While they were clawing my insides, severing the parts of my body, laughing at how the blood of Crimson Crescent’s Luna’s blood was gushing like a river, my Alpha was in another place, happily dining with his first love she-wolf. While I was on the verge of death, hearing my wolf’s painful growl, he was celebrating the 10th anniversary of their first meeting.

I tried to survive. Until I could no longer hold on to the thread of life. ‘Please, my Alpha… Please, save me.’

Yet my begging fell into deep ears. What was the use of our mindlink if he was not interested enough to adhere to my cries?

‘Stop playing mind games with me, Aurora. I am not going home tonight.’

Figured. This worthless of a mate would never even bat an eye if I died right before him. Perhaps this was for the best… Perhaps dying was better than this useless Alpha coming to save me in this hellhole.

And just like that, after three shifts of the moon, the Alpha together with the whole Consul of the Crimson Crescent Pack was investigating the series of murders around Autumnvale Town, the place where the pack resided. The gruesome murders had been the talk of every wolf.

In the meeting house of the pack, together with the elders, his Beta, and the healers, Alpha Logan stood in the middle. “The victim fought for her life until her last moments. We shall send her spirit to the Moon Goddess at ease after finding the ends of this case.”

Little did he know, he was dissecting the death of his very own wife—the one he couldn't stand, the one he never loved, yours truly.

**

Who would have thought that beneath the trash that was tossed on the piled-up garbage, a fragment of me was there? Real classy, wasn't I?

The night was deep and the town was eerily quiet. Autumnvale had always encountered newsworthy things, but that day was rather terrifying than the other nights. An elder who shifted into his wolf form was roaming the empty roadside when suddenly his senses were triggered. The smell was awful, like that of a rotten dead rat, and the more he went nearer, the more he could not stand it.

Right then and there, a part of me was found. The black bag among the piled trash revealed a human leg bone.

As soon as it was reported to the Consul of the pack, I saw myself overviewing everyone working hard to discover more body parts all over the town.

At that point, it was like a nightmare come to life. The Crimson Crescent Consul tried too hard to figure out who murdered the victim they discovered.

"Is this another sign of pack wars? I don't see any suspicious movements of the neighboring packs yet," one of the elders uttered.

What was I even doing?

A mirror reflected the light of the same moon, and there I saw no one. I was not there. My reflection... was not there.

Did I really become a Lunar Wraith? A spirit vengeful and scarred enough not to cross the river valley to another life. A Lunar Wraith whose spirit craved justice and peace, but could I ever attain those?

"The Alpha is here," one of the pack members announced, and there he was, my mate—Alpha Logan Thunderheart.

They visited the roadside where a part of me was found. They analyze the spatters of blood and the black bag where a fragment of my flesh was discovered. It was so messed up that all I could feel was my heart falling down my stomach.

But even my mate was taken aback by the horror show before him. "This is some next-level brutality," he whispered, face going pale.

Meanwhile, the pack's Beta, Dimitri Sage, was also inspecting everything himself.

"Let's break it all down to pieces, Alpha. We can't leave anything behind."

And there, Logan pointed out every detail like a smart wolf he was. "See these stains? It looks like they clawed the victim to death. And those marks on the wall? The victim must be awake the whole time."

The Beta scratched his head, saying, "According to our pack's healer, the victim is a young woman under thirty. This is quite messy, just who did she piss off to end up like this?"

That very moment, Logan who was thinking so hard already had a hunch. "This isn’t no random brutal murder. Someone's got a grudge and they're just getting started. If a pack is involved with this, we are not going to let them run away. They'd pay for their sins."

And guess what? He was right. Even though there were a lot of negative things to say about Logan, I could tell that his instincts were sharper than his claws when he shifted into his wolf form.

Oh, how much I would pay to see his face once he pieced everything together. Perhaps being a Lunar Wraith was not bad at all. Did the Moon Goddess send the fragment of my soul down here to witness how my mate struggled?

Not long after, the Consul found a ring at the scene of the crime.

"We sealed the ring that was found. It is important evidence," one of the pack Consul members said.

When Logan heard that, he picked up the sealed ring without any expression left on his face. Dimitri, who was just beside the Alpha suddenly went quiet while staring at the bloody ring.

When he could no longer hold his curiosity, he whispered, "Alpha, isn't this ring familiar to you? The mateship ring you had with the Luna..."

However, Logan seemed not to care as he inspected the object. He glanced at its features and noticed every single detail it had, including its inner part where there was no engraving.

"It's probably just the same style." He shrugged his shoulders.

Once the Consul was done, Logan who was left alone lingered by the scene for a while, lost in his thoughts. After a bit of contemplation, he glanced down, and by the shifts in the color of his eyes, I could tell that he was trying to talk through the mindlink we had.

Who would answer him back when I was already here—a lonely Lunar Wraith?

He stood there, trying to do it over and over again, his eyes glowing, making use of the power bestowed to him, but to no avail.

"Damn it. Now she's not even listening to my voice? All she does is throw fits!"

One thing was for sure, Logan was confident that the mateship rings we had had engravings on the inside.

But seriously, my Alpha, what was the use of his sharp instinct and Alpha brain when he didn't even know that metal engravings were easy to vanish?

It only took me six months to buff out our initials on the ring.

The Crimson Crescent Consul members were doing everything they could to find out the end of the case. They were desperate, and most importantly, they wanted to know if the rival pack committed the crime. If so, they had to be ready for a war.

Every night and day, they were searching and investigating and everything was led by Logan himself. Meanwhile, my body was just lying there on the table.

I looked away as I felt the hollowness of the pit of my stomach. I could not stand the sight of my body looking so brutally disrespected. The blood stains were all over my flesh and my skin was pale. No one would have ever recognized who the owner of that was.

Suddenly, Beta Dimitri pointed to my body and said, "Look, the victim's head is gone and there's a chunk missing from her ankle." Never did I imagine I would witness gore using my body as a reference.

I was already a Lunar Wraith, a spirit no one alive could see, but the pain I felt must have already reached the Goddess.

On the other hand, Logan was silent, probably thinking why my head was severed, and why they took some parts of me.

Finally, he spoke up, "Did you already find out this person's identity aside from the fact that she's a she-wolf?"

To his dismay, Dimitri shook his head. "We have to wait for the pack healers's opinion about this. They are doing everything in their power to investigate as well. But our Consul members are roaming Autumnvale, if someone tells them their relatives are missing, we'll quickly bring them here to try to identify the body."

After listening, I saw my mate nod, but he wasn’t giving my body more than a glance. Was he grossed out? But this would not have happened if he only listened to my voice when I used the mindlink!

I could not stand this. I could not stand him just passing by my body on the table, not even recognizing the ring he bought for me, and not recognizing the body of his Luna! How could he not know my smell? What was the use of his wolf? Was the rotten smell of my dead body overpowered the natural scent?

Later at the meeting, Logan threw out his wild theory.

"I've been poking around recent murder cases and it seems like we've got a pattern here. Similar stuff is happening near where the Dark Wood Pack is located. They're into some seriously twisted stuff—gutting people, bleeding them out, and cutting them into pieces."

Dimitri's eyebrows shot up when he heard the Alpha mention the rival pack from the next town. Suddenly, he recalled something.

"Dark Wood Pack... So, Alpha... you’re saying this must be related to our rivalry? Is this a threat?" He asked, scratching his head.

Logan nodded and answered, "Pretty much."

The moment he heard that Beta Dimitri knew what he had to do. He acted fast by giving an order to the pack members and the powerful elders.

"Spy around the vicinity of the Dark Wood Pack. Try to get as much information as you can. And don't you dare get caught!"

After the meeting, a pack member went to where Logan was standing. "You're a genius, Alpha. Who would have linked the rival pack to this case? With how hostile they treat us, you must be right about this."

At that moment, I wanted so badly to engage in the conversation. But what could a dead she-wolf do?

Just wait, Logan. I would stay by your side—I didn't care if I was a Lunar Wraith, I would stay til the day I witnessed how you would react once you figured everything out.

Logan just gave a nonchalant nod in response to the pack member. From childhood, he had been fed compliments about his brain, his leadership, his looks, his wealth, and everything else that he got sick of hearing praise.

"Alpha, wait!" The young wolf suddenly stopped him. Logan was scowling, ready to say something when suddenly, the pack member got long, curly hair from Logan's jacket.

The young wolf smirked. "This must be the Luna's hair."

However, Logan's tone was as cold as ice. "None of your business." He snatched the hair and shoved it in his pocket, then strode off.

Left behind, the pack member awkwardly rubbed his nose.

Goodness, I wished I could give him a pat on the back, but my hand just passed through him when I did.

That very second, I wanted to tell him, that if he found my head, he would realize that I had short, straight hair. That one on their Alpha's shoulder belonged to Isabel.

A bitter taste was left in my mouth as I thought of the woman.

The night I got murdered... The night that I was begging to be saved, praying so hard on my knees, crying like a child, Isabel was cuddling with my mate, leaving behind that little strand of hair.

It was heart-wrenching. I hated how he treated my three-day absence as if it was nothing. I hated how he didn't even worry about my whereabouts. He didn't care, not even once, and didn't even worry that I must be out there--that his Luna must be in danger.

It had been three long days since my last breath ended, and the last memory I had with him was when we argued about Isabel, his first love.

"You're just delusional," I remembered his words.

"Delusional? I know you met her again behind my back!" But all those cries and screams fell on deaf ears.

That time, I nearly lost it, and before I could do anything crazy, I crashed at my friend's place for a few days and left the pack house where the Alpha and the Luna were supposed to reside.

And there he was, just assuming that I was simply mad again. Logan assumed that I didn't want to face him yet, hence, my disappearance for days.

As I observed everything, I noticed that Isabel suddenly barged in, only wearing her short nightgown.

"Alpha..." Her voice was undeniably sultry. Her lips were also trembling as her eyes looked at his. "There's supposed to be a thunderstorm tonight and I'm so scared. Can you stay with me?"

I saw Logan's fist tighten and loosen from time to time as if he were trying to manage his libido. It was ridiculous, and even in my spirit form, I was disrespected like this. It was obvious that he was seduced.

"I'm mated, Isabel. It's not convenient for me to come to your room."

Just when I thought he might be showing some common sense, he added, "But you can come to the pack house. She's not home."

Even Isabel was surprised by what she heard. Look at these animals. "Alpha, are you sure? What if she suddenly comes back? We wouldn't be able to explain ourselves."

I snorted. She knew exactly what she was doing and here she was, playing innocent. If only I could pull her hair right now, but no matter how much I move, my body would only pass through.

Oh... I was no doubt dead.

Logan asked, "What do we need to explain to her? This is my pack and you’re a member of Crimson Crescent. Don’t worry about what she thinks."

Just by hearing the tone of his voice, it was evident that he was so sure of himself.

"Besides, she’s not coming back."

When Isabel heard that, her eyebrows furrowed and went quiet for a moment, then asked, "How do you know?" There was a hint of nervousness in her tone.

Realizing her voice might have been off, she quickly added, "I mean, did Aurora get mad at you again?"

"Yeah, on the celebration of our 10th year of meeting each other, I told her I was going to see you, but she got angry." He ruffled his hair.

Look at this nothing but an idiotic Alpha. He was leading the pack using his pea-sized brain? How could I not be angry when he was cheating right before my face? Didn't I have the right to feel that emotion?

"It's so frustrating. We're already mated, but she's always suspicious! I already made her my Luna, but that’s never enough for her! Unlike you, Isabel. You've put up with so much over the years and never complained. I should be apologizing to you.”

I almost laughed when I heard him. No sane person would celebrate their 10th anniversary with their first love after getting mated with another woman.

Funny how the day I died was the day of their anniversary.

Logan, are you planning to celebrate your anniversary next year with Isabel or my death anniversary?

I doubt he would choose me.

**

When they entered the vicinity of the pack house, the first thing that the woman did was to rush over as soon as the Alpha locked the door of the bedroom, she practically leaped into his arms. "Alpha, it's so dark and creepy outside, I'm freaking out!"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes when I witnessed that cringeworthy scene. It was dark every night and I had never seen her this scared before.

Logan gave her a reassuring hug, patting her back gently. "Don't worry, I'm here." And there he was, buying the act of the she-wolf.

He showed her the candles he bought, a bunch of emergency ones, clearly meant to calm her down. "With these, even if the power goes out in a storm, we'll still have light," he explained.

Isabel leaned against his shoulder. "My dear Alpha, you're my hero."

I didn't know how I managed to watch them act this way. Had they been doing this ever since? Of course! Of course... What was I expecting? They would just stare at each other when they would obviously do the worst.

When it was getting late and Isabel needed to freshen up and hit the bed, she headed into my bathroom, shutting the door behind her, and started raiding my things inside without a second thought. She moved as if she owned everything, she moved as if she was the Luna of Crimson Crescent Pack.

After she was done, she left everything in a mess, not bothering to put the caps back on properly.

She chuckled to herself. "Oh, Aurora, I bet you won't mind, you're not coming back anyway."

In the mirror, I watched Isabel silently, being all transparent. Outside, thunder rumbled and when lightning struck, a figure materialized on the floor.

At that very moment, Isabel was stunned and the next thing I knew, she was already screaming her guts out, calling out for my mate.

When he heard the loud screaming, Logan burst through the door like a hero, scooping her up in his arms and shielding her from whatever it was that scared her.

"What happened? Are you hurt somewhere?"

Isabel trembled against him, muttering, "N-No. I just... I just thought that maybe this is too risky. What if your wife shows up...."

However, Logan only shrugged. "She won't come back."

He glanced up, the lightning casting a cold glare on his face. "Even if she did, she's got no right to say anything. If it weren't for her, you wouldn't leave me before and we wouldn't have missed out on all these years together."

Alpha continued, "You don't have to worry about her. I won't let her do anything to you. I don't care about her at all. Even if she died outside somewhere, it still had nothing to do with me."

Alright, my dear Alpha, your wish is my command. I hope you stay like this til the very end—indifferent and with no care at all.