As my body was pulled from the desolate marsh, Kian, the Alpha I had been mated to for ten years, was in the middle of his Mating Ceremony with his Beta, Sienna.

My rotting corpse was mangled beyond recognition by layers of different wolfsbane poisons, my very bones stained black by the toxin's deep penetration.

Even the pack's eldest healer retched at the sight of it.

But, Kian, seemingly unfazed by the gruesome discovery, exchanged vows with Sienna before the Moon Altar.

They received the blessings of the entire pack, while no one remembered me, even though I had only been missing for three months.

It wasn't until my brother Ronan, the pack's Head Enforcer, began his investigation and found a shattered moonstone deep within my skeletal remains.

"Ronan... if anyone can hear this... the Rogue Alpha has infiltrated..."

The fragmented, static-laced voice that emanated from it made my brother freeze.

When the truth was finally revealed, I was proven to be not the traitor who eloped with a Rogue Alpha, but the hero who died protecting the pack.

And as for that Alpha who always looked down on me? He completely lost his mind.

As my body was pulled from the desolate marsh, Kian, the Alpha I had been mated to for ten years, was in the middle of his Mating Ceremony with his Beta, Sienna.

My rotting corpse was mangled beyond recognition by layers of different wolfsbane poisons, my very bones stained black by the toxin's deep penetration.

Even the pack's eldest healer retched at the sight of it.

But, Kian, seemingly unfazed by the gruesome discovery, exchanged vows with Sienna before the Moon Altar.

They received the blessings of the entire pack, while no one remembered me, even though I had only been missing for three months.

It wasn't until my brother Ronan, the pack's Head Enforcer, began his investigation and found a shattered moonstone deep within my skeletal remains.

"Ronan... if anyone can hear this... the Rogue Alpha has infiltrated..."

The fragmented, static-laced voice that emanated from it made my brother freeze.

When the truth was finally revealed, I was proven to be not the traitor who eloped with a Rogue Alpha, but the hero who died protecting the pack.

And as for that Alpha who always looked down on me? He completely lost his mind.

...

Ronan's body trembled violently at the sound of that familiar voice.

A hardened enforcer whose hands were made for guns and blades, he now found he couldn't even grip the tiny moonstone.

He desperately searched the fragmented message for more clues.

The moonstone flickered with a faint, pale light, but the voice was garbled and indistinct.

There was nothing else.

"No, it can't be her."

Ronan stared fixedly at the indescribable mass of rotten flesh on the autopsy table.

Her once slender, long fingers were now just ten bloody stumps.

The nails, along with the bones beneath, had been ripped out.

The body was swollen and deformed, the flesh completely putrefied.

My soul hovered in the air, watching his panic-stricken expression, my heart felt as if it were being squeezed by an invisible hand.

Back then, to avoid exposing the pack's secrets, I hadn't even had time to cry out his name one last time.

The healer beside him broke the silence, his voice cautious.

"Enforcer, are you alright? Do you suspect... this is Miss Wren?"

Before Ronan could answer, an elder pointed to the faintly glowing moonstone. "Calm yourself! A werewolf's form can change after death, and many voices sound alike."

"We can't determine her identity based on this alone!"

But Ronan rushed out of the autopsy room, frantically dialing the number he had despised for three months.

"Kian, what you said three months ago... that Wren betrayed the pack and ran off with the Rogue Alpha... was it a lie?!"

Hearing his name again, my soul jolted, and a sharp pain shot through me.

The agony of our severed Mate Bond was more excruciating than death itself.

The sound of boisterous cheers and clinking glasses came from the other end of the line.

Kian's voice was lazy yet cold, laced with an Alpha's inherent arrogance.

"Enforcer Ronan, today is my union ceremony. Did you bring up that bitch just to piss me off?"

He paused, the sarcasm in his voice was practically dripping through the phone.

"What, you're questioning me now? Trying to clear your promiscuous sister's name?"

"Weren't you the one who personally reviewed all the evidence back then?"

Ronan suddenly remembered the date on the invitation.

Today was Kian and Sienna's mating ceremony.

He apologized, his voice hoarse. "I'm sorry, Alpha. I just suspect that Wren never really left, but was..."

Before he could finish, Kian cut him off impatiently.

"But was what? The evidence was solid! Are you going to spin some story about her being abducted by rogues?"

"Ronan, face reality. Your sister was a restless she-wolf. Moon Goddess knows what bewitched her, but she ran off with that Rogue Alpha!"

The line went dead.

Immediately after, two videos were sent to Ronan's phone.

In the first video, I stood in a dimly lit room, looking pale and emotionless, reciting lines like a puppet.

"Stop looking for me. The pack's rules suffocate me. I've found true freedom here."

He didn't know that just out of the frame, a rogue was holding a syringe filled with liquid wolfsbane to my neck.

Every word was a forced confession. My stiffness wasn't indifference, but the paralysis setting in from the toxin injected earlier to keep me compliant.

Watching the video, Ronan's tense shoulders relaxed for just a moment, cold sweat soaking his uniform.

"As long as she's alive... even if she's fallen from grace, as long as that body isn't hers..."

Then, he opened the second video.

It was a live stream of the mating ceremony.

On screen, Kian, dressed in a traditional Alpha's ceremonial garb, walked slowly toward the Moon Altar with Sienna on his arm.

His eyes were filled with adoration.

Sienna, wearing the long gown symbolizing the status of a Luna, smiled shyly.

They looked so perfect together.

Even as a soul, the heartache of that moment nearly tore me apart.

Kian and I were childhood sweethearts. I was his fated mate.

He had marked me when he turned eighteen, and I had imagined him in his ceremonial suit countless times.

I even dreamed we would have the strongest wolf pups, his future heirs.

I never imagined that when this scene finally played out, the leading lady would be someone else.

The cheers from the video overlapped with the cruel laughter of the rogues in the dark dungeon of my memory.

I fell to my knees in mid-air, my soul trembling uncontrollably.

When I refused to leak a single scrap of information about the pack, the Rogue Alpha locked me in a cage filled with vaporized wolfsbane mist.

Every time they tore out one of my fingernails, the brutes below would howl and jeer.

Not until all ten of my fingers were mangled and the tendons in my limbs were severed did my inner wolf finally fall silent.

Only then did they toss me into the pool of corrupting wolfsbane like a piece of trash.

A tearing pain shot through the depths of my mind.

An ethereal, commanding voice pierced the veil of my thoughts.

"Wren, your soul is tethered to this world by obsession. Only when your body is claimed by your pack with the highest honors can you return to the stars."

"If your body is not claimed within forty-eight hours of its discovery, your soul will scatter and fade into nothingness."

It was the Moon Goddess.

Forty-eight hours.

Before I could even process this cruel countdown, a sudden shout came from the autopsy room.

"Enforcer Ronan, come quick! We've found something!"

I followed Ronan as he rushed back into the autopsy room.

The healer, with trembling hands, used forceps to part the rotten flesh on my chest, revealing the stark white bone beneath.

"There's a mark on the skin over the chest!"

Next to the heart, on a small, inch-long patch of relatively intact skin, was a tiny, crescent-shaped birthmark.

In that instant, Ronan's blood ran cold. He recognized that mark.

It was the Moon Mark I was born with, once considered a blessing from the Moon Goddess herself.

In the entire pack, only he and our deceased parents knew its true meaning.

Not even Kian knew the real significance of this mark.

Ronan snatched the car keys from the table and bolted outside like a madman.

His fingers trembled so violently it took him three tries to finally start the engine of his SUV.

I sat in the passenger seat, my gaze sweeping over the crude, wooden wolf head hanging from the rearview mirror.

I had carved it myself, insisting he hang it there back when he first became an enforcer and bought his car.

Back then, I was the spoiled mate of the Alpha. Though I hadn't yet had my Luna ceremony, everyone in the pack knew that was my destiny.

I remember standing there with my hands on my hips, playing the part of the spoiled Alpha's mate. "Brother, I carved this wolf to look just like mine. That way, I'll always be watching you!"

"If you get hurt on another mission, you'll have me to answer to!"

Now, looking at my brother's haggard face, sleepless for what must have been days, a tearing pain shot through my soul. I wanted to cry, but a wisp of a soul has no tears.

The screech of tires shattered the tranquility of the sacred plaza, pulling me from my memories.

The mating ceremony was still in progress, the ground covered in flowers, the air filled with sacred hymns.

Kian was holding a wine glass, accepting toasts from the elders, while Sienna nestled in his arms, her smile blissful.

In front of everyone, Ronan landed a solid punch squarely on Kian's jaw.

"Kian! Do you dare swear to the Moon Goddess that my sister truly betrayed the pack and ran off with another?"

The surrounding guards swarmed forward but hesitated, held back by Ronan's status as Head Enforcer.

Kian's head snapped to the side from the force of the blow, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

He wiped his lip, his eyes dark and menacing, radiating the terrifying pressure of an offended Alpha.

"Ronan, are you insane? You saw the video. Would I joke about something that brings such shame to an Alpha?"

Ronan's fists were clenched so tight his veins bulged on his neck. "Then why does the corpse from the marsh, the one tortured beyond recognition by wolfsbane, have the same crescent birthmark on its chest as Wren!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the wine glass fell from Kian's hand, shattering on the ground and spilling its contents.

As he stood there, stunned, Sienna walked over gracefully.

She feigned surprise as she took Kian's arm, her eyes darting nervously. "Goodness, what's happened? On such a joyous day..."

Seeing Sienna, a sliver of hope rose in my desperate heart.

I remembered it clearly. The day I disappeared, I had just had a huge fight with Kian over some trivial matter and ran out of the house in tears.

Sienna was the first one to call and comfort me.

"Wren, Alphas can be so dense sometimes," she had said gently over the phone. "You're angry right now. Don't stay in the pack. Why don't I take you to the marsh at the border to clear your head?"

I hesitated, remembering how Kian had repeatedly warned me it wasn't safe there.

But Sienna had chuckled on the other end.

"Oh, my girl, this is the perfect way to test how much he really cares. Just close off your mental link for a bit so he can't sense you. The moment he panics, he'll come running to find you. Then you can just graciously forgive him. Wouldn't that be perfect?"

At the time, I actually believed her nonsense. Wanting to make Kian worry, I foolishly blocked my scent and did as she said.

So she had to know something!

If she just spoke up, my brother would know the body was mine, and he could take me home!

But her next words were a bucket of ice water, dousing the last of my hope.

"Ronan, don't let your imagination run wild. Wren sent me a postcard just the other day."

"She said she's having a great time in the south, traveling all over, and that the Rogue Alpha is treating her very well. How could she suddenly be dead?"

With that, she pulled a postcard from her handbag and shoved it in Ronan's face.

Ronan stared at the familiar handwriting, his once-firm gaze beginning to waver.

It was my handwriting. Even the habitual flourishes were perfectly imitated.

Kian's expression, however, grew even darker. He stared coldly at Sienna.

"You've been in contact with that traitor all this time? Why didn't you say so sooner?"

Sienna giggled, leaning her head on his shoulder in an exaggeratedly coy manner.

"Oh, Wren specifically asked me not to tell. She was afraid it would upset you."

"Don't be angry, my Alpha. Tonight belongs to us."

I floated in the air, watching this scene, my fingertips turning to ice.

The handwriting on that so-called postcard was a perfect forgery. I had no idea where Sienna had gotten it.

Looking at my best friend, smiling so triumphantly as she nestled against Kian, I suddenly understood.

In the past, whenever Kian and I argued about pack matters, Sienna was always the one to play peacemaker.

She would always tell me to be more understanding and considerate of an Alpha's pressures, then turn around and console Kian, telling him I was too willful and immature.

I had always thought she was my true friend, treating her like my own sister.

Only now, seeing the unconcealable greed and possessiveness in her eyes, did I finally realize.

From the very beginning, she had coveted my position.

She didn't just want Kian; she wanted my title as Luna.

And three months ago, it was this "best sister" who had sent me to hell with that same innocent expression.

All that talk of deep friendship was a lie!

From start to finish, I was the only fool being played.

Even more tragically, the Alpha I loved had completely fallen for her act.

Kian wrapped his arm around a trembling Sienna, his gaze toward Ronan filled with disgust.

"Had enough? Ronan, take your madness and get out of my ceremony! Don't force me, as your Alpha, to banish you!"

Even my only hope, Ronan, was starting to waver now.

An indescribable weakness washed over me. I looked down at my hands.

My form was beginning to turn transparent.

The altar bells began to toll, counting down the final hours.

Of the forty-eight hours the Moon Goddess had given me, only eight remained.

"Wren, betrayed by your kin, your obsession fades. Eight hours remain until your soul dissipates."

"Ronan! Brother! It's a lie! She's lying!"

I screamed desperately, trying to grab Ronan's sleeve, but could only watch as my hand passed right through his arm.

Just as I was on the verge of despair,

The enforcer communicator in Ronan's pocket let out a series of urgent beeps.

The voice of a forensic technician crackled over the communicator.

"Enforcer... the moonstone is too damaged. We can't fully restore the audio or video just yet."

The veins on the back of Ronan's hand bulged as he gripped the phone, ready to explode, but the voice on the other end suddenly rose in pitch.

"But! We restored the insignia it projected! It's the 'Silver Moon Wolf Sigil'!"

Ronan nearly staggered. The communicator clattered to the stone ground, its screen shattering on impact.

The Silver Moon Wolf Sigil.

It was my personal crest, a one-of-a-kind design from my father for my eighteenth birthday.

Ronan stared at the shattered device on the ground, his eyes instantly turning red.

After a long moment, as if his soul had returned to his body, he bent down to pick it up.

But Sienna, standing beside him, let out a scoff.

"Enforcer, how hard is it for a Rogue Alpha who specializes in illusions to fake a magical sigil?"

She clutched Kian's arm, her nails digging into the fabric of his ceremonial suit, her expression innocent but laced with venom.

"Wren was willing to abandon her family's honor to elope with him. She might have even given her personal sigil to that Rogue as a trophy."

Hearing this, the flicker of doubt in Kian's eyes hardened once more.

"Ronan, stop disgusting me with this ambiguous nonsense. Not unless you have ironclad proof."

Ronan gritted his teeth, forcing himself to maintain the composure of an enforcer.

"Then use the Bloodline Resonance!"

Ronan's voice thundered. "The moonstone she swallowed... if that stone has been soaking in her spiritual essence inside her body, it will react to kin blood! I want definitive proof of her bloodline!"

The technician fell silent for a few seconds before being forced to admit the truth.

"We need more time, Enforcer. The moonstone was shattered into fragments. We are trying to fuse the pieces back together. Only when it is whole can we test the resonance with your blood."

I watched Ronan take a deep, frustrated breath and walk away.

I floated in the air, feeling helpless.

My memory drifted back to the day my wolf first awakened.

I had excitedly shown my brother. "Brother, I'm going to be the sharpest blade in the pack!"

"I'm going to protect the pack just like you, and tear apart all the darkness that tries to invade our territory!"

The moonlight was beautiful that night as I clung to his strong arm, pleading playfully.

"If I ever die in some unseen corner of the world, you have to bring my soul back to Moon Goddess Mountain!"

Back then, Ronan had just affectionately ruffled my long hair.

"Silly girl. With your brother around, who would dare touch you?"

But later, I didn't become a revered guardian, but a traitor condemned by all.

I didn't make him proud of me. Instead, I left him clinging to a blurry sigil, deceiving himself in his despair,waiting for a healer's report that would either be my death sentence or the proof of my innocence.

I watched his dejected figure, my heart twisting in agony.

"How could this rotten piece of meat possibly be Wren, that pampered little princess?"

A mocking voice broke my thoughts. I realized Kian and Sienna had followed him.

The healer responsible for the autopsy was pulling off her blackened gloves, her face as pale as a sheet.

"Enforcer, it's too horrific! I've been doing this for thirty years, and I have never seen such a cruel method of torture and murder."

She lifted the white sheet covering the body, revealing the gruesome hands.

"While the victim was alive, the nails of all ten fingers were ripped out. They used a blunt instrument, prying them off piece by piece."

"The main tendons in her limbs were severed with a blade soaked in concentrated aconite. To prevent healing, the wounds were packed with crushed, toxic wolfsbane root."

"She was thrown into the pool of corrupting wolfsbane while she was still alive. She was conscious as the venom slowly dissolved her skin."

"And what's even more horrifying..."

The healer paused for a second. "While fully conscious, she forced herself to swallow that moonstone to hide it."

"Her throat was shredded by its sharp edges."

The werewolf warriors present drew in a collective gasp.

Even for werewolves, renowned for their resilience, such agony would cause them to pass out in under three seconds.

But she had held on, swallowing the intel with her last breath.

A sudden, jarring applause broke the heavy silence.

Kian stepped forward, his face blank as he clapped his hands.

"A brilliant story. Truly tragic."

"But what does that have to do with your thrill-seeking, pack-betraying sister?"

He let out a dry laugh, as if trying to convince himself.

"Don't try to attribute this honor to that bitch. One moment she was vowing to protect the pack, the next she was warming some Rogue Alpha's bed."

"She's probably enjoying herself in some filthy den right now. She wouldn't have the guts to endure this kind of suffering."

"You!" Ronan trembled with rage, his fists clenched.

Suddenly, Sienna, who had been observing from the entrance, let out a cry of surprise.

"Alpha! Enforcer Ronan! Look!"

She pointed outside the camp, where a group of warriors were escorting a prisoner back, her voice shaking with excitement.

"They've caught a rogue! He claims to have news about Wren!"