I held my pup close and turned to leave without another word.

Behind me, the den erupted into chaos.

The matriarch's shrill voice cut through the air like claws on stone.

"Walk out that threshold, and never return to this pack!"

I didn't look back.

In the corridor leading away from the central den, Liri asked in a small voice.

"Mama, why aren't we eating anymore?"

"Because they wanted to make your mother a fool."

"What's a fool?"

"Someone who... gets their throat torn out and thanks the wolf who did it."

I stepped outside and summoned a territory runner to take us to my birth pack's holding.

Along the way, my message-stone kept vibrating with incoming summons.

Kael Stormhart's voice came through, laced with reproach.

"Where did you go? Come back now."

"Mother is only thinking of the whole pack. If you disagree, you could have discussed it properly."

"Are you deliberately trying to ruin the Moon Festival for everyone? Lyra, I truly underestimated you before. You really are that selfish!"

I didn't respond.

Kael sent summons after summons.

I silenced the stone completely.

I thought back to when I first received the Moonblessing payout. I had been so hopeful.

My mother had a growth pressing against her mind—a head-sickness that required healer intervention and long recovery, costing at least thirty thousand in resource shares.

And just last week, Kael's wellness assessment showed signs of a wasting sickness in his chest.

At the time, I had thought fate was showing mercy.

This blessing could solve our most urgent troubles.

But before I could even discuss it with Kael, that devoted son had already made promises to his matriarch.

So be it.

If only to protect my dignity, I had to guard what was mine.

My birth pack's den lay in the eastern reaches of the territory, nearly two hours by swift travel.

I sent word ahead to my mother.

"I'm bringing Liri home for the feast."

"Why now? Weren't you celebrating Moon Festival with your mate's pack?"

"It fell apart."

Silence stretched through the connection for two heartbeats.

"There's plenty of food. Come home."

Those simple words made my eyes sting with warmth.

When we arrived, my parents had already set out a full table.

Not as lavish as the Stormhart spread, but everything was food I loved.

Liri fell asleep quickly on the cushioned bench.

Only then did I have a moment to check my messages.

My stone showed countless notifications—nearly all from the pack alliance channel.

I didn't need to read them. They would all be curses aimed at me.

But one message stood out, from Branwen Duskbrook, a sentinel neighbor from our territory.

"Lyra, did someone breach your den? A whole group came through—they're tearing the place apart like raiders..."

I immediately opened the ward-stone vision linked to our home.

In the scrying image, Kael led his parents and his brother through our den, ransacking everything in sight.

Clothes from the wardrobe, contents of every drawer, books and documents—all scattered across the floor.

The matriarch's voice came through the ward-stone's hearing, sharp as broken glass.

"Search carefully! It must be hidden here somewhere!"

"Mother, this doesn't feel right..." Kael's voice wavered with uncertainty.

"What's wrong about it? That's shared mating property! What right does she have to keep it all?"

"But Moonblessing tokens aren't marked with names..."

"Exactly why we need to find it!"

Morwenna's voice rose even higher.

"Whoever holds it, claims it! Go search the sleeping chamber again!"

Cold spread through my entire body.

I knew my mate's pack valued resources above bonds, but I never imagined they would go this far.

Thankfully, I had kept the blessing token on my person all along.

Vesper, Kael's sister, tore apart Liri's toys and called out impatiently.

"Brother, there's really nothing here."

"Keep looking!"

Morwenna commanded from across the room.

"Flip the sleeping furs! Pull out every drawer and check behind them!"

Their actions were no different from territory raiders.

After two hours of destruction, they finally left our den, reluctant and empty-handed.

I preserved the ward-stone recording.

All of this would serve as evidence later.

My mother approached with a bowl of forest berries.

"What are you watching? Your face has gone pale."

Her health had always been fragile, and I refused to let anything disturb her peace.

"Everything is fine. Let us watch the Moonrise Celebration together."

As the hour approached midnight, a commotion erupted beyond our threshold.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Someone was pounding against the ward-sealed door with violent force.

I peered through the window toward the courtyard below. Kael Stormhart's traveling carriage sat at the entrance to our den.

Dread coiled in my stomach. I immediately activated the ward-stone's vision recording.

The moment my father unlatched the door, Kael burst through. Behind him came his mother, his brother, and the rest of their pack.

"The Moonblessing token! Hand it over!"

Morwenna Duskthorn demanded before anyone could draw breath.

I met her gaze without flinching.

"My Moonblessing. Why should I surrender it to any of you?"

"That blessing belongs to the mated pair!"

Morwenna's voice rang with false authority.

"Kael is entitled to half!"

I lowered myself into a chair with deliberate calm.

"Then we shall discuss division when the bond rejection is finalized. Until then, I ask that you leave. This is my birth pack's den."

Morwenna shoved her son forward.

"Speak up! Say something to your mate!"

Kael studied me, his expression caught between conflict and something harder to name.

"Lyra, just bring out the token. We can talk this through properly."

"You call what happened at the feast a proper discussion?"

I held his stare without wavering.

"Rigging the Moonbite omen so I would be the one to find the marked portion? Announcing in front of everyone how my blessing would be divided? Sending your pack to tear through my belongings? That is what you consider talking things through?"

"If you keep defying the matriarch, you will only suffer for it!"

Kael's brow furrowed with frustration.

"You have never been careful with resources. Whatever you keep will vanish soon enough. Better to let Mother manage it."

A cold laugh escaped my throat.

Now I understood completely.

In his heart, there existed only the Stormhart pack. Our small family meant nothing.

I looked directly at Kael and spoke each word with care.

"What if I simply refuse to hand it over? What will you do then? Strike me? Or reject the bond?"

Kael went still.

He had never considered being forced to choose.

But Morwenna leaped up in fury.

"She must have hidden the token with her birth pack! Search everything!"

Seven or eight wolves immediately began tearing through the den, overturning storage chests and ripping open cupboards. The noise woke Liri, who had been sleeping peacefully in her nest of blankets.

My pup's wail split the air.

"Mama, I am scared!"

My mother rushed toward her, arms outstretched to gather the frightened child.

Without warning, Morwenna's hand shot out and shoved my mother with brutal force.

"The token might be hidden on her! Search her too!"

My mother stumbled, her footing lost. She crashed to the floor.

Crack.

The sound was sickening. My mother lay crumpled on the stone, blood pooling from a wound on her head.

"Mother!"

I kicked hard at Kael's grip on my arm and broke free, rushing to gather her limp form.

But my poor mother had already lost consciousness. No words would come from her lips.

"You! All of you are murderers!"

Rage turned my vision red. My entire body shook with it.

Everyone froze.

None of them had expected this outcome.

Kael moved as if to approach, but Morwenna seized his arm and held him back.

My father had gone pale with shock, his voice barely a whisper.

"We must... we must get her to the healer-den..."

I fumbled desperately for my communication crystal, ready to summon the healers.

But Morwenna snatched it from my grasp.

"No summoning! First, hand over the Moonblessing token!"

I screamed at her through my tears.

"My mother is dying, and you still think only of the blessing!"

Kael's face twisted with something that might have been reluctance. He opened his mouth to speak, but one look from his mother silenced him.

Morwenna planted her hands on her hips, unmoved.

"If you care so much about your mother, then give us the token! If she dies because of the delay, that blood is on your hands!"

Desperation broke me. Tears streamed down my face.

"Kael, I am begging you. Please, let me take my mother to the healers first. The Moonblessing... I will agree to split it with you."

I had to keep some portion. Without it, I would have no means to pay for my mother's healing.

Morwenna still refused to yield.

"Words mean nothing. Bring out the token first!"

My heart turned to ice within my chest.

I looked at Kael with the last shreds of hope draining away.

"Kael, are you truly going to be this cruel?"

Kael's face twisted with reluctance, but he turned away, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Just hand the token over to Mother first."

I laughed bitterly.

It tasted like ash in my mouth.

What kind of wolf had I chosen to bind myself to?

My hand trembled as I raised it, pointing toward my satchel.

"Behind our bonding portrait..."

Morwenna snatched my satchel with greedy claws. Inside lay the portrait of our small family—me, Kael, and our pup together.

She ripped the image out without hesitation and let it fall to the floor.

Just as I'd hidden it, the Moonblessing token gleamed behind the portrait.

"Finally found it!"

Vesper rushed forward immediately.

"Wait—verify the rune-marks first. Make sure she hasn't tricked us."

They examined it over and over, checking the sacred inscriptions multiple times before breaking into triumphant laughter.

"It's the real one."

I stared at them with hollow eyes.

"Can we take my mother to the healer-den now?"

Kael moved quickly to help my mother stand.

"Come, I'll drive the carriage."

Throughout the journey to the healer-den, Morwenna clutched the Moonblessing token as though it were her very lifeblood.

I held my mother's ice-cold hand, unable to stop the tears streaming down my face.

In the reflection of the carriage mirror, Kael drove with an expressionless face.

Morwenna was already counting heads.

"Twenty wolves in the pack. Five thousand resource shares each..."

Ronan spoke up eagerly.

"Can I get my portion now? I've had my eye on a new communication crystal..."

"What's the rush! We'll claim the full blessing at the Council Hall tomorrow!"

I closed my eyes.

All I could hear was the sound of their scheming.

My mother was rushed into the healing chamber.

My father sat in the corridor, holding Liri close on the stone bench.

The others chattered and laughed among themselves.

Vesper announced loudly.

"I want ceremonial furs—I've been eyeing a set for ages."

Ronan added.

"After the crystal, I can upgrade my hunting gear too."

Morwenna smiled indulgently.

"Fine, all of it is fine!"

At that moment, a healer's assistant approached with parchment.

"Family of Selene Ashvale—we need ten thousand resource shares as a deposit."

I turned to Kael.

"Half of that Moonblessing belongs to me through our mating bond. Transfer ten thousand to me first."

Kael froze.

In Morwenna's calculations, I had never existed at all.

Morwenna overheard and her brow furrowed deeply.

"Your mother's sickness is her own pack's burden. Why should my son pay for it?"

I looked at her coldly.

"So you're denying it now? Earlier you claimed the Moonblessing was shared property of mated pairs! I should receive fifty thousand!"

Morwenna planted her hands on her hips and laughed.

"This was my son's tribute of devotion to me. I've already distributed it."

Of course.

This was exactly the face I'd expected to see.

"Is this what you think too?"

Kael kept his head down, saying nothing.

I fixed my gaze on him.

"Put yourself in my place. If it were your mother lying in that chamber, what would you do?"

He still wouldn't lift his head.

After a long silence, he forced out a single sentence.

"I'm sorry, but I already promised Mother... I can't take it back now."

"Then what about my mother? Just watch her die?"

Kael grimaced.

"Maybe you could ask your birth-pack for help..."

His voice grew smaller and smaller.

"Or use your own savings..."

"What savings do I have?"

I lost control.

"Every moon-cycle, you only cover the den-debt payments, while the carriage loan and daily provisions all come from me! Liri's training fees and lessons—all of it is me. If I had savings, would I care so much about that fifty thousand?"

I stared at him.

"You earn twenty thousand in resource shares each cycle. After the den-debt, you still have twelve thousand left. Where does it go?"

Kael opened his mouth, glanced at Morwenna, and didn't dare speak.

"It comes to me."

Morwenna strode forward, her expression smug with triumph.