I was the Alpha's lost bloodline, raised far from home. I was thin, pale, and covered in ugly scars no one wanted to look at.

Lucia Abbott was the pack's jewel, carefully raised and fiercely protected. She was beautiful, powerful, and loved by everyone.

Before she fell from the cliff, her soul scream tore through the entire pack.

"Lyla joined the enemy! She tried to kill me!"

No one questioned it.

After all, who would believe a filthy lone wolf over someone as pure as moonlight?

My fiancé chained me to the ritual altar.

My father lit the Moonfire Trial fire with his own hands.

The flames burned through my wolf spirit, ripping my memories apart and forcing them into the sky for everyone to witness.

It was a public execution offered to the entire pack.

But the truth was worse than death.

It was slow destruction, carved piece by piece.

"You're late."

Lucia Abbott stood at the edge of the cliff, her silver hair glowing under the moonlight.

"You wanted to see me?" I asked.

"Do you know about the witch's prophecy?" she said.

"What prophecy?"

She stepped closer to the cliff, her heels nearly hanging over open air.

"The prophecy from the Northlands witch. She said..."

She paused, eyes locking onto mine.

"She said the true bloodline is about to awaken. The exiled daughter will take everything back. Dad's love, the pack's authority, and... Caleb."

She said Caleb Wright's name softly, but it cut deep.

"That's nonsense," I said. "I only came back to—"

"To what?" she snapped, her voice suddenly sharp. "To destroy everything I have? I've lived in this family for 15 years. 15 years!"

I took a step back. "Lucia, I never thought—"

"But I did!"

Her smile twisted, tears shining in her eyes.

"I've imagined it so many times. How peaceful things would be if you'd just died. If the werewolves who took you had torn out your throat."

"You knew about me being taken?"

My voice tightened. I refused to let my mind go there.

"Dad mentioned it once when he was drunk."

She tilted her head, resentment burning openly now.

"The enemy used you to lure Mom away from the battlefield. She left to find you and got surrounded and killed. Dad was badly injured searching for both of you. He can never have pups again."

The truths I had avoided for years were suddenly dragged into the light. Guilt crushed the air from my lungs.

"You already destroyed this family once!"

Every word stabbed into my chest like ice.

Silence spread between us.

When she spoke again, her voice was calm.

"Lyla, I don't have a choice."

By the time I realized something was wrong, it was already too late.

She lunged forward, nails digging deep into my skin.

She whispered, "Guess who they'll believe. You or me?"

Then she released me and leaned backward.

"Lucia!"

But it was too late.

Her body dropped over the cliff.

A scream exploded instantly through the pack's mind link. Not from below the cliff, but directly inside every wolf's head.

It was a desperate soul cry, powered by her own life force.

"Lyla joined the enemy! She tried to kill me! Help!"

The terror in her voice felt horrifyingly real.

I stood frozen at the edge, my hand still hanging in the air where she had been.

Footsteps thundered behind me.

"Lucia!"

Caleb's roar came first.

He jumped off the cliff without hesitation, his claws scraping sparks from the rock as he descended.

More pack members rushed in behind him.

"Down there! She's down there!"

"Caleb found her!"

"That's so much blood..."

"Is she still alive?"

Amid the chaos, I couldn't move. My hands and feet felt numb with cold.

Caleb leapt back onto the cliff, Lucia cradled in his arms.

Her white dress was soaked dark with blood.

A brutal claw mark tore across her chest.

"I need a healer!" Caleb's voice shook. "Get a healer now!"

"Lyla!"

My father's furious roar crashed over me, his Alpha pressure forcing me to my knees.

Everything was happening too fast, but I forced myself to speak.

"It wasn't me. She set me up! She said I'd take everything from her, so she—"

"She risked her life just to frame you?" the grand elder, Russ Cooper, cut in.

He looked at me as if I were something filthy stuck to his shoe.

"Lucia is the most gifted werewolf this pack has seen in a century. Why would she risk dying just to accuse you? That's ridiculous!"

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out.

Because Russ was right.

Whispers spread through the crowd like rising tidewater.

"She's a wild wolf that could never be tamed..."

"She actually attacked her own sister."

"What did she leak to the enemy?"

Questions slammed into me one after another.

I shook my head. "I didn't leak anything. After I came back, I didn't contact anyone. I stayed in my stone cabin most of the time."

Russ immediately seized on my words. "No one paid attention to you, so you grew resentful of the pack's neglect and decided to take revenge?"

"That's not true!"

"Then what is?" My father finally spoke again.

He stepped forward. His voice sounded rough, and I saw red veins lining his eyes.

"Tell the truth. Who did you meet? What did you give them?"

"No one!" I stared straight at him. "Mom died for the pack. I would never—"

"She died because of you!"

His face hardened.

"If you had listened back then, you wouldn't have ended up lost outside the pack. I wouldn't have needed to adopt another pup to replace you. So in the end, you grew resentful. Is that it?"

Replace me.

So that was how he saw it.

"You really think I'd betray you?" My voice trembled despite myself.

My father's Alpha pressure pressed down harder. "Lyla, this is your last chance. Tell the truth."

"I am telling the truth!"

He stayed silent for a long time.

"I don't believe you."

Something inside my chest shattered at those quiet words.

"Alpha." Russ stepped forward. "This concerns the survival of the pack. I formally request we begin the Moonfire Trial."

The moment those words were spoken, the pack erupted.

Everyone knew what that meant.

The Moonfire Trial was a forbidden ritual.

The accused wolf's spirit would be burned, its memories ripped out and forced into the open.

Once the fire started, it wouldn't stop until death.

"That's a death sentence," a young wolf blurted out. "Even if she betrayed us, shouldn't we question her first—"

"What if she's stalling for time?" someone else shouted.

The pup's mother quickly covered his mouth, urging him to stay quiet.

"Start the trial!"

"Begin the trial!"

The crowd's anger surged higher and higher.

My father looked at their faces, then back at me.

"Dad." My voice shook. "I'll die."

"If you're innocent, the trial will prove it."

His voice sounded strained, as if he was forcing the words out.

"But if you really joined the enemy... Your mother wouldn't want to see you like this."

"I didn't!" I finally broke. "Why won't you believe me?!

"Is it because I'm not as beautiful or strong as Lucia? Because you think my return ruined your perfect family?"

He didn't answer.

He turned to the warriors instead. "Bring the chains. The trial begins at dawn."

Two warriors dragged forward silver chains.

"No..."

The moment the shackles snapped around my wrists, the silver burned into my skin. Pain exploded through me, tearing a scream from my throat.

They dragged me away from the cliff, through the crowd.

Pack members spat and threw stones at me.

The dungeon gate slammed shut behind me, and darkness swallowed everything.

What would they see tomorrow?

Would they see the moment 15 years ago when the enemy tore me from my mother's arms?

Would they see the nights I nearly froze to death in the snow?

Would they see the three years I spent wandering just to find my way home?

I pulled my knees tight to my chest and buried my face in my arms.

When the sun rose tomorrow, when the flames were lit, everything would end.

I hoped my father would see clearly.

He had to.

Dawn came too fast.

The guards dragged me out of the dungeon.

The square was already packed with onlookers.

My father stood before the altar, wearing formal Alpha robes.

Caleb stood to the right in full armor.

Lucia was in a coma, too badly injured to attend.

She played the perfect victim.

Two warriors gripped my shoulders and hauled me forward.

They forced me down in front of the pack. My knees slammed against the stone with a dull crack.

"Lyla," my father said, "you stand accused of attempting to murder your fellow pack member, Lucia, and conspiring with outside enemies. Before the trial begins, you may give a final statement."

I lifted my head and met his eyes. "Dad, last night at the cliff—"

"Get to the point," Russ interrupted. "Did you betray the pack?"

"No."

I looked at my father, pleading silently for him to believe me just once.

"I didn't."

Boos rose from the crowd.

"Then why is Lucia injured?"

Caleb's golden eyes locked onto mine, sharp enough to cut through bone.

"Lucia was afraid the prophecy would come true. She thought I'd take everything from her."

His stare made my throat tighten. My voice came out dry.

"She framed me. All of this was her doing."

"What prophecy are you talking about?" my father asked.

I hesitated. Would they believe me?

"Nothing to say?" Caleb's voice turned cold. "Because there is no prophecy. Right?"

"There is!" I raised my voice. "She told me herself last night. She said a witch prophesied my bloodline would awaken. She said—"

"Where's the proof?" my father cut in.

Right. Proof.

No one else had been there. Only her and me.

"I'll find evidence," I said.

My father closed his eyes and drew a slow breath.

"Do you accept the trial?"

"What if I don't?"

I clung to the last fragile hope that he might still give me another chance.

"Refusal is an admission of guilt," my father said, staring straight at me. "And those who confess are executed immediately."

Wind swept through the square. Torches crackled in the cold air.

What difference did it make?

Something inside me finally went still. I stopped hoping.

"I accept."

At least the trial might leave behind the truth, even if it came too late.

My father nodded, his voice formal again.

"The Moonfire Trial requires direct contact with flame. Before the trial begins, the accused must remove their garments and stand exposed before the pack as a sign of repentance."

I froze.

"What?"

My fingers clenched around the rough leather cloak, trembling.

"I'm your daughter," I said, staring at him. "You really want me standing in front of everyone like this?"

"It is the procedure," he replied flatly. "If you're innocent, you won't fear showing your scars."

"This is humiliation!"

The words tore out of me, tears burning in my eyes.

"Then you shouldn't have done what you're accused of," Caleb said.

He gave a small gesture. Two female warriors stepped forward.

The moment they tore away my cloak, the crowd gasped.

"Moon Goddess..."

"Those scars..."

"The enemy must've done that."

"She said she escaped on her own. Maybe they sent her back as a spy."

My father stared at the long scar across my back. His lips moved slightly.

"The enemy did this, too?"

"No. After I escaped, a snow leopard attacked me. Someone stitched the wound with bone needles. Seventeen stitches, no medicine, no herbs to stop the bleeding. I thought I was going to die, but I woke up."

I looked up at him, tears finally falling.

"Because I kept thinking that once I crossed seven more mountains, I'd see the pack's signal fires. I just had to make it home. My father was waiting for me."