Johanna Thorne and her sister, Allison Thorne, marry into the Silverplume family, the most prestigious werewolf family in the Northern Wolflands, on the same day.

Their husbands are the only pair of pureblood Alpha twins in the family—Carlin Silverplume and Uriel Silverplume.

Throughout the continent's long history, fewer than ten such twin pairs have ever been born. They are seen as blessings from the Moon Goddess herself, a source of pride for the entire family.

Johanna is wed to the calm and stoic younger brother, Carlin. Her sister becomes the mate of the elder twin, Uriel, the family's strongest warrior Alpha.

But during a mission to hunt down rebel wolves, Uriel is tragically killed. His body is never recovered. With his death, his bloodline ends.

The news devastates the matriarch. She weeps before the altar, crying that this is punishment for the Silverplume family. With Uriel gone and no heir left behind, one of the family's two remaining pureblood lines is now severed. The future of their legacy hangs by a thread.

Three days later, the matriarch summons Carlin and Johanna to the council hall. Before the gathered elders and priests, she solemnly proposes a solution.

"Carlin shares the same blood and bone as Uriel... In the name of our ancestral spirits, I ask that Carlin form a breeding pact with Allison to fulfill Uriel's unfinished duty."

Johanna's hands clench tightly.

She turns to look at Carlin.

In that moment, she doesn't know whether she's still his Luna or just a sacrifice offered up to preserve the family's bloodline.

The blood moon loomed in the night sky. It was an omen of misfortune, signifying a night destined for upheaval.

Uriel Silverplume, one of the Alphas of the Silverplume pack, had died.

After getting ambushed while hunting down a group of rebel wolves, Uriel sacrificed himself to save his younger twin brother, Carlin Silverplume. Slain by the wolfsbane-coated silver blades of the hunters, he was wiped from existence.

It had only been seven days since Uriel and Carlin completed the mate bonding ceremony with Allison and Johanna Thorne, a pair of sisters.

Johanna, the younger sister, still remembered the way the mark on Allison's neck had abruptly darkened. Allison howled in pain before fainting. That was the start of the tragedy that unfolded next.

The Silverplume pack was the most powerful among all the northern wolf packs. Ever since the first matriarch, fewer than ten pairs of twins had been born in the Northern Wolflands. The birth of Uriel and Carlin proved that the Moon Goddess had blessed the Silverplume pack. Thus, they enjoyed much glory.

Alas, the Moon Goddess seemed to have made it so that this glorious fate came with a price. Now that Uriel was gone, to avoid the downfall of the pack, they would have to resort to something rather extreme and taboo.

"Based on the sorceress' divination, this is the only option," Maria Croft, Uriel and Carlin's mother, declared.

Her eyes were reddened with tears as she glared imperiously at Johanna and continued, "Carlin and Uriel are twins who share the same blood. On behalf of our ancestors, I ask that Carlin and Allison form a breeding pact to carry on Uriel's bloodline for him."

The moment those words came out of Maria's mouth, all the blood drained from Johanna's face.

For werewolves, the undivided loyalty of one's mate was as important as one's life. Yet, Maria was demanding that Johanna's husband procreate with another female. That was tantamount to subjecting Johanna to humiliation of the highest order.

However, before Johanna could protest, Carmen Moore—Johanna and Allison's mother—came forward to take Maria's side.

"Do as Maria says, Jo. This isn't just for the sake of the Silverplume pack but for Allison, too. You two grew up together. You wouldn't have been able to marry Carlin if Uriel hadn't fallen in love with Allison at first sight. This is her only chance of survival now. Are you going to destroy that chance and let her die?"

According to werewolf traditions, if an Alpha died before procreating with his Luna, his Luna would have to follow him in death.

Carmen's words added another layer of threat. It was as if any sign of disagreement from Johanna would not only make her responsible for the downfall of the Silverplume pack but also for having caused Allison's death.

Johanna scoffed to herself. There it was again.

She felt her heart twist in pain.

Johanna's parents had three pups in total. As the second daughter, Johanna was the least favored of the three.

Allison had been a rare silver wolf, and for females, that was a sign of good fortune. It was clear she would end up marrying a powerful wolf. Due to that, she had been her parents' pride and joy even from a young age.

Their youngest brother, Darius Thorne, was a natural-born warrior. Not only did his battle prowess far exceed his peers, but he was even able to manifest his wolf at 15.

Johanna was the least remarkable of her siblings. From the day she was born, it was clear her wolf was weak. She was a gray wolf—the most common of all wolves.

For the first 18 years of her life, she grew up while being neglected by her parents, who favored her other siblings. Once Uriel fell in love with Allison at first sight, she ended up marrying Carlin. This was per werewolf tradition, which stipulated that if a pair of twin Alphas were born to any pack, the twins would have to marry a pair of sisters.

Therefore, in everyone's eyes, including her parents, Johanna only managed to marry into the strongest family of the Silverplume pack thanks to Allison.

Carlin seemed to be the only one who didn't think that way. It felt as though he had truly taken a liking to her too. Until now, he had never treated his marriage to Johanna as if it were the price he had to pay for being Uriel's younger brother. As the older brother, Uriel had the power to choose his mate.

As it was, Carlin doted on Johanna just as much as Uriel doted on Allison. He would drop everything without hesitation whenever Johanna needed him and rush to her side.

In the Northern Wolflands, only the strong survived. Hunts and battles were an everyday affair, and the weak received no pity from the others. And yet, Carlin was willing to compromise for Johnna's sake. He kept her by his side and put her needs first.

If she merely spared a second glance at an accessory while browsing the werewolf market, it would appear on her bedside table the next morning.

Carlin would also personally procure her favorite food, no matter how difficult it was to obtain. Despite holding a powerful position in the pack, he was willing to wait on her himself.

On the day Johanna received her mark from Carlin, he had looked her straight in the eye and said adoringly, "Jo, perhaps you will never be your parents' favorite, but from now on, you're my most beloved mate. I am willing to swear to the Moon Goddess that I will love, cherish, and protect you forever."

Moved beyond words, Johanna readily allowed Carlin to leave his mark on her neck. From that point onward, he was her entire world.

As she expected, Carlin stepped forward before she could say anything and shielded her protectively behind him, just like he always did.

"Mother, please stop forcing this on Jo," Carlin requested firmly. "Jo is my mate. She bears my mark. We have a mate bond, but you're asking me to betray her. She's not the only one who won't agree to it. I won't either!"

Once Carlin finished speaking, he kneeled before Maria, presenting the utmost sincerity.

Following Uriel's death, Carlin was now the only Alpha in the Silverplume pack. His standing was even more esteemed than before, he had always been one of the most powerful wolves in the pack. Nevertheless, for Johanna's sake, he was willing to get on his knees.

Still on his knees, he made his way past Maria and stopped in front of Uriel's coffin. He ended up staying in that position for the entire day, refusing to move despite Maria and the elders' varied attempts to convince him otherwise.

Johanna was deeply touched. How did someone as ordinary as her get so lucky to meet someone like Carlin?

Alas, that night, Johanna felt the betrayal of the one she loved the most and another who was supposed to be her family. Her wolf howled in anguish, and her heart wrenched in agony.

Even though she could clearly sense it from the link, she still found it hard to believe that her own mate was in bed with her sister.

The door to the room was slightly ajar. Doing her best to hold herself together, she peeked through the slit and saw the room in disarray.

Allison's golden hair was scattered all over the bed. Caught in the throes of passion, she was moving her slender waist with great eagerness. Her legs were curled around a large figure that Johanna was utterly familiar with. He was also thrusting into Allison with overwhelming desire.

It was none other than Carlin, Johanna's mate, who had only just defended her earlier today.

A chill gripped Johanna's heart as she stumbled backward, feeling an intense pain coursing through her.

His promises were all lies, and his love for her was a pretense—everything was fake.

That night, Johanna experienced the ultimate betrayal. Though it didn't kill her, it would become a pivotal turning point in her life, almost as if she had been reborn.

As the most powerful of the northern wolf packs, the Silverplume pack should've embodied the rules and traditions of their werewolf ancestors. It was their responsibility to lead by example.

It was a grave taboo to betray one's mate. The only exception was when the survival of the pack was at stake. Under such dire circumstances, those who held the most power in the pack, such as the matriarch and the elders, would beseech the Moon Goddess to make an exception and allow a mated Alpha to procreate with someone other than his mate.

But even then, both the Alpha and his Luna had to agree to it as well.

Johanna recalled what had happened earlier in the day. Carlin had stood alone against the pack's leaders and refused to betray his loyalty to her, regardless of their reasoning. Because of that, he had angered all of the elders, including Maria, the matriarch of the pack, and his mother.

To force Carlin into compliance, they even locked him up inside the ancestral shrine. A record of the Silverplume pack's glorious history had been carved into all four walls of the shrine.

Things weren't that bad during the day. Rays of sunlight came in through the cracks of the stained glass windows, illuminating the dimly lit ancestral shrine. The situation merely amounted to physical discomfort.

However, once night fell, the real torment began. The icy stone floor was inscribed with the teachings of the pack's ancestors, each one etched with magic. The weight of these enchanted teachings, accumulated over the centuries, gnawed constantly at an Alpha's heart.

"You can leave once you've come to your senses," Maria said coldly, her stern voice echoing in the shrine.

Thinking that Carlin was still suffering from his punishment in the ancestral shrine, Johanna had been beside herself with concern. Alas, she was deluded for having believed all of that.

Carlin merely didn't want Johanna to react in an extreme manner, which would've surely led to everyone in the pack finding out about the situation. That was why he had teamed up with the elders to put on a show for her that day.

It was a sleepless night for Johanna. Meanwhile, Carlin had ended up mating with Allison 17 times.

When dawn came, Johanna wiped her tears away. She'd made up her mind to leave.

Johanna went looking for Elspeth Sage, the sorceress who lived alone on the border of the Northern Wolflands.

"I don't care what it costs me. Do whatever it takes to use the forbidden rites to help me break our mate bond," Johanna said.

Johanna traded her betrothal pendant and her future happiness in exchange for Elspeth's spell that forcibly broke the mate bond while also temporarily ensuring that Carlin wouldn't notice it had been broken.

With the lies and the betrayal, Johanna felt as if the entire Silverplume pack had taken her for a fool. There was no point in maintaining a bond built upon deceit and disloyalty.

Of course, there was a reason why Johanna didn't cut off ties publicly. She knew full well she was powerless. Even if she exposed Carlin, it would only make it harder for her to get away. The Silverplume pack wasn't going to let a wolf who knew that much about their secrets leave.

Once the mark had been removed, Johanna went along with the act. During the day, Carlin continued to behave as if he loved her desperately and refused to betray her, no matter what. He kept kneeling in the ancestral shrine, the punishment Maria had meted out, and spent his days repenting in front of his ancestors.

But once the sky turned dark, he would leave the shrine from a secret exit and sneak into Allison's room, where the two indulged in their lust.

Assuming that Johanna wouldn't notice a thing after having drunk the medicine that was supposed to cut off her ability to sense anything from her link with him, Carlin grew bolder in his illicit affair with Allison. He even mated with her right in the ancestral shrine for the thrill of it.

Johanna had truly loved Carlin. Naturally, it was hard for her to abandon all feelings for him at the drop of a hat. Thus, she found herself tailing them a couple of times.

She heard their moans.

"My darling."

"This is incredible!"

"Give me more, my Alpha."

The repulsive sounds rang all the more clearly in the dead of the night. They felt like blades stabbing deep into Johanna's heart. But simultaneously, it helped her finally lose all feelings for the heartless, cruel Carlin.

After putting up with it for a few months, Johanna finally got her chance to leave the Silverplume pack.

Allison was pregnant, and Maria publicly called it a blessing from the Moon Goddess. She claimed that following Uriel's death, the Moon Goddess couldn't bear to see the Silverplume pack lose its pureblood lineage. Therefore, she had allowed Uriel's spirit to take physical form at night, thereby giving Allison and the entire Silverplume pack this pup.

Johanna was also told this story, though she found it entirely laughable. She knew better than anyone else how the pup came to be.

She tried to see if Carlin felt even the slightest bit of remorse toward her.

"Carlin, ever since Uriel died and your mother suggested that you and Allison mate to carry on the pureblood lineage, I feel an intense pain every night. I've never heard of the Moon Goddess being so moved that she would allow a dead spirit to take physical form at night before. Is the pup actually yours?" Johanna asked.

"How could you even think that, Jo? Mother and the elders want me to do it to carry on the pack's glory, but haven't you seen the way I refused to comply with their wishes? I've chosen to stay loyal to you, even if it means spending all my time kneeling in the ancestral shrine in suffering. Yet here you are, accusing me of something like this. How could you say something this hurtful to me?" Carlin protested.

He looked genuinely saddened, as if Johanna were the heartless one making an outrageous claim—as if his love for her had been for nothing, for she didn't even trust him.

Johanna wanted to laugh. She couldn't be bothered to argue with him about it. Instead, she continued to plot her escape.

However, Carlin reached out and pulled her into his strong embrace, something he hadn't done in a long time now.

"Jo, since Allison is with pup now, Mother and the elders won't force us any longer. You could say that Allison has helped us get through this. Moreover, it won't be easy for her to raise the pup alone. We should help her out more.

"I hope you can forget all about the past. Once the pup is born, I hope you can treat her pup as if it were ours, just like I will."

Upon hearing that, Johanna's disappointment reached its limit, and so did her resolve. She had to leave this heartless place that caused her nothing but sorrow as quickly as possible.

This entire situation was a ridiculous mockery.