

I closed my fingers around the pendant. I had spent every day since my rebirth waiting to die.

But with the moonstone warm in my hand and my family’s promise surrounding me, I made a different choice.

I wanted to live.

Over the next few days, my body gradually recovered. Then my parents came to the recovery room and told me they planned to take the family to the hunting lodge in the northern mountains.

Mother adjusted the moonstone pendant around my neck.

“You’ve only just returned to us, and you haven’t had time to become comfortable with your family. We’ll set aside pack business for a few days and go away together. It will give you time to get to know Brielle and Adrian.”

Father stood beside her, his voice solemn.

“We want you to feel that you truly belong in this family, Ivy. It will be only us, with no pack meetings and no one else demanding our attention.”

I looked at them for a moment, then nodded.