My mate, Alpha Easton, and I were once the fated mates everyone in the Blackwood Pack envied.

Now, our bond has crumbled into hatred.

He hates me. Because the curse-dispelling ritual I presided over failed, killing his sister, Barber.

I hate him. Because when my younger brother was tortured and killed in a rigged duel, he stood by and did nothing.

When the news of my brother's death arrived, a cold sneer I hadn't seen in years twisted his lips. "This is what you deserve."

When I was three months pregnant, I was kidnapped by a rival pack.

They demanded Easton trade the western moonstone mine for his mate's life.

The mine was barely breaking even, but his refusal was swift and merciless. "Just kill her."

And just as he wished, I lost everything.

But then, he killed himself.

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1

When another pack’s warriors pulled me from the dungeon, I was a mangled ruin of blood and wounds.

The healer’s face paled at the sight of me.

As she frantically worked to heal me, she whispered in my ear, "Hold on! Everything's going to be okay!"

Days of torture had left me too weak to speak.

I could only hear the shocked and sympathetic gasps of the onlookers.

I desperately tried to grab the healer's sleeve, wanting to tell her to save my pup first.

However, my mouth hung open, yet I couldn't make a sound.

My throat felt like it was being scorched from the inside out, pierced by a thousand silver needles.

Oh, right. I’d almost forgotten.

When Easton refused the kidnappers’ demands and severed our mind-link, they had roared in fury and poured molten silver down my throat.

"Useless she-wolf! Your Alpha doesn't even care enough to trade a worthless mine for you. You're nothing but trash!"

The burning in my throat was still so intense it made my whole body tremble uncontrollably.

As the healer rushed me toward the medical bay, we passed a gurney where a patient was watching the news.

"Alpha Easton, Calista, the victim in the recent kidnapping, has been rescued. We understand you know her. Could you comment on your relationship?"

Easton's icy voice came from the television: "I have no relationship with her."

The words struck me with the force of a physical blow.

The pain in my body warred with the agony in my heart, stealing my breath.

No relationship with me, huh?

Before this, no matter how much we resented each other, I'd clung to the belief that it was just a twisted part of our love. I believed that underneath it all, we still loved each other.

No matter how much he ignored me, I was always trying to make up for my past mistakes.

I thought that if I gave my all, he would eventually forgive me and give me his heart in return.

Unfortunately, that was just wishful thinking.

His hatred for me ran so deep that he even wished for my death. How could he possibly still love me?

It was time to shatter the delusion.

I gently closed my eyes, tears mixing with blood as they slid down my face.

As the numbing herbs began to work, the last of my strength gave out, and I passed out.

Before I lost consciousness, I thought I heard Easton's voice again.

Compared to his earlier coldness, his voice was now thick with emotion.

"Jessica has the purest soul of any she-wolf I've known. I hope my future mate can be just like her..."

Jessica is my apprentice and Easton's new flame.

In a daze, fragments of memory flashed through my mind.

Back then, Jessica was just an apprentice Moon Priestess under my tutelage.

She had all the theory but no practical experience, often becoming a burden to me.

Because of her, I often had to work overtime at the Sanctum to clean up her messes.

Whenever Easton came to pick me up from work and saw how exhausted I was, he would always belittle Jessica:

"If you don't have the talent for it, why even bother being a priestess? You should just go home."

He clearly despised her.

But now, he was saying with such a gentle tone that Jessica had the purest soul.

It had been so long since I’d truly rested.

I slept deeply, and forgotten memories slowly surfaced.

Easton's sister, Barber, and I had known each other even before I became a priestess.

We weren't just best friends; we were closer than sisters.

But she bore a bloodline curse, her life force gradually fading.

To save her, I began to research ancient rituals, searching for a way to break the curse.

She was so lively and cheerful; I couldn't bear to see her become so silent as her vitality waned.

So I always stayed by her side, trying every way I could to make her laugh.

It was also during this time that I met Easton.

At first, he was very guarded around me.

No matter how I tried to talk to him, he was dismissive. His only focus was on taking care of Barber.

He saw the long nights I spent poring over ancient texts and the way I blamed myself after each failure. He knew my kindness wasn't an act.

He knew I genuinely wanted to save Barber.

From that moment on, our fated mate bond began to stir.

He no longer smiled only at Barber; he started talking to me like a friend.

He would even remember the foods I casually mentioned I liked and always brought them for me the next time we met.

He was gradually opening his heart to me.

Barber loved to play matchmaker. "He's never been this nice to any she-wolf, Calista," she'd tease. "He's completely smitten with you."

Although I would pretend to be annoyed and tell her to stop, my blushing face had already betrayed me.

I could no longer look Easton straight in the eye.

I wasn't sure if Easton had feelings for me, but I was certain that I had fallen in love with him.

When I officially became a Moon Priestess, Easton promised me that as soon as Barber's curse was lifted, we would hold our bonding ceremony.

Barber was my best friend, the person who had always been there for me in my darkest times. I couldn't bear the pain of losing her.

Not just for Easton's sake, I worked even harder to find a way to heal her.

With the help of a pack elder, I finally gathered all the Moonlight Petals needed for the ritual.

I couldn't wait to tell Easton the news. He was overjoyed, pulling me into a tearful embrace and kissing my forehead. "Calista, once Barber is well, we'll have our bonding ceremony."

I gazed into his gentle eyes and nodded, my heart soaring.

However, the ritual failed.

The Moonlight Petals had been swapped with deadly wolfsbane.

Not only did the ritual fail to lift Barber's curse, it siphoned away what little life she had left.

Barber died on the spot.

Even though four years have passed, I still remember the look in Easton's eyes.

They were filled with hatred and despair, without a single trace of tenderness.

He grabbed my shoulders tightly, like an enraged beast, and roared, "Tell me! Why did you switch the petals?"

How could I possibly have switched the petals!

I desperately explained that I didn't do it, that I didn't know what had happened.

But he no longer believed me.

In his despair, he cursed me with the most vicious words: "Calista, you're the one who should be dead. You'll go to hell!"

His words have haunted me for four years.

No matter how hard I try to forget them, they always echo in my mind, leaving me in tears.

I thought that after hearing even worse things from Easton, I had become numb to those words.

But every time I jerked awake in the middle of the night, I would still find my pillow soaked with tears.

I wanted to call Barber's name again, but only broken sobs escaped.

With tears still wet on my face, I subconsciously touched my flat stomach.

The chilling emptiness there sent a fresh wave of grief washing over me, and new tears streamed down my face.

Seeing my movement, the healer who came to change my dressings said apologetically, "Luna Calista, I'm sorry, we didn't know you were pregnant... By the time we found out, it was too late to save the pup."

She glanced at my stomach, barely able to bring herself to say the words.

My womb and my inner wolf had been too severely damaged by the silver poisoning, so I could never get pregnant again.

Tears blurred my vision.

Just as I struggled to get up, the healer stopped me. She said with concern, "You're covered in injuries right now. You must rest properly to recover. Don't move, or your wounds might reopen."

Feeling her kindness, I wiped my tears and nodded gently.

However, before I could even lie back down, Easton burst in, furious.

His eyes blazed with resentment as he glared at me. "Calista, how could you be so vicious? Even if you hate me and didn't want my pup, you shouldn't have staged your own kidnapping!"

I shook my head in confusion, trying to deny it, but could only let out broken whimpers.

Easton immediately strode to my bedside and seized my shoulders.

"Don't deny it! The kidnappers have already confessed that they were just following your orders!"

Scorn dripped from his voice. "You actually used a pup as a bargaining chip to get my attention?"

His rage burned, and his grip was so tight my joints screamed in protest.

Sharp pain shot through my shoulders. A cold sweat broke out on my brow, and my face paled as I tried to push him away.

In his eyes, my pained reactions only confirmed my guilt.

He shoved me violently onto the bed. "Is this how you tricked those healers into treating you? Stop acting!"

My back slammed hard against the corner of the bed frame.

The freshly dressed wounds tore open again, and blood began to seep out as a wave of intense pain washed over me.

I curled into a ball of pain, but he hauled me up again, treating me like a weightless, broken thing.

"Do you have to kill everyone I care about? Wasn't Barber good to you? What did my pup ever do to you? Aren't you afraid they'll come back as vengeful spirits to haunt you?"

His voice was laced with deep anguish as he questioned me.

I shook my head desperately, frantically gesturing with my hands, trying to tell him that I was really kidnapped, that I hadn't planned any of this.

But I couldn't make a sound.

I could only plead with my eyes, hoping he would see the truth.

My gaze seemed to unnerve him, and he finally looked away.

He gritted his teeth and said, "How long are you going to keep this act up? I won't tolerate you anymore. You must pay for your crimes!"

Despite my injuries, he dragged me to Barber's grave.

My gaze fell on a new headstone next to hers.

There was no name, no picture, only an eerie, pure blankness.

A terrible thought struck me, leaving me breathless.

I instinctively looked at Easton.

Easton misinterpreted the look on my face as fear.

He sneered and said heartlessly, "The pup you killed lies here! He didn't even get to see his father before you snatched his life away!"

No! It wasn't me!

I wanted to tell him that I would never harm my own child, that the real culprit was someone else, and that he should investigate.

But he paid no mind to my pleading eyes, pressing on my shoulders to force me to kneel.

The wounds on my knees tore open again, leaving a long trail of blood on the ground, but he didn't even notice.

I gritted my teeth against the pain and struggled to stand, but he shoved me back down.

Then I heard his cold voice commanding the sentinels beside him, "Watch her. Make her kneel here. She's not to move until she admits what she did."

"Yes, Alpha!" the two sentinels responded firmly.

Without a single glance at me, Easton turned and left without a moment's hesitation.

I watched his retreating back, trying to follow, but one of the sentinels, thinking I was trying to escape, suddenly kicked my knee hard.

The excruciating pain sent me crashing to the ground.