Chapter 2

"You want to know the truth?"

I wiped the blood from my cheek, my voice chillingly calm.

"The truth?" Riven scoffed. "What lies are you going to spin now?"

"That man with the golden hair," I pointed at Damien in the vision. "He's my brother..."

"Making up more stories?" Jenna cut me off, her eyes shining with triumph. "Is that what you call them all? Every Alpha you crawl into bed with is your 'brother'?"

The pack burst into jeering laughter.

I closed my eyes. The memory hit me like a physical blow. My father, the Alpha King, on his throne. His voice like ice. "You will be a political pawn."

"I won't be a political pawn!" I had shouted. "I'll prove my own worth!"

"Enough! You are a princess. You don't have a choice!"

That night, I ran away from the capital.

I came to this barren wasteland and hid my identity.

I just wanted to prove I could build something on my own, without the shadow of my royal blood.

Then I met Riven, a desperate, failing Alpha.

When I felt the fated bond snap into place between us, I chose him. I chose to trust the Moon Goddess.

For five years, I used all my knowledge, my resources, and my connections.

Every strategy, every battle, every negotiation—I poured my soul into them.

I thought our bond meant something. I thought he would cherish me.

I was going to give him the world. An introduction to my father. A chance at the throne itself.

And now, the future I had planned for us, the ultimate surprise... he had just burned it all to the ground.

"That man is my brother!" I opened my eyes and screamed, my voice raw. "Crown Prince Damien! "

"Hahaha!" Jenna laughed so hard she cried. "The Crown Prince? Are you saying you're a princess?"

"If you're going to dream, at least make it believable!" Mark mocked.

The pack’s laughter was a tidal wave. It crashed over me, pulling me under. Drowning me.

Riven walked up to me.

For a flicker of a second, I saw something in his eyes beyond the coldness—a flash of insecurity, of resentment.

He hated that I was the reason for his success.

He hated the way other Alphas looked at him, with a respect he knew was meant for me.

He needed to prove, not just to the world but to himself, that this glory was his and his alone.

That flicker vanished, replaced by a sneer as he looked down his nose at me.

“Renata, I thought you were just vain. I didn’t realize you were insane, too.”

He turned and took Jenna’s hand, his grip almost possessive, as if she were a prize he had truly won on his own.

“Tonight, I have another announcement,” his voice boomed across the camp. “Jenna will be my Luna!”

They raised their wrists. Freshly inked Blackmoon tattoos marred their skin—the black crescents that marked them as intended mates.

"Congratulations, Alpha!"

"Congratulations to our future Luna!"

The pack surged forward, offering their blessings.

Jenna leaned against Riven, smirking at me.

"See?" she whispered, her voice a venomous caress in my ear. "This is where a true Luna stands. You? You were just a means to an end. A tool to be discarded."

Riven wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead.

"From now on, the Blackmoon Pack has only one Luna. And it's Jenna."

I watched it all, and my heart died.

Five years of devotion. Five years of fighting side-by-side. Five years of weathering every storm.

In his eyes, I was just a pawn to be discarded.

I stumbled back, away from the roaring bonfire and the cheerful crowd.

The wind howled across the snow, the biting cold a brutal slap of reality.

Oh, Riven. Was it power you wanted? Status? Glory?

I gave you all of it.

But you were greedy. You had to trample my dignity and steal everything from me.

I looked back at the couple embracing in the firelight.

If you can be this heartless, then don't blame me for what comes next.

I dragged you from the mud and lifted you to the heavens.

Now, I will personally drag you down to hell. And I will bury you myself.