Chapter 7

It wasn't until my birthday was approaching.

Aiden finally rushed back to throw a lavish birthday banquet for me.

When I descended the stairs in my gown, he was waiting for me at the bottom.

I glanced at him, my expression exceptionally calm, almost too calm.

Seeing me like this, Aiden's expectant heart suddenly sank.

In his memory, I was always vibrant and fierce, not this pale, lifeless doll with hollow eyes.

"Elara..." He strode forward, wanting to embrace me. "Why do you look so pale? Are you not feeling well?"

I flinched away from his outstretched hands.

"Don't touch me."

My voice was hoarse and deliberately distant. "My wolf has been unstable lately. Her distress might affect you, and I don't want any mishaps before the coronation."

Aiden's hands froze in mid-air, and he awkwardly pulled them back.

"Alright, then you should rest. Today's banquet will be over soon, I promise."

But throughout the entire banquet, I was like an outsider, watching as Aiden celebrated my birthday just as he had in previous years, publicly professing his deep love for me.

The grand finale was, of course, the birthday gift.

Every year, he would prepare a unique and elaborate birthday present for me.

This time, it was a necklace he had begged for from the Alpha King, a royal heirloom called the "Tear of the Moon Goddess," a priceless artifact.

Legend said it could protect its wearer from all evil for eternity.

A chorus of gasps filled the room. It was a treasure even the royal family cherished.

But I lowered my eyes to hide the sarcastic glint in them, refusing the necklace Aiden offered.

"Have someone put it away for me," I said flatly. "I'm tired. I want to go back and rest."

A flicker of disappointment crossed Aiden's eyes, but he was still considerate enough to have someone store the necklace and personally saw me to the car.

Just as the car door was about to close, his phone rang.

He glanced at the screen, and his expression changed.

"Elara, I'm sorry." He leaned down, his face full of apology from outside the window. "There's a sudden situation at the border I have to deal with. Go back without me. I'll be right behind you, okay?"

I didn't expose his lie, just nodded.

Only after getting my permission did he kiss my forehead and turn to leave.

I signaled the driver to go.

The car had just left the estate when Cassia's mind-link came, right on schedule.

[True succession isn't something just anyone can witness. Want to know where your Alpha really went? Follow me. Come to the most sacred ground of Aiden's family.]

It was a forbidden place only successive Alphas and Lunas could enter.

I remained silent for a long time before finally telling the driver to turn around and follow Aiden's car.

The night was deep, and the barrier at the entrance to the sacred ground was surprisingly open.

Like an intruder, I walked step by step into the sacred cave I had only ever been able to gaze at from afar during grand ceremonies.

I looked up, and upon seeing the scene inside, I froze on the spot.

In the deepest part of the cave, before the massive, softly glowing-moonlight of the ancestral stone.

It wasn't just Aiden and Cassia.

Aiden's parents were there, along with some of the most powerful elders of the pack.

Reason told me to run, but my feet felt rooted to the ground.

I saw Cassia, dressed in a pure white robe, kneeling like a saint before the ancestral stone. Her hand rested on her swelling belly, a triumphant smile on her face.

And Aiden's mother, the former Luna who had always been so kind to me, was now gazing at Cassia with a loving expression.

"Good child."

She took out a shard of the moonstone, a Luna heirloom of the Black Moon Pack, and placed it in Cassia's palm.

"Although your blood is common, you carry Aiden's firstborn."

The old Luna's voice echoed in the vast cave, each word a hammer blow against my soul.

"As long as this child is born safely, and is a healthy Alpha... in my heart, you will be our Luna too."

The surrounding elders all nodded in agreement, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Aiden stood to the side. His brow was furrowed in what looked like a struggle, but he did not object.

In that instant, my world completely collapsed.

So Cassia had won the entire family's approval just because she was pregnant before me?

As long as one could produce an Alpha heir, even a Rogue model could be elevated to a divine status.

It seemed that so-called true love and vows were worth nothing at all.

I couldn't bear to hear another word. My clenched fists suddenly relaxed, and without a sound, I turned and left.

I walked faster and faster, as if a demon were chasing me.

My usually sharp senses failed to register the foul taint of dark magic clinging to the sacred air.

My walk turned into a run. I ran faster and faster until I tripped and fell.

In an instant, lightning tore across the sky, followed by a torrential downpour that swept over everything, blurring the world into a haze.

But I couldn't feel the cold.

Because my heart was already dead.