'Mom,' Cynthia used a mind link to call her sleeping mother inside the cell.

Adelia was awakened upon hearing her daughter's voice. She could barely open her eyes. A year living inside a silver prison cell was nothing for her. But a decade and a half of living in it was enough to make her body weak. And she didn't know if she could still survive after another decade here again.

'Mom,' Cynthia called her once again.

'What are you doing here, Cynthia?' Adelia asked. She did her best to stand up and walk towards the prison cell bars where her daughter was.

Cynthia gripped a bar, forgetting that the material used for that was harmful to them. "Ah!" She groaned in pain and then pulled her hand back.

'Careful,' Adelia reminded. Tears pooled her eyes immediately after seeing her daughter through the torch, Cynthia was holding.

She was used to the darkness inside. The only light source in the place was the ray of the sun that would enter the small hole on the dungeon's roof during the day.

'I have brought food for you, mom.' Cynthia showed Adelia the animal flesh that she wrapped in a banana leaf.

A warm sensation embraced Adelia's heart. She knew that Cynthia was prohibited from visiting her yet she always found her way to come here. 'Didn't I tell you not to come? What if your father finds out? He'll punish you for sure!' she exclaimed in her mind.

Cynthia smiled innocently at her. 'Don't worry, mom. I will not get caught. Trust me.' She winked her eyes on her to ease her mother's worry.

Adelia sighed in defeat at her daughter's affirmation. She was just as hard-headed as she was before.

Cynthia handed the food in a wrap carefully so as not to touch the bars.

Adelia's eyes feasted after she opened the leaf. Since when did she last eat a flesh of an animal? She couldn't remember it. For the years she had been living here, she was barely eating. There are days that she wouldn't eat because the alpha said so.

So, when Cynthia learned about her situation, she didn't hesitate to come here secretly every night to send her mother some food.

Cynthia felt something pinched her chest while witnessing how hungry her mother was. She was biting the meat harshly with trembling hands. She covered her mouth using the back of her palm to stop herself from creating a sob. Her heart was crying because of her mom's situation. She hated her father for doing this to her. But she couldn't remove to her heart to do everything he said because she was hoping that maybe one day, the alpha would be awakened from the cruelty he was doing to her and her mom. And she was wishful thinking that she would get her father's trust soon.

She knew the chance was little because he saw her as a demon like Adelia. But she would hold onto it.

'He's my father. I know that inside of him, he loves us,' she marked in her mind.

Adelia felt that she gained strength after eating. The trembling in her body a while ago was gone. She stood up straight and stared back at Cynthia.

'Thank you so much, Cynthia. But you don't need to do this again. I am afraid that you'd get caught one day and be punished for doing this,' she thought worriedly.

Cynthia shook her head. 'Don't worry about me, mom. I'm used to pain. They couldn't hurt me anymore,' she lied.

Who would get used to pain? You could get hurt a million times, but the intensity of pain that you would feel would always be the same.

Adelia smiled with tears in her eyes. Her daughter didn't deserve any of these.

She was not the devil the alpha was thinking about. Her soul was so pure. It was the purest of them all in the pack. But the alpha was too blind to see it.

Cynthia gasped when her mother reached out for her face. 'Mom! Your arms!' she exclaimed upon seeing the bruises that the silver bars made.

Adelia shook her head.

'Stop worrying about me, Cynthia. This is nothing compared to the pain that you're going through for a sin you've never committed. I'm sorry if mom cannot protect you from all the danger and pain you're getting from them. I'm sorry for being weak.' Her tears were endless.

Truth be told, a mother would be hurt more if she saw that her child was in pain.

Cynthia couldn't stop her tears anymore. Her vision blurred because of the tears in her eyes. She caressed her mother's hands and kissed them.

'I miss you so much, mom. I'll be fine. Just promise me that you'll stay strong while I pursue father's trust.'

Adelia nodded her head even though she didn't know if Cynthia could get the alpha's trust. But she promised to survive here as long as she could for her daughter. Once she got out of there, she would make sure that she would make all those who had wronged her and her child pay.

Cynthia noticed that the burns on her mother's arms were getting worse. So, she heaved a deep breath and hid her scent. She removed her grip on her mother's arms and bit her wrist, which made her blood ooze out.

'What are you doing—' Adelia's eyes widened when she saw how Cynthia squeezed her blood on her bruise. She didn't blink while seeing how Cynthia's blood entered her bruise and soon healed it. "H-How—"

'Shh, mom. They can hear you,' Cynthia stopped her from talking.

Adelia looked at her sharply, still shocked. 'When did you find out about this?'

'When I was 18, mom,' Cynthia replied.

Adelia's bruises were healed, but her body weakened again.

How didn't she see this coming?

Why didn't she think that Cynthia might inherit her magical blood?

Her heart was torn into pieces. Then she started to ask the Moon Goddess sorrowfully once again.

'Why did you let this happen? Why did you let my daughter get the cursed blood that destroyed our lives? Am I not enough?!'

Little did they know that there was a being who was watching them the whole time from the hole in the roof.

The crow flew away and made a loud caw in the middle of the sky.

"Beta Gregory has arrived," announced Delta John of the New Moon pack from outside the alpha bedroom.

"Damon." The woman whispered weakly at the alpha's ear. Her right hand was placed on his chest and she used it to caress his bare chest. "Damon," she called him again.

Damon opened his eyes lazily but closed it again after seconds. He pulled Veronica closer to him and buried his face on her neck.

Veronica chuckled at her beloved's childish act. She tapped his back and stared at his face. She would never get tired of admiring his face, for he was the most handsome out of all the male werewolves she had met. "Time to wake up, Damon. Your Beta seems to have some news for you," she said in a weak voice.

Veronica could feel how she became weaker as days passed by. It was just two months since she got a rare werewolf disease that stopped her from shapeshifting as a wolf. She thought that it would just end up there. But she was surprised when the disease caused her body to weaken in the long run.

According to a werewolf healer, the disease was consuming her strength drastically until she would die from it. He also said that nothing could cure the disease. And that she just had three more months before her body totally gave up.

Fear succumbed to her being. She didn't want to die yet. She wanted to live as long as her beloved was alive. She was still waiting for him to propose about their mating.

They weren't mates. But who the hell cared? They loved each other. And they didn't believe in soulmates anymore.

She just really wanted to be Damon's Luna.

"I want to sleep more," Damon complained.

Veronica laughed and slapped his cheeks slightly. "What if it's about the cure?" She used her ultimate weapon to wake him up.

Damon opened his eyes automatically. He disregarded Veronica's teasing smile and gave her a kiss before standing up. "Sleep more, Veronica. I'll ask an omega to send you food later. I'll just talk to Gregory and John," he said.

Veronica nodded with a wide smile. "Go. I'll just sleep a bit more."

Damon leaned forward to give her another kiss before finally leaving the room.

Veronica sent him to the door through her eyes. She loved Damon so much. Her hope of healing didn't die because Damon promised that he would find the cure for her.

She knew that Damon would keep his word. It was hard, but he would do everything and anything just for her.

She heaved a deep breath before closing her eyes. She was just lying in bed every time but she always felt tired.

There was just only a month and a half left for her. Damon must find the cure before it was too late.

**

"You will not believe what I'll tell you," Gregory blurted out.

The alpha, beta, and delta were inside their pack's headquarters. Inside the room was a 12-seater table, light torches in every post, and a fireplace.

It was where they held meetings with the Council of Elders when something needed to be discussed.

"Then don't tell me, Greg," Damon said, annoyed. He then tossed the wine in his glass bottoms-up.

John, waiting for Gregory's report, laughed secretly at their alpha's response. He pressed his lips to hide his smile when Gregory glared at him.

"Don't you want to know about the magical blood beholder?" Gregory took back with a smug look on his face.

Hearing that phrase caught Damon's full attention. He sat up straight and stared at Gregory.

Of course, he knew about the legendary magical blood. And he learned that in every blue moon, which appeared every century, there was one lucky werewolf that was blessed with magical blood who was believed to give the beholder a peculiar ability.

It was believed to be a myth because of lack of evidence. But a decade and a half ago, his father, the retired alpha, told him about the devastating massacre in Silver Moon pack by their Luna with the magical blood.

They didn't know what exactly about the peculiar ability that it gave the Luna because they weren't able to find out about it because the Luna disappeared after the massacre happened.

The retired alpha tried his best to spy on the Silver Moon pack but got nothing.

Damon cleared his throat. "What about it?" He pretended to be uninterested.

Gregory rolled his eyes at his alpha's pretension. "I saw the Luna of the Silver Moon's pack," he confessed.

Damon and John's brows furrowed.

"W-what? Where?" Damon asked. His voice raised a bit because of eagerness.

Gregory's lips twitched. 'Got the prideful alpha,' said by his wolf, Earl. He cleared his throat and intertwined his fingers. "The Luna didn't really disappear. The pack is keeping her in a dungeon made of silver," he added.

The other two dropped their jaws.

"How come my father didn't know about it?" Damon was confused. His father was great at spying. How come he didn't learn about it when the Luna was just in the pack?

"The dungeon is hidden in a barn," Gregory answered shortly after taking a sip of his wine.

"Then how did you find out about it? Did you enter their territory?" John couldn't help but involve himself in asking.

Gregory eyed at him and smirked. "Actually, I didn't enter their territory. Cruz did." He was talking about his crow pet. "I used him as my eyes around the pack's territory. I just thought of having a tour around the Silver Moon pack. I just didn't know that I would discover something bigger," he boasted.

"And what did you find out about the Luna?" Damon interrogated.

"Have you heard about the slave princess?"

Damon groaned in frustration. "Can you stop beating around the bush?" He was losing his patience for his beta. He was anxious about the missing Luna and her magical blood.

"The slave princess, Alpha Salazar and the Luna's daughter, inherited her mother's magical blood," Gregory dropped the bomb.

The two werewolves went speechless to the revelation. Gregory's last statement wasn't still sinking into their minds.

“H-how come she also has magical blood?”

Magical blood was just given to one werewolf in a blue moon. How come the princess had it?

Gregory shrugged his shoulders. "I don’t know. But I saw the slave princess entering the dungeon secretly through Cruz's eyes. She brought food for her mother. But I didn't hear them talking. I think they used a mind link. I was just watching them cry in each other's hands. But what surprised me was when the slave princess bit her wrist to produce blood. She let her blood drop to the Luna's wounds. And they all healed!" Gregory was still amazed at the sight he saw through his crow pet. He didn't regret taking time to roam around the place.

"She might be the answer to your problem with Veronica's disease. Maybe that is what magical blood can do," Gregory verbalized Damon's thoughts.

Damon's mind flew away after hearing the thing. His brain started to think of a plan about getting even just a drop of the magical blood. He knew that it would be hard, but he would find a way to succeed for his beloved, Veronica.

He looked at John, who was staring at him. "John, continue leading the trackers and the warriors." Then he faced Gregory. "You'll be the one to govern the pack and watch Veronica temporarily for tomorrow."

Gregory's forehead creased. "What's your plan?" he asked curiously.

Damon's lips rose to the question. "I'll be heading to the Silver Moon pack. I'll win the slave princess's trust," he answered.

'That's right, Damon. Magical blood will not take effect if it isn't given willingly. You must win her trust. Or even her heart if needed,' his wolf, Ruckus, told him.

Adelia and Cynthia's eyes widened when they heard a metal scrapping on the ground from the main entrance of the barn.

'You need to hide, Cynthia!' Adelia exclaimed worriedly through their mind link. She stole the torch Cynthia was holding and drowned it in the pail of water inside the cell.

Fear ate up Cynthia. It was just now that she thought about the possibility that she might get caught after entering her father's prison. She looked at her mother fearfully. 'I love you, mom.'

'I love you too, Cynthia,' Adelia responded. 'Hide quickly!' she pushed her away.

Cynthia couldn't move as fast as a normal werewolf. She rushed to the dark side of the place and hid herself behind a post. She held her breath, hoping that the werewolf who entered the dungeon would leave soon before she lost breath.

When Adelia made sure that her daughter hid herself enough, she rushed as fast as the wind to the center of the cell where the stray grains, her bed, were. She laid down immediately with her back facing the bars. She tightly closed her eyes when she smelled a familiar alpha scent. 'Fuck!' she thought.

"Adelia," the familiar voice called her.

Adelia stayed still and tried to ignore the werewolf. 'Don't come out, Cynthia,' she warned her daughter.

"I know that you're awake, Adelia," said the alpha.

Adelia pressed her lips to restrain herself from being reckless. She should not do anything that could get her daughter in trouble. "What do you want now, Salazar?" she asked in a calm voice. But she didn't move an inch.

Salazar chuckled at the she-wolf. "Acting tough, don't you?" he teased.

Adelia remained silent. She gritted her teeth.

'Why wasn't he leaving yet?' she asked herself.

'Probably, he missed teasing you,' her wolf, Lucia, answered.

'Shut up, Lucia!' she yelled at her. She heard Lucia chuckling and that made her hiss.

"I just want to ask how are you doing?" Salazar's lips twitched when his eyes caught a banana leaf on the prison cell's floor.

'Seems like someone's feeding your Luna, Salazar,' the alpha's wolf commented.

"Don't you miss talking to me, my love?"

"Leave me alone, Salazar." Adelia heaved a deep breath. She was losing her patience for his former alpha.

He was already old, but he teased her like a teen werewolf.

"Hmm?" Salazar smirked. "You really don't want to talk to me?" His eyes went sideways before staring back at Adelia's bareback.

"Go to hell, Salazar. Stop pestering me," Adelia said with finality in her voice.

"I hope you will not regret saying that, Adelia."

There was something with the way he said those words that made Adelia’s heart beat race.

Cynthia gasped in shock when her father appeared in front of him in a swift motion.

"Hello there, my lovely daughter," he greeted with a grin on his face.

There was something in his voice that sent shivers down Cynthia's spine.

Adelia, after hearing Salazar, let Lucia take over her body. She reached for the bars in the blink of an eye. She banged those angrily. "Leave my daughter alone, Salazar! She growled.

Salazar turned deaf for the raging she-wolf. Instead, he offered his hand to Cynthia and smiled at her. "Don't you want to talk to your mother, Cynthia? Come."

He asked calmly. But Cynthia knew that behind that calm voice was a terrifying thing.

With trembling hands, Cynthia accepted her father's hand.

"Salazar!" Adelia shouted.

Salazar led the way towards Adelia.

Cynthia felt like her heart was about to go out of her ribcage. How could she forget that her father was an alpha?

Of course, it was easy for him to sense everything.

"Say hi to your mom, Cynthia," he told Cynthia when they reached in front of Adelia.

Adelia shapeshifted to her human form. She felt the worst fear she ever felt in her life. Her tears fell from the mixed anger and scare for her daughter. She eyed Salazar as she shook her head. "D-Don't do t-this, S-Salazar," she begged.

Salazar glanced at her innocently. "I'm not doing anything, Adelia," he said.

Adelia continued to wag her head. Her tears won't stop falling.

At her mother's reaction, Cynthia knew that something terrible would happen to her.

And truly, in just a blink of an eye, she was already gasping for air after Salazar choked her with his hand. "A-aack!" Tears welled her eyes.

"Salazar! Let go of my daughter!" Adelia turned numb for the new burns that she was getting from gripping the bars. She even kicked it, hoping that it would be destroyed. But the bar stood still. "Spare my daughter, Salazar!" she cried.

Cynthia's eyes bulged. She knew that in any minute, she would lose her breath. She looked at her mother apologetically. 'Sorry, mom,' she said.

"N-no! No! No!" Adelia didn't stop from kicking the bars. "Fuck you, Salazar! You're evil! Pray to the Moon Goddess that I will not escape from here! Because I swear, I will kill you!" She was panting in anger. And her veins were already showing.

Salazar narrowed his eyes and mocked her. "I'm scared, Adelia," he joked. And in a swift motion, he threw Cynthia effortlessly to the other side of the dungeon.

"Cynthia!" Adelia screamed.

Cynthia irked in pain. She heard her bones crack the moment her body met the cold wall. The impact was so strong that she could hear debris falling from the wall. She hardly lifted her head. "D-dad..."

Salazar raised an eyebrow on his daughter. "I have no devil daughter. That’s what you get for disobeying an alpha," he retorted before he turned his back and walked away from the place.

Adelia fell on her knees while seeing her daughter. "Cynthia, my daughter," she whispered in agony.

Cynthia coughed with blood. But she still managed to smile at her mother. "I-I'm f-fine, m-mom... T-Cynthia's s-strong l-like y-you." She felt like her ribcage also got broken, but she forced herself to show Adelia that she's alright. She didn't want to worry her mom.

"T-This i-is n-nothing, m-mom. I-I'm u-used t-to i-it." she almost whispered.

'That's right, Cynthia. This is nothing. You've gone through worse than this before. Stay strong. Stay alive. You still need to save your mother from here,' she lectured herself. She laid her head on the cold floor before she lost consciousness, not knowing if she would still wake up after this.