I turned to look at Claude.

In this moment, I finally understood why his attitude had suddenly shifted.

It was all for Victoria.

Blood rushed to my head.

I bent down to pick up the phone and thrust the screen in front of Claude's face.

"So, this is what you meant by she'll never be a threat to my position?" I asked hoarsely. "You're paving a way for Victoria with the work I nearly died for?"

Claude's eyes wavered with guilt under my gaze. He looked away and said, "Heather, be reasonable. There's something I haven't told you. I'm planning to send Victoria into a political marriage.

"If it goes through, our pack will gain significant advantages. The other party is an Alpha from a major pack, so he has high standards. Victoria may be noble by birth, but her abilities are limited.

"Without some talent and achievements to her name, how could she establish herself there?"

His logic was flawless.

I let out an exasperated laugh and asked, "Then aren't you afraid I won't be able to secure my place in the pack?"

Claude hadn't expected this reaction from me. Anger flared in his eyes as he demanded, "Why are you being so petty? You're a powerful Beta, so the whole pack already acknowledges you.

"What use do you have for empty titles? But the same can't be said for Victoria. She's going to an unfamiliar pack. Without these accolades to her name, she wouldn't survive at all!"

Was that so? But how was it that I remembered, ever since Victoria came back, my glory and the faith of our pack had all become hers?

I'd once believed he simply didn't know how to love. But looking at the wolf before me, I realized I was wrong. In his subconscious, I was just a tool that needed no care, whereas Victoria was the one who needed protecting.

I was truly exhausted and no longer wanted to argue with him.

"Claude, please leave. I need to rest."

His expression darkened, and he threatened, "Heather, my patience has limits."

"Then stop being patient and just revoke my Luna position." I pointed at the door. "Get out, now."

Claude gave me a long, hard look, suppressing his anger. "Given that you've been wronged, I won't hold this against you. I'll pick you up tomorrow morning.

"If you've thought it through, the Luna position is still yours. Don't make a decision you'll regret."

He turned and left, his back still tall and proud.

Silence returned once more to the room.

I walked to my desk and pulled a thick stack of documents from a hidden compartment in the drawer.

They were the original manuscripts for the defense spell. On them were the restoration incantations that only I knew, something I'd traveled thousands of miles to obtain from the legendary mysterious priest.

As a core secret, not even the High Priest of the Moonwing pack, Fenris Kane, knew about them.

Originally, I'd planned to leave them for the pack, since the spell was my life's work. But now, I wanted to be selfish for once.

I tore the manuscript into tiny pieces and tossed them into the trash. Then, I turned and walked out the door.

Without the restoration incantations, the defense barrier would be on the verge of collapse at any moment.

Now, I was going back to take one last look at my life's work—not for Claude, but myself.

At the pack's ceremonial altar, Victoria stood on the elevated platform, draped in a pristine white robe like a holy maiden.

"I shall now activate the pack's territorial defense spell for everyone."

She raised the scepter in her hand.

Cheers erupted from the crowd. Some even knelt in worship, proclaiming that this was what a true Luna should look like.

I stood in the shadows of the crowd, watching yet another moment of glory that should've been mine being claimed by someone else. Despite myself, my heart clenched with pain.

Victoria wore a smug smile, her gaze sweeping toward me with open provocation.

I ignored her. I just wanted to see the results of three years of my hard work.

The spell activated, and a visible sphere of energy slowly expanded from the crystal ball.

If all went as planned, the spell would soon take effect.

Amid everyone's anticipation, the ceremony reached its critical moment. All hearts were in their throats.

But in the next instant, something went terribly wrong.

The crystal ball, which had been glowing softly, suddenly swelled and emitted a blinding flash. Then, it shattered into pieces with a bang.

Victoria screamed, clutching her eyes as the energy backlash sent her flying through the air before she crashed heavily to the ground.

The crowd erupted in chaos, staring at the shattered crystal ball, utterly bewildered about what could have gone wrong.

Claude rushed onto the platform and gathered Victoria into his arms, anxiously checking her injuries.

"Quick! Get a healer!" he roared, his eyes burning crimson like those of a raging beast.

Victoria sobbed heartbreakingly in Claude's embrace. "Claude, why did the spell fail? Did someone tamper with the crystal ball? My eyes hurt so much—am I going blind?"

The healer arrived swiftly, and Victoria gradually calmed down.

"What happened?" Claude finished calming Victoria and then roared at the crowd. "Who did this?"

His oppressive presence swept through the area, forcing everyone to their knees.

As panic spread, Victoria's personal attendant, Saskia Moor, darted out from somewhere and dropped to her knees with a thud.

She looked at me with a mix of resentment and a trace of inexplicable guilt.

"Alpha Claude, I know who sabotaged the spell!" Her gaze fixed on me, her implication unmistakable.

One by one, eyes filled with hatred or contempt followed her line of sight toward me.

Everyone knew that Victoria and I were the only ones with a history of bad blood.

A feeling of dread washed over me. Just as I opened my mouth to explain, Saskia pointed at me and said, "It was her, Beta Heather! This morning, I saw her enter the council hall.

"She said that if they didn't return the authorship to her, she'd destroy Ms. Victoria's life's work."

Trembling, she produced a memory crystal and projected its contents into the air.

The image showed me tearing up another copy of the manuscript and throwing the pieces into a trash bin.

I'd originally thought that if Victoria wanted to steal my achievement, she should be prepared to deal with the consequences. Never did it once cross my mind that this would become irrefutable evidence that I'd deliberately sabotaged the spell.

Claude turned to me with a cold gleam in his eyes. "Heather, do you have anything to say for yourself?"

All I felt was the ridiculousness of it all as I stood there watching this shoddy frame-up unfold.

I looked at Claude and asked calmly, "Have you verified anything? You're going to convict me based solely on an attendant's words and a few images of torn paper?"

"Silence! The evidence is right in front of us, and you still dare to quibble?" Claude rose slowly and walked toward me. "Heather, you have truly disappointed me. It seems you won't learn your lesson without punishment."

A surge of supreme Alpha authority crashed down upon me.

"Kneel," he uttered coldly. "We'll settle the matter of sabotaging the spell later. For now, kneel and apologize to Victoria."

"I didn't do it, so why should I kneel?" I retorted with a glare.

"Unyielding fool!"

My defiance seemed to enrage Claude further, and the weight of his Alpha authority intensified.

Before the crowd, I was forcibly crushed to my knees by the sheer force of his power.

"Guards, hold her head down. She will apologize to Victoria until she is forgiven!"

Ten years of battle merits I'd earned, and a body full of scars to show for it. Yet in the end, all they brought me was being forced to kneel before a thief in front of the entire pack, my head pushed down by the very wolf I loved.

Before I could react, the guards grabbed my head and slammed it against the ground toward Victoria again and again until blood seeped from my forehead.

The ground grew slick with blood. Through a haze of pain, I heard fragments of conversation between Victoria and Claude.

"It's alright, Claude. Maybe she didn't mean to do it."

"It's precisely because you're too kind-hearted that she dares to scheme against you. Keep going—are you all slacking off?"

Those were the last words I heard before I blacked out.

Something inside me died, because after that, I could no longer feel the pain.

When I woke up at the infirmary, Claude was sitting by the bed. His eyes were bloodshot, as if he hadn't slept all night.

"I might've gone too far last night." He raised a hand to touch my forehead, but I pulled away.

"Noble Alpha, you'd better keep your distance. After all, you wouldn't want a vile she-wolf like me to tarnish your reputation, would you?"

My voice was ice-cold, and it inexplicably irritated Claude.

"That's enough, Heather! Victoria's already agreed to let what happened last night slide, and yet you still have the audacity to make a scene?"

I glared at him fiercely, as if he were my enemy. "A scene? In your eyes, I'm always the one making scenes, always the unreasonable one. Get out! Go be with your precious Victoria! It's not like you'd believe anything I say anyway!"

With that, I turned my head away, refusing to look at him anymore.

This behavior seemed to anger him further.

He suddenly leaned in, pinning both my hands above my head with one hand while the other gripped my chin, forcing me to meet his eyes.

"How dare you act so self-righteous?" His breath washed over my face. "You're the one who made Victoria look bad over the authorship issue. We've already found the evidence, so is it really that hard for you to admit fault?"

Looking at him from such close proximity, I suddenly realized how unfamiliar this face had become.

"I told you, I didn't sabotage the spell. What I tore up was just the original manuscript. It had no effect on the s—"

"Shut your mouth!" He cut me off roughly. "Even now you're still lying? Heather, when did you become so vain and vicious? Isn't this all because you're jealous of how I treat Victoria? You want my affection, don't you?"

A flicker of obsession passed through his eyes. "Fine, since you want it so badly, I'll give it to you."

He lowered his head, ignoring my struggles as he forcibly tore open my collar.

His warm lips landed roughly on the side of my neck, carrying the weight of punishment.

He wasn't wrong. There was a time when I'd longed for this kind of deep intimacy with him. But I understood what he was doing to me now wasn't love, but humiliation.

It was the punishment a master inflicted on a disobedient pet, an attempt to use primal instinct to break my will.

His actions only made me feel disgust.

Just as his teeth were about to pierce my gland, I somehow managed to summon a burst of strength from somewhere deep within my already weakened body.

I wrenched my head to the side and bit down on his forearm with all my might.

Blood spread across my lips, its metallic taste filling my mouth.

Claude grunted in pain, his movements halting abruptly. He stared at me in disbelief, momentarily dazed as he looked at the deep, bone-baring teeth marks on his arm.

Seizing the opportunity, I shoved him away and scrambled off the bed. Then, I wiped my mouth repeatedly, as if it had touched something utterly filthy.

At last, the tears broke free—not just from hurt, but also from relief.

I looked at him, my gaze utterly hollow. "Claude, you truly disgust me."

Claude froze on the spot, as if he hadn't expected me to describe him as disgusting.

"This bite is to mourn the ten years I have given to a heartless wolf."

With that, I turned and rushed out without sparing him another glance.

Claude stood there dumbfounded. He instinctively moved to go after me, then abruptly stopped in his tracks.

Behind me came his enraged voice, "Heather, don't bother coming back! If you won't be Luna, there are plenty who will!"

I smiled self-deprecatingly. Still, I didn't look back.

Half an hour later, I stood at the security checkpoint at the human airport in new attire.

I took out my phone and noticed dozens of missed calls, all from the Council of Elders. They probably wanted to inquire about the defense spell.

I pried out the SIM card expressionlessly and, with a flick of my wrist, dropped it into the nearby trash bin.

Goodbye, Moonwing pack.

Goodbye, Claude.

From this moment on, Beta Heather ceased to exist.

And in her place, there was only Heather Ashwood—a human and a designer.