Chapter 1

“I’ve prepared everything for you, Lily.”

Alpha Wilson embraced me from behind and kissed the top of my head, his voice as doting as ever.

A full set of documents lay spread across the table:

a new passport, a new bank account, and a private villa in the far north.

Even my new identity had been arranged.

【Twenty-eight years old, widowed, no children.】

I stared at those few lines and suddenly found it almost funny.

I was still alive, yet my own mate had already arranged the life I would live after death.

“Once you arrive there, I’ll transfer money to you regularly,” Wilson said, taking my hand. “When Vivian gives birth to the heir, I’ll bring you back. Trust me—it won’t be long.”

He spoke earnestly, as if enough compensation could turn this betrayal into a harmless temporary parting.

My two brothers sat opposite us.

Xavier Voss was the pack’s Beta; Victor Voss was the Delta.

At thirteen I had been adopted by the Voss family. They treated me like a true younger sister, stood up for me, celebrated my birthdays, and had never hesitated to shield me when other werewolves mocked me.

It was through them that I met Wilson Sterling.

For the fifteen years that followed, Wilson and I grew to know and love each other.

I had believed I was already irreplaceable in their lives.

Only today did I learn that before me, they had a childhood sweetheart who had grown up with them, Vivian.

And I was merely the human girl who did not fit pack rules, yet whom Wilson had insisted on choosing.

“Lily, don’t overthink it,” Xavier said gently. “This is only a temporary measure. Vivian must give birth to a pure-blood heir so the Elders can rest easy. Once everything is settled, things will return to the way they were.”

Victor nodded in agreement.

“Everyone has seen how much Wilson loves you. Just wait a little longer.”

I lowered my eyes and said nothing.

In seven days the Blood Moon Pack would hold a banquet.

They wanted me to take the fake-death potion in public, creating the appearance of sudden death.

Afterward a private plane would take me north.

From that day on, Lily Sterling, Luna of the Blood Moon Pack, would become a corpse no one could find.

“Lily, do you understand? Can you accept it?”

Three pairs of eyes looked at me with expectation.

Under their hopeful gazes I nodded.

“All right.”

They clearly relaxed.

Wilson ruffled my hair and smiled. “I knew you’d understand.”

He glanced at his watch and stood, straightening his cuffs.

“That’s good, darling. The Pack is holding a welcome banquet for Vivian today. Time is almost up, I have to go ahead.”

Before he finished speaking, a soft female voice came from outside the door.

“Wilson, am I interrupting?”

Vivian pushed the door open.

She wore a long white dress, her eyes slightly red, as if she had suffered some great grievance.

“Of course not.”

Wilson immediately went to meet her.

Almost at the same moment Xavier and Victor also stood.

“Why are you crying?”

“Who bullied you? Tell us.”

The three men surrounded her, not even glancing at me again.

Vivian sniffled and gently shook her head.

“No one bullied me. It’s just that I’ve only just returned and I’m not used to things yet. I heard the Elders want me to get pregnant with an heir as soon as possible… I’m a little afraid.”

Wilson immediately took her hand.

“Don’t be afraid. I’m here. I’ll take good care of you.”

I suddenly remembered that when I was thirteen and first bullied by the pack’s children, I had also run to him in tears.

Back then he had held me the same way and said that as long as he was there, no one would be allowed to hurt me.

Now the same words were spoken to another woman.

And in my belly, his child was already growing.

This secret I had originally planned to tell him today.

“Wilson,” Vivian said timidly, looking at me, “Lily won’t blame me, will she? After all, once I returned, all of you have to busy yourselves for my sake.”

“Nonsense,” Wilson frowned. “You were always a member of the Blood Moon Pack, and the little sister we grew up with. Taking care of you is only right.”

Little sister.

I almost laughed aloud.

So fifteen years of knowing and loving each other, four years as Luna, could not outweigh a single phrase—“we grew up together.”

“By the way, Lily,” Xavier finally remembered me, “don’t you still have some things to pack? Before the banquet starts, go back to your room first.”

Victor chimed in, “Vivian has only just returned and needs us with her. You’ve always been sensible, don’t make a scene at a time like this.”

I looked at them and felt the last shred of expectation disappear.

“All right.”

I picked up the documents from the table and turned to leave.

Back in my room I locked the door and dialed a number I had not contacted for a long time.

The call connected quickly.

“Lily? Why are you suddenly calling me?”

Hearing my human best friend’s familiar voice, I finally showed the first genuine smile in days.

“Help me with something.”

“What is it?”

I looked out the window. The banquet hall of the Blood Moon Pack was already lit.

In seven days they wanted me to die in front of everyone.

Then I would give them a funeral they would never forget.

“In seven days, arrange an explosion for me.

I want everyone to believe that Lily is already dead.”