Three days later, Amina deliberately set the kitchen on fire while cooking. The flames spread fast, and chaos erupted across the mining camp. Most of the werewolf guards were drawn away by the blaze.

Grabbing my chance, I slipped through the shadows and crept beneath the window of Butcher’s office. Voices drifted out from inside. Butcher was on a call, and he had it on speaker.

“Your sister sure is something,” Butcher said. “After everything she’s been through, she’s still alive.”

My heart shot straight into my throat.

A cold laugh came from the other end of the line.

“Die? No. She can’t die that easily. My Alpha father and that she-wolf mother of mine are still drowning in the pain of losing their beloved daughter. Before I fully take control of Embermoon Pack, she can’t die.

“Watch her closely on your end. She’s smart. Don’t let her escape, and don’t make things too easy for her. Take more photos and send them to me. Watching her suffer helps me vent.”

The moment I heard that voice—one I knew very well—my mind went blank. That was because it belonged to my brother, Gariel.

No… It was impossible. I had to be hearing things. It couldn’t be my brother.

A chill ran up my spine, and even my teeth began to chatter uncontrollably. I was so stunned that I lost my balance and knocked over a flowerpot on the windowsill.

“Who’s out there?” Butcher roared.

I turned and ran. There was nothing left in my mind but pure instinct screaming at me to escape.

“Catch her! Don’t let her get away!”

The werewolf guards closed in from behind.

Amina was waiting for me at the edge of the forest. She grabbed my hand, dragging me forward as we ran with everything we had.

“Hurry! Once we get over that mountain, we’ll be safe!”

However, no matter how fast we ran, we were still slower than silver bullets.

The moment a gunshot rang out, a sharp numbness exploded through my left leg, and I crashed to the ground. Fighting against the pain, I forced myself to get back up and keep running.

Butcher caught up quickly with his men, gun in hand, his face twisted in a cruel grin. He didn’t rush to capture me. Instead, he fired again, and the silver bullet grazed past my ear. A burning pain tore through it, yet I still staggered forward, refusing to stop.

Only after he had enjoyed my misery enough did Butcher fire once more. This time, the bullet slammed into my right leg. I collapsed, unable to get back up.

Butcher walked over and pressed the scorching barrel of his gun against my forehead.

“Run,” he mocked. “Go on. Keep running, Princess.”

He stomped down hard on the wound in my leg. The pain nearly knocked me unconscious, but I stared at him without blinking, carving his face into my memory.

Suddenly, Butcher laughed.

“You heard that call just now, didn’t you?” he said. “Aren’t you curious who was on the other end?”

That familiar voice echoed in my mind, and my face drained of all color.

Seeing my reaction, Butcher laughed even harder. “You guessed right. That was your brother, Gariel. Hahahaha–”

“Impossible,” I snapped back in fury. “My brother would never do this to me. I’m the one he loves most. You’re just saying this to torture me. I don’t believe a single word you say.”

“Oh? You don’t believe me?” he sneered. “He paid me five hundred thousand dollars to take good care of you. I’ve got the transfer records right here. Do you want to see it?”

He pulled out his phone, opened the transaction history, and shoved it in front of my eyes. My world collapsed. The very last fragment of illusion was crushed beyond repair. So, it had been him all along. The brother I trusted most and depended on was the one who had personally pushed me into hell, and I couldn’t understand why.

People in the pack had always whispered that my brother’s wolf form was too slender, that he wasn’t fit to become the next Alpha, and that my father intended to groom me instead. However, I had made it clear to him that I would never compete with him for the Alpha position.

I longed for freedom. I preferred traveling and wandering the world, and more than that, only I knew that the wolf inside me was different from everyone else’s. I could never become the next Alpha of Embermoon Pack.

If so, why did Gariel hate me so much?

I was dragged back to the mining camp like a dead dog. Right in front of me, Butcher hauled Amina into the center of the square.

“This,” he said, “is the price of betraying me.”

He ripped Amina’s clothes apart and shouted to the werewolf guards behind him, “She’s yours.”

I could only watch as those beasts swarmed around her.

Amina’s desperate screams and their obscene laughter tore into my ears. I thrashed wildly, a beastlike roar ripping from my throat. I tried again and again to call out to the wolf inside me, but there was no response. All I could do was watch as the only person who had ever shown me warmth in this hell was tortured to death before my eyes.

Bloody tears slid down my face as hatred ignited inside me, burning away what little sanity I had left. However, Butcher still wasn’t satisfied. He walked up to me, crouched down, and pinched my chin between his fingers.

“Keeping you here is a waste,” he said with a grin. “I hear the Wakha Pack deep in the jungle loves tender, soft-skinned she-wolves like you. Selling you to them will earn me another fortune.”

I was stuffed into a burlap sack and transported for what felt like endless hours. When the sack was finally ripped open, I found myself surrounded by dark-skinned savages with oil-painted faces. The way they stared at me was the same way one looks at a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

They tied me to a massive wooden frame, dry firewood piled beneath my feet. A man wearing a feathered headdress—clearly their leader—approached with a stone knife in his hand. He muttered something under his breath, as if conducting a ritual. Around him, the savages began to dance and howl with excitement.

I stared at the stone blade as it crept closer and closer to my heart, my mind still. In despair, I shut my eyes. I swore on my wolf that even in death, I would haunt Gariel and Butcher.

Just as the knife was about to plunge into my chest, the pack’s wooden gates exploded inward under a massive impact. In the next instant, countless silver bullets rained down like a storm. The savages who had been celebrating moments ago fell in droves.

Armed helicopters circled overhead, their overwhelming firepower sealing off the entire area. Fully equipped werewolf mercenaries descended from the sky, eradicating everything in their path with absolute force.

Through the smoke and chaos, a tall figure charged toward me like a madman. He sliced through the ropes binding me and wrapped me tightly in his blood-soaked coat. At last, I couldn’t hold on anymore.

Everything went black.

…

When I woke again, I found myself inside a white medical tent, surrounded by advanced medical equipment. I twitched my fingers slightly, and pain surged through my entire body.

“Veya!”

A familiar voice rang out. It was my mother, Hale.

She rushed to my bedside, her hair completely white, her face worn and hollow. Behind her stood my father, Lucius, leaning heavily on a cane, his body trembling.

“Father… Mother…” Tears flooded my eyes as I spoke, “How did you…”

“A mysterious person sent us a message. They told us you weren’t dead, that you were trapped in the frontier and in terrible condition. However, when I confronted Gariel, he poisoned your mother and me. He then placed us under house arrest and told the pack I was ill, claiming temporary control in my stead.”

My father clenched his fists, his face twisted with rage.

“I never imagined,” he continued, “that after all these years, I’d raised a beast, just like his greedy, heartless mother.”

“Father, you were poisoned? Are you okay?” I asked.

Seeing me anxious, my mother assured me, “Veya, don’t worry. Your father and I are fine now. That mysterious person helped us. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be here.”

She pulled me into her arms, her body trembling.

“Veya, I’m so sorry. We failed to raise Gariel. That’s why you went through all that suffering.”

At that moment, the tent flap was lifted. A silver-haired middle-aged male werewolf stepped inside. The powerful Alpha aura radiating from him made instinctive submission unavoidable. I recognized him instantly. He was the one who saved me.

Behind him stood an elegant female werewolf. The moment she saw me, tears spilled from her eyes, and she collapsed to the ground.

The male werewolf strode to my bedside, pushing my parents aside without hesitation. He dropped to one knee in front of me. His hands trembled as he reached out, wanting to touch my face, yet fearing he might hurt me.

Finally, his gaze fell to my right wrist. There, beneath the bandages, was a red birthmark shaped like a maple leaf. In that instant, his eyes turned red.

The male werewolf turned around and shouted toward the female werewolf who had collapsed nearby.

“Mona! We’ve found her! She really is our daughter!”

My father and mother froze where they stood.

“Sir, are you sure you haven’t mistaken her for someone else?” my father asked warily.

The male werewolf turned back to face them, his gaze instantly sharpening. He carried the crushing presence of a powerful Alpha, unique to one who stood at the very top.

“I am Drake Nocturne.”

The moment the name dropped, the cane slipped from my father’s hand and hit the ground with a loud clang.

Drake Nocturne was the Alpha of Shadowbite Pack, the strongest pack on the werewolf continent. The man controlled more than half of the continent’s mineral resources. He was also the legendary Alpha known for ruthless decisiveness and wealth beyond measure.

“Twenty years ago, my daughter was taken from me.” Drake looked at me, his eyes shimmering with tears as he said, “I searched for her for twenty years, turning the entire continent upside down. I never thought that all this time, she was suffering right under my nose.”

By then, the female werewolf, Mona, had been helped to her feet. She stumbled toward my bed and collapsed beside it. She clutched my hand tightly, sobbing as if her heart were being torn apart.

“My baby… I’m so sorry I’m late…”

I looked at those two strangers, yet an inexplicable sense of familiarity rose within me. The pull of shared blood stirred deep in my chest, impossible to resist.

I turned to look at my mother.

“So, I’m not your biological child?” I asked. “Is that why my wolf is different from everyone else in the pack?”

My mother stroked my head. She hesitated for a long moment before finally speaking. “Veya, your father and I found you when we were traveling. You were lying at the edge of Darkwood Forest, barely alive and almost eaten by wild beasts. I thought your family had abandoned you, so we brought you back to the pack.”

Mona reached out and gently cupped my face, her eyes filled with aching tenderness.

“My precious baby, I am your biological mother, Mona. I’m sorry,” she whispered. “It was my fault. I failed to protect you back then. You were taken away and made to suffer so much.”

Drake’s furious gaze swept over my father and mother before finally stopping on the countless scars covering my body.

“You will be repaid for raising my daughter,” he said. “But your son ruined her life. For that, I will make him pay.”

Suddenly, a loud commotion erupted outside the tent. Several large, muscular werewolf guards dragged another werewolf inside. His head was covered, and his hands were bound behind his back.

One of the guards yanked off the hood, revealing Butcher. His face was swollen and bruised, and more than half his teeth were gone.

The moment he saw Drake, he collapsed to the ground.

“Lord Drake! Mercy! Please!” he screamed. “I was just paid to do a job! I didn’t know she was your daughter!”

Drake didn’t even glance at him. Instead, he turned and looked at me, his expression softening.

“My daughter, this is my first gift to you.”

Then, he pulled a gun from a guard’s waist and placed it into my trembling hand.

“Do whatever you want,” he said. “It’s your choice.”

I gripped the gun, my fingers shaking slightly. As I looked at Butcher, he stared back in sheer terror.

“Miss Veya! Please! Please spare me!” he cried. “I have proof! I have all of Gariel’s recordings and bank transfer records! I’ll give you everything! Everything!”

I took a deep breath and raised the gun.

“Bang!”

The gunshot echoed through the tent, making everyone flinch.

Butcher collapsed limply to the ground, only to realize the bullet had struck the tent ceiling instead. He was so scared that he peed himself.

Drake glanced at him with disgust and ordered the guards to drag him away.

“I don’t want his life,” I said, lowering the gun. My gaze was icy as I looked at Drake. “I want to return to Embermoon Pack. I want to send Gariel to hell myself.”