Chapter 1

Iris’s POV

My hands shook as I stared at the report before me in shock.

“Wh…What? How can this be? Tell me this is not true!” I pleaded with the Healer, but he shook his head with a sorrowful look on his face.

“I’m sorry, Luna Iris. But it’s the truth. Your daughter has the Moonbane Curse,” the Healer said gently.

It felt like my whole world came crashing down at that moment. The Moonbane Curse was one of the rarest and deadliest diseases for young werewolves, and it had no cure.

I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

I glanced at my young innocent daughter, Evie, sitting across the room. When Evie saw me looking, she gave me a wide smile that caused my heart to ache. Evie had so much life in her. How could this be happening to her?

“How much time does she have?” I asked, returning her smile with a broken heart.

He sighed. “A month,” he replied.

I whirled around to face him with wide eyes. “What? A month?! But that’s not enough!” I cried, raising my voice.

The Healer gave me a sad smile. “There’s nothing like enough time to spend with a loved one. The only thing you can do is make sure her last days are her happiest.”

Tears welled up in my eyes. Evie had been having high fever, which was very uncommon for werewolves, so I had brought her to the pack hospital for a checkup.

“What do I do now?” I cried, covering my mouth in horror. “She’s only seven! I can’t lose her!”

The Healer shook his head sadly. “I’m really sorry, Luna Iris. I really wish there was something else we could do.”

My hands trembled as I took the test report from him. My chest tightened as reality dawned on me. My Evie was going to die soon.

“I don’t want to give you false hope, Luna,” the Healer sighed, “but there might be a cure for it.”

I froze. “A cure?”

Hope flooded through me, and my heart pounded in my chest as my eyes widened.

“The hospital is currently working on a cure for the Moonbane Curse. There has been very little success with the trial phase, so we're not really optimistic. But we'll keep on trying, hopefully, we might get something.”

I didn’t want to hope, but I couldn’t help it. Evie had a chance. She could get the treatment that she needed if the healers had a breakthrough.

“Mommy?” Evie’s voice came from beside me. “Are you okay? What’s wrong? Will I be fine?”

I wiped my eyes quickly, turning to my daughter with a fake smile. “Oh baby, of course you’ll be fine. You just need to sleep and eat a lot.” I said quickly, trying to reassure her.

I bit my lips as I tried not to cry, and I collected the files from the healer.

As we walked home, Evie rambled excitedly about her eighth year birthday coming up in a month’s time, and I tried to control myself from crying because without a cure, Evie was going to die in a month's time also.

Evie suddenly went silent, and I glanced at her with concern.

“Mom?” Evie said quietly, “Can daddy come for my birthday this time? I promise, I'll be good?”

Evie rarely asked for anything else. This had always been her only wish—for her father to be present for her, but Eric was never present.

Eric Cross was the Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack, and my mate.

Alpha Eric hated Evie because of me, and Evie was really suffering because of it. She had always craved that fatherly affection.

My heart broke, and my vision blurred with tears. At that moment I swore that I would do whatever possible to make sure that Evie got that fatherly affection, at least, until I was sure that Evie wasn’t going to die.

Immediately I got home, I put Evie to sleep and called Eric.

“Eric, we need to talk.” I said softly.

I could feel Eric’s irritation from the phone as he replied sharply. “What is it? I am very busy right now.”

I brushed off my hurt at his irritation. It was a normal occurrence, but it still hurt. “Please, you need to spend more time with Evie.” My voice shook.

Eric scoffed in annoyance. “Iris, you know that I don't have time for any of your games. Zara needs help with her daughter, Tiffany, so I have a lot on my plate right now.”

The mention of Zara, and Tiffany, her daughter, caused my heart to bleed. Zara was Eric’s first love who had disappeared several years ago, but had just returned now with her daughter, Tiffany.

I insisted. “But this is important, Eric.” It took everything in me to keep myself from breaking down at that moment.

He released an annoyed growl. “What could be so important that you kee—”

I cut him off. “Evie is very sick. She's going to die soon.”