جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 10

The words that destroyed my life came before the Blood Moon had even reached its highest point.“I, Alpha Kael Blackwood, reject Evelyn Ashford as my Luna.”For a heartbeat, I forgot how to breathe.The sacred square fell silent.Hundreds of wolves stared at me.My knees threatened to buckle, but I forced myself to remain standing.No.Not here.Not in front of the entire Blackwood Pack.The silver Moon Stone beneath my feet glowed softly, waiting for the sacred ceremony to continue.Instead, it became the place where my husband destroyed me.Three years.Three years of marriage.Three years of trying to become the Luna he deserved.Three years of believing that if I loved him enough, he would eventually love me back.I had been wrong.Very, very wrong.Kael didn’t even look at me.His eyes remained fixed on the woman standing beside him.Selene.His first love.The woman who had disappeared years ago.The woman everyone believed should have been Luna from the beginning.She wore a pu

Doctor Helena’s trembling fingers tightened around my wrist.“The only file they took… was yours.”For a second, the world around me disappeared.The cheering pack members.The blazing torches.The sacred square.Everything faded beneath the pounding of my heart.“My… medical file?” I whispered.Helena nodded, her face pale.“I locked every patient record before I came to the ceremony. When I returned to my office this afternoon, someone had forced the window open. Nothing was stolen except your examination report.”My throat tightened.“Did you tell anyone?”“Never.”“Not even Alpha Kael?”She shook her head immediately.“I would never reveal a patient’s condition without permission.”Relief washed over me, but it lasted only a heartbeat.If Helena hadn’t told anyone…Then whoever broke into her office had already suspected something.Someone had been watching me.“Who would want my report?” I asked.“I don’t know.”She glanced nervously over her shoulder.“But whoever it was knew ex

The words struck me harder than the cold night air.“Kill the Luna.”For one frozen heartbeat, I couldn’t move.Four cloaked figures stood between the ancient pines, their faces hidden beneath black hoods. Moonlight glinted off the silver blades in their hands, each weapon etched with runes meant to weaken werewolves.They hadn’t come to rob me.They hadn’t come to frighten me.They had come to make sure I never left this forest alive.My fingers instinctively covered my stomach.No.Not me.My baby.They were here for my baby.One of the men stepped forward, his boots crushing the fallen leaves beneath him.“The Alpha was foolish enough to let her leave alone,” he sneered. “Made our job easy.”Another chuckled.“I expected the former Luna to have guards.”“The proud ones always think they can survive without help.”I forced myself to breathe.Panic would get us both killed.There was only one narrow path behind me, winding deeper into the forest. If I could reach the river, the rushi

I couldn’t move.The words echoed through my mind like thunder.The last surviving princess of the Lycan Kingdom.It had to be a lie.A mistake.Some cruel joke the Moon Goddess had decided to play after everything Alpha Kael had already taken from me.“I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else,” I whispered, taking a step back. “I grew up in Blackwood Pack. My mother died when I was young. I don’t belong to any kingdom.”Commander Rowan lowered his head respectfully.“Your mother made certain that no one would find you.”“My mother wasn’t royalty.”“She was.”Silence settled over the clearing.The guards remained kneeling, their eyes fixed on the ground as though looking directly at me without permission would be disrespectful.Everything felt unreal.“If this is true…” My voice trembled. “Why was I abandoned?”Commander Rowan’s expression darkened.“You were never abandoned.”He looked toward the black carriage waiting beneath the towering pines.“You were hidden.”My fingers tigh

I stopped with one foot on the carriage step and looked back.The forest stood exactly as it had an hour ago — same trees, same shredded ground where the fighting had been — and yet nothing about it belonged to me anymore. My old life had ended somewhere in there, quietly, without a funeral. I wondered, not for the first time tonight, if I was about to make the same mistake all over again. Trusting someone with a crown because he’d asked nicely, because refusing felt harder than agreeing.I got in anyway.The carriage was more luxurious than anywhere I’d ever set foot. Velvet cushions. Gold thread catching the lantern light. It should have felt safe.It felt like a very beautiful cage.A crowned wolf was stitched into the curtains, the thread so fine it looked painted rather than sewn. Across from me hung a small family portrait, the faces worn soft with age, features blurred into suggestions rather than people — as if time had deliberately sanded them down. And beside the king’s seat