The Price of Luna

When the Black Forest pack guards surrounded me, I was gathering silverleaf for Killian.

Three days ago, he had been gravely injured while saving Elena after she ran away from home. The healer said only silverleaf could ensure his full recovery. Unfortunately, the herb only grew on the edge of the Black Forest pack's territory—a pack that had always been hostile toward our Moon Crescent pack.

For Killian's sake, I had ventured out alone. I never expected Elena to leak my whereabouts, which led directly to my intentional capture.

They wanted to use me to threaten Killian. But when they realized I was completely useless to him, they tore me to pieces in a fit of rage.

After I died, my soul floated into the air.

I watched those werewolves toss my remains aside like trash. Pieces of me drifted far away down the river until someone from the Moon Crescent pack finally spotted them.

The familiar scent instantly put our pack on high alert. Soon, someone brought a femur back to the pack house.

Killian stared at the bone, recognizing the scent immediately.

Looking at his tense face, my soul grew anxious. Would he grieve for me, seeing me dead like this? Or would he just find me troublesome and throw me out like he always did?

I guessed wrong. Killian didn't even recognize me.

"Are you certain this belongs to someone from our pack?" Killian asked.

"Yes, Alpha," the elder replied. "We checked it with the crystal. This femur belonged to an adult female from the Moon Crescent pack."

"There are bite marks on the bone. She was likely chewed to death while still alive."

The elders put it gently, but everyone in the room knew exactly what that meant.

Killian slammed his hand on the desk in a fury. "We cannot let the killers get away with this! We must avenge her!"

The elder sighed. "We’ve been finding more remains nearby. The pack is panicking. For the sake of stability, I'm afraid Miss Elena’s birthday party next week cannot be held as scheduled."

Elena had arrived at the Moon Crescent pack three years ago. Killian had rescued her in the wild, and she had stayed by his side ever since, claiming to be like a sister to him. To Killian, the young Elena was far more interesting than I was. They called themselves siblings, but she acted much more like his soulmate than I ever did.

Hearing that Elena’s party might be canceled, Killian countered unhappily, "Why should this conflict with her party? We actually need a grand banquet right now to lift everyone's spirits."

"But... your Luna, Sheilah, still hasn't returned," the elder noted. "Word is she went to gather silverleaf for you."

Killian scoffed. "I don't believe a single word. Sheilah would never go gather silverleaf! This is just another one of her lies. She ran away in a tantrum because she's jealous of Elena. It serves her right to suffer a little out there!"

Hearing those words, my dead heart somehow still ached.

As my fated mate, Killian hadn't even noticed my passing. Technically, the moment I died, our mate bond should have snapped. But in reality, that bond had already broken the day Elena arrived because he had been blocking our mind-link ever since.

Even though I was nothing but a pile of bones, Killian still hated me.

The elders spoke up again. "As your mate, Sheilah should be present for this birthday party."

"Staging a disappearance just to skip the party? Sheilah is acting entirely too childish!"

"Exactly! She is so reckless. How is she fit to be our Luna?"

None of them knew I was already dead.

Hearing the elders blame me, Killian frowned, his expression darkening.

Just then, Elena walked through the door. The moment Killian saw her, a smile finally graced his face.