Chapter 1

"Whore?"

"The Alpha actually called Estella a whore?"

The werewolves present were all startled by the sudden turn of events. The sound of their whispers surged like a tide, nearly drowning me.

As I lay on the ground, I felt my mind go completely blank. Half my face had gone numb, but my heart was the first to sound a shrill alarm, weeping and crying out in pain.

Had I just… been rejected by the mate I had silently devoted myself to for three years?

Before I could get up, Ares Grant's voice rang out again. "What? Do you think it's not fair?"

He stood on the platform, took out a handkerchief to wipe the hand that had just struck me, and threw it into a brazier.

"Throughout this week, I've always smelled a Rogue's scent on you. Arthene said you often go out late at night and sneak around. At first, I didn't believe it, but…" Ares waved a hand. "Bring it up here!"

Two attendants carried a translucent crystal stone—that was about half a person's height—onto the altar.

It was the Moonbound Soulstone, a sacred object used by werewolf packs to test a mate's loyalty and the purity of their soul.

"Go on. Place your hand on it. Let everyone see how filthy the 'daughter of the Moonriver pack's Alpha' is beneath the skin."

It was only then that I recovered from the ringing in my ears and felt my body go cold.

I went out late at night? That was to gather Moonlight Herbs at the back of the mountains to purify Ares' Blood Frenzy!

The scent of a Rogue? That was the scent of decaying grass I accidentally got on me while brewing his medicine!

"I didn't…" I struggled to crawl toward the crystal stone, with each step causing me pain. "Ares, I'm pure… These three years, I…"

"Do the test!"

With tears in my eyes, I trembled under his Alpha aura and placed my palm on the cold Moonbound Soulstone. For three years, I had given everything—my body, my heart, my soul—to him and the pack.

A second passed, then two… The initially transparent crystal stone suddenly erupted with a cloud of black mist.

Black represented the deepest sin possible!

"Goodness!"

The crowd below the platform instantly erupted into murmurs.

"Black! That's the color of depravity!"

"She really cheated! She betrayed the Alpha!"

"Burn this whore!"

Countless malicious curses rained down upon me.

I stared blankly at the stone, which looked as if it had been splashed with ink.

Suddenly, I understood—for three years, I'd used my body as a vessel to absorb all the violence and Blood Frenzy from Ares' body.

Now, he radiated pure golden light, whereas all those filthy black energies had accumulated within my soul!

What it measured wasn't purity at all! It measured the sins I had borne for my beloved!

"You see that?" The last trace of hesitation in Ares' gaze burned away. "What else do you have to say?"

"No! This isn't an impurity!"

I shook my head frantically, trying to grasp his pant leg. "This blackness is the Blood Frenzy from your body! I absorbed it for you…"

"Enough!" Ares kicked my hand away. "Help me absorb the Blood Frenzy? You?

"Estella Simpson, you can't even catch a wild rabbit. You're pathetically weak, and you still want to take credit for Arthene's achievements?

"During the eruption of the Blood Frenzy, it was Arthene who rushed into the tent to calm me without regard for her own life!

"Last month, when the pack's water source was poisoned, it was Arthene who guarded the riverbank for seven days and nights to purify the water!"

He sized me up with a disgusted look. "Meanwhile, you only know how to use filthy means behind my back and sell your body to Rogues for a cheap thrill!"

Boom—

My mind went blank.

So... he always thought the one who saved him was Arthene?