Chapter 3

The next morning, the hospital called. My father was gone.

I stumbled through the doors shaking so badly I could barely stand.

"How… how could this happen?"

The healer pulled down his mask and let out a long breath.

"Cardiac arrest. He was severely agitated. We did everything we could."

I held my father's cold hand. The tears came before I could stop them.

He was the last person in this world who was mine. And now he was gone too.

I pulled out my phone and dialed Raymond. Again. And again.

"The number you have dialed is currently unavailable…"

The recorded voice droned on, indifferent.

After the hundredth call went unanswered, I gave up. I said goodbye to my father.

When I went to gather his things, his phone slipped out of his pocket. It was still playing a video on a loop.

The same video Charlotte had sent me.

So that was it. Charlotte had killed my father.

The room blurred. I went down.

When I came to, I was in a hospital bed.

Raymond sat beside me, dark shadows under his eyes.

The first thing I saw in his face wasn't worry. It was disappointment. Impatience.

"Aurora. Charlotte and I were up all night handling pack business, and you spent the whole night calling. Now you're putting on this whole sick act for attention."

"I'm not just your husband. I'm the Alpha. Get a grip on your jealousy and stop making scenes."

It was almost funny.

There was a time he treasured me like something fragile.

Once I cut my finger cooking, and his eyes went red. His hands shook so hard he could barely bandage me.

And now, when I collapsed, all he saw was a tantrum.

He stood to leave. At the door, he tossed back, "The Moon Goddess Festival is tomorrow. You're the Luna. Don't embarrass me again."

I watched him walk away, and I started to laugh. I laughed until I cried.

"Raymond. Soon you'll have a wife who won't embarrass you."

I went home. I opened the box. I swallowed the wolfsbane without a second thought.

The next day, the festival began.

The bonfires roared. The smell of roasting meat hung in the air. The pack drank mead and cheered.

Charlotte wore a wine-red gown, hanging on Raymond's arm, greeting the guests like she was the lady of the house.

I'd been up all night burying my father.

I looked ten years older than him. Worn through.

The pack stared at me with open contempt.

"Look at her. Hair a mess. Face a wreck. How does the Alpha stand it?"

"If you ask me, only Charlotte is worthy of the Alpha. She's elegant. She has grace."

Raymond looked at Charlotte with pride. He didn't say a word in my defense.

Then she came toward me, beaming.

My eyes locked on her ring finger. The signet of the Kirk family.

A pang shot through my chest.

That ring was the token Raymond gave me the first time we were together.

He'd sworn to the Moon Goddess that he would share his name and his power with me. That I would be his only mate.

But when my illness took hold and I started cutting myself, his guilt curdled into exhaustion.

He took the ring back. He stopped buying me jewelry.

And now I knew where it had gone.

"Luna, you should look after the Alpha better. He gets tired, you know. Stop performing for sympathy."

My nails bit into my palms. I felt nothing.

She leaned close to my ear. Her voice dropped, and the malice didn't even hide itself.

"How is your dear father doing? I should drop by sometime."

My whole body shook. My hands closed around her throat.

"Raymond! Help! Help, the Luna's gone insane!"

His face went black.

He pulled my hands off her, swept her behind him, and looked at me like he could kill me.

"Aurora! Enough! Torment me all you want, but Charlotte is innocent. How could you put your hands on her?"

His eyes caught the red marks on her throat, and he couldn't hide the way they ached for her.

She tugged on his arm right on cue, voice cracking. "Alpha, leave it. The Luna's just jealous you brought me. After all… I'm the one who shouldn't be here."

The wolves watched me with even more disgust.

Charlotte tucked herself into his chest and shot me a triumphant little smile from there.

I tore out of his grip and was about to lunge at her when—

A Beta burst into the hall.

"Alpha, it's bad! The heir Andre is missing!"