Chapter 3

Lucas, who had been pinning me down, froze. He stared at my face—twisted in pure, agonizing grief—and for a split second, his grip loosened in shock.

I didn't waste that second.

I shoved him off and scrambled on my hands and knees toward the spot where the bone had crumbled.

My fingers clawed at the dirt, desperate to catch even a few grains of the white powder before the wind took it all.

"Mom... don't go... please..." I sobbed, clutching a handful of useless dust.

"Ah!"

A sharp shriek cut through my grief.

I looked up to see Sarah throwing herself backward. I hadn't even touched her, but she slammed her body deliberately against a sharp protruding rock.

"My stomach! The baby! Help me!" she wailed, blood instantly staining her dress.

"Sarah!"

Bang!

A heavy fist slammed into my chest before I could even stand.

I flew backward, crashing into the stone wall. Blood sprayed from my mouth, staining the ground red.

Alexander stood over me, his eyes glowing a terrifying, irrational crimson. The Alpha power radiated off him like a physical weight, crushing my ribs.

"You crazy woman!" he roared. "She is pregnant! Even if you are jealous, how could you hurt an unborn child? You are vicious!"

"She... she destroyed it..." I choked out, blood bubbling in my throat, pointing a trembling finger at Sarah.

"It was an accident!" Lucas yelled, cradling Sarah who was wailing in fake agony. "Sarah is hurt! She's bleeding! Her energy is fading!"

Alexander looked at Sarah's pale face, then turned back to me. The hesitation he had earlier was gone, replaced by cold cruelty.

"If Sarah loses this baby, I will bury you with it."

Lucas looked up, panic written all over his face. "Alex, her pulse is dropping! The fetus is unstable! We need pure energy to sustain her!"

Alexander froze. Then, he looked at me.

"White Wolf Essence," he muttered.

My heart stopped.

"No," I whispered, backing away until my back hit the cold wall. "Don't you dare."

"It's the only way," Alexander said, his voice void of emotion. He walked toward me. "Ivy, give me your Essence Blood. Now."

Taking the Essence Blood by force was torture. It was a violation worse than death.

"I won't," I spat at him, hatred burning in my eyes. "I will die before I save her."

"You have no choice."

Alexander grabbed my arm, pinning me to the floor.

"Lucas, hold her legs!"

"I'm sorry, Ivy," Lucas said, grabbing my ankles. "But we have to save the heir."

"Let me go! I hate you! I hate you all!" I screamed, thrashing, crying, begging.

But they didn't stop.

Alexander summoned his claws. With a cold, clinical precision, he slashed my wrist deep, right over the artery.

He didn't just let it bleed; he used his Alpha power to force the essence out.

"Arghhhh!"

I screamed until my voice broke. Pain. Excruciating, soul-tearing pain. It felt like my marrow was being sucked out of my bones. My vision blurred.

My wolf howled in agony and then fell silent, curling into a ball in the back of my mind, too weak to move.

I watched helplessly as my glowing red blood filled a bowl. I watched Alexander feed it to Sarah.

Sarah drank it greedily, her cheeks flushing with color. Over the rim of the bowl, she smirked at me.

I lay on the cold stone floor, shivering, empty. My hatred was no longer a fire; it was a block of ice, hard and unbreakable.

"She's stable," Lucas sighed in relief, hugging Sarah.

Alexander looked at me. Seeing my pale, deathly face, a flicker of guilt finally crossed his eyes.

"Take her to the Healing Room," Alexander ordered the guards, his voice softer now.

He crouched down, brushing a strand of sweat-soaked hair from my face. "Ivy, stay there and recover. Tonight is the Mating Ceremony. Don't cause any more trouble."

He paused, trying to sound benevolent. "Once the ceremony is over, we will come for you. We'll still keep you in the pack. I promise, I won't let Sarah mistreat you. You still have a place here. We might even... give you a child of your own in the future."

I looked at him. I forced the corners of my mouth up into a weak, broken smile.

"Okay," I whispered. "I'll wait."

Alexander let out a breath, relieved that I was finally being "obedient."

"Good girl."

They left, taking Sarah to prepare for the wedding, leaving me broken on the floor.

Two hours later. The Healing Room was quiet.

The guards outside were lax, drinking and celebrating the Alpha's wedding. They thought I was a cripple now. They thought without my Essence, I was powerless.

I opened my eyes. They were clear and cold.

They were wrong.

They thought they took my power? They only took my blood.

The power of the White Wolf isn't in the blood. It's in the soul. It comes from the contract with the Moon Goddess.

The reason I was weak wasn't because they took my blood—it was because for twenty years, I had been pouring 90% of my soul's energy into the land to bless them.

But what is given can be taken back.

I stood up, swaying slightly. I grabbed a sharp dagger from the medical tray.

I slipped out the window, moving through the shadows like a ghost.

While the entire pack cheered for Alexander and Sarah in the square, I climbed the highest cliff on the edge of the territory.

The wind howled, tearing at my hospital gown.

I looked down at the pack lands. The lights were bright, the music loud. It looked so alive.

"Enjoy it while it lasts," I whispered.

I raised the dagger. I didn't hesitate. I sliced my palm again, right over the scar Alexander had made.

Blood dripped onto the earth.

"In the name of the White Wolf, I, Ivy, hereby sever all bonds with the Silver Moon Pack."

As I chanted, it felt like an invisible string in the air snapped.

"I revoke my blessing. From this moment on, the moonlight shall no longer favor this land. The prey will flee, the water will dry up, and the power will wither."

"Sever!"

An invisible shockwave blasted outward.

In the distance, half the celebratory bonfires in the pack lands suddenly snuffed out for no reason. The clear night sky was instantly choked by a gloomy haze.

Alexander and Lucas might have felt a tightness in their chests, probably dismissing it as pre-wedding nerves. They had no idea what they had just lost.

Done with it all, I climbed weakly into the off-road vehicle I had arranged beforehand.

"Let's go," I told the driver. "To the North."

Behind me, the once-glorious pack was losing its luster, swallowed by the night.

And I, rising from the ruins, was about to be reborn.