The rain hit my face, cold and sharp.

Every breath was like swallowing razor blades.

I ran barefoot on the muddy mountain road, falling more times than I could count.

My knees were scraped raw, my palms torn by gravel, blood mixing with the muddy water.

But I couldn't feel the pain.

There was only one thought in my head: Faster. Go faster.

"Hey! Isn't that the future Luna?"

A few werewolves stepped out from the trees, blocking my path.

I recognized them. Arabella’s thugs.

"Move," I gasped.

"It's dangerous to be out here alone so late," the leader grinned. "Why don't we escort you back?"

"I said, move!"

"Such a temper," another man stepped forward. "I hear you're becoming Luna soon. Why not practice how to obey an Alpha?"

I tried to run past them, but they immediately surrounded me.

"Don't be in such a hurry."

"Play with us for a while."

Arabella's voice came through the comms on their necks, "Careful now. You can play with her, but don't kill her. I want to watch her kneel at the ceremony."

My sanity snapped.

I roared, slamming my palm into the nearest man's chest. He screamed as he flew backward.

The others froze.

I took the chance to break through their circle and kept running.

The rain fell harder.

The road became a river of mud, and I almost slipped several times.

Blisters formed on the soles of my feet, but I didn't dare stop.

Mom was waiting.

Finally, I saw the mountain road leading to the sanatorium.

But just as I turned onto it, a deafening roar came from above.

A mudslide.

A torrent of earth and rock crashed down toward me.

I scrambled to the side of the road, but my foot slipped, and I went tumbling down the mountainside.

The world spun.

Sharp rocks tore at my skin, branches whipped my face.

The back of my head slammed against a rock, and everything went black.

Am I going to die?

Just like last time, a meaningless death?

No! My baby! My mom!

Just as the darkness was about to swallow me, a powerful hand gripped my wrist.

It was a large, warm hand.

Then, a flash of gold sliced through the darkness, forming a shimmering barrier against the crushing wall of mud. This was no mere Alpha. This was the power of a Lycan King.

I was pulled from the mud and into a solid chest.

The rain blurred my vision. All I could see were his eyes—deep pools of liquid gold. They held no contempt, no indifference. Only raw, heart-stopping concern.

"Hold on to me."

The man's voice was deep and strong, a lighthouse in the storm.

He held me with one arm, while the other created a shield out of thin air, blocking the falling debris.

After what felt like an eternity, the shaking finally stopped.

He carried me to a black luxury car waiting in a safe spot.

The moment the warm air from the heater hit my skin, I started to shiver violently, my body finally succumbing to the shock.

The man wrapped a soft blanket around me, but he didn't let go.

His hand remained pressed against my back, his gaze growing impossibly deep.

“This power…” he murmured, his voice tight with disbelief, as if he’d just stumbled upon a sacred relic. In that brief moment of contact, the raging storm inside me quieted, soothed by his touch.

It was a perfect resonance between our powers.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Lucia..." I answered weakly. "Please... take me to St. Mary's Sanatorium... my mom..."

He glanced at me, asked no more questions, and gave the order to his driver.

"To St. Mary's. Full speed."

"Yes, Lord Maxim."

The car shot through the rain like an arrow.

Maxim.

The name exploded in my mind.

The legendary Alpha King who ruled the strongest pack in Europe?

What was he doing here?

When we reached the sanatorium, the hallway was silent.

A long, piercing beep came from the heart monitor.

The flat line on the screen was a knife, severing all my hope.

"Mom!"

I threw myself at the bed, gripping her hand. It was still warm, but she was gone.

Her eyes were half-open, but the light was gone.

A crumpled note lay on her pillow. The handwriting was shaky.

"Lucia, my daughter... leave this place. Go out into the world... be the healer you want to be... you must be happy..."

"Aaaahhh—!"

I collapsed to the floor, a heart-wrenching sob tearing from my throat.

The healing energy inside me spiraled out of control from the grief.

A raw, golden power exploded from my body. It shattered the windows. The lights in the hallway burst. And still. I couldn't save her.

I was a healer, and I was utterly useless.

Just as I was about to pass out, that warm power enveloped me again.

Maxim knelt in front of me, ignoring the flying glass, and enveloped me in his power, forcibly taming the storm that was tearing me apart.

He looked at my tear-streaked face, a flash of pain in his eyes.

"You're not useless, Lucia."

He gripped my shoulders, his voice cutting through my grief.

"Your power could shake the entire continent. The Silver Moon pack is blind. They don't deserve you."

He looked directly into my eyes and made an offer that would change my life forever.

“Come with me,” he commanded, his voice a lifeline. “Be my Royal Healer. And I will give you the world you deserve.”

Seeing my hesitation, he continued.

"If you don't want to join my pack, I can also send you to the Healers' Guild in Europe. I can't stand by and watch your talent be buried."

My heart skipped a beat.

The European Healers' Guild.

It was the sacred place every healer dreamed of.

"Okay."

I wiped away my tears, my voice hoarse but firm.

I owed the Silver Moon pack nothing.

Mom was gone. It was time for me to go too.

I had to protect my child.

"Give me an hour," I told Maxim. "I need to go back and get my mother's things. Then we'll go. We'll leave this place forever."

Maxim gave me a long, deep look. "My men will wait for you outside the Silver Moon estate. If anything goes wrong, shatter this."

He handed me a communication crystal engraved with his family crest.

When I returned to that so-called "home," the air was thick with the nauseating smell of champagne.

The living room was brightly lit.

Tristan, Ronan, and that damned Arabella were all there.

They sat on the sofa, waiting for me like judges at a trial.

Seeing me covered in mud, a complete mess, Arabella pinched her nose dramatically.

"Gods, Lucia, did you take a roll in the mud? You're a disgrace to the Luna title."

"I'm here for my things."

I didn't look at her, heading straight for the stairs. "I'm getting my mother's things, then I'm gone. I'm not sticking around for your bonding ceremony."

"Stop."

Tristan's voice was ice. A chill shot down my spine.

Two guards blocked the stairs.

"You think you can just walk out of here?" Tristan stood, stalking toward me with a dark look in his eyes. "What do you think the Silver Moon pack is? A place you can come and go as you please?"

"I don't want to be your Luna anymore, Tristan." I looked him straight in the eye, for the first time without fear. "You can give the title to your precious Arabella."

"I don't want your scraps!" Arabella shrieked, her eyes blazing with raw jealousy. Her whole demeanor shifted. Suddenly, she looked hurt and afraid, pulling something wrapped in a black cloth from her pocket.

"Tristan... I... I haven't been feeling well today. My wolf... it feels suppressed. And then... then I found this in Lucia's room..."

She pulled back the cloth. Inside was a small wooden pendant, carved with a moonflower.

My heart stopped. That was my mother's pendant!

"Look," Arabella handed it to Tristan. She ran a finger over it, and a dark red, foul-smelling liquid seeped from the carvings. "It's... it's a cursed token. Soaked in black magic! How could you, Lucia? How could you try to hurt me with something so vile!"

"I didn't!" I lunged for the pendant, but Ronan grabbed my arm, holding me back.

Tristan looked at the pendant, then at Arabella's pale face. The last trace of doubt in his eyes was replaced by disgust. He slammed the pendant on the floor. The wood shattered into pieces.

"No—!" A desperate scream tore from my throat. That was the last thing... the last thing my mother gave me...

"Still playing the victim!" Tristan roared.

Arabella chose that moment to pick up a bowl of soup from the coffee table, her face a mask of sweet forgiveness.

"Lucia, I know you're jealous of me, but I'm willing to forgive you. Just kneel and apologize. Then drink this purification tonic to wash away the curse you put on me, and we'll pretend this never happened. Tristan will still go through with the bonding ceremony. After all... you two are destined mates, a gift from the Moon Goddess, aren't you?"

"Look at her, Lucia," Tristan's voice was merciless. "Look how forgiving Arabella is. Kneel. Apologize. And drink the tonic. This is your last chance for forgiveness as my mate."

I stared at the shattered pieces of my mother's pendant on the floor, at their ugly, twisted faces. The last shred of hope I had for Tristan turned to ash.

My child, my mother, my dignity... They were trying to take everything from me.

"No... I'll never..." I cried, ready to die before I'd bow to these monsters.

"Make her drink it!"

Tristan's patience was gone.

He grabbed my jaw, forcing it open with a sickening crack.

Pain exploded behind my eyes.

Arabella lifted the bowl, pouring the scalding, bitter liquid down my throat.

Cough... GAG...

I tried to spit it out, but Tristan clamped his hand over my mouth, forcing me to swallow every last drop.

In that moment, my world shattered.

A violent cramp shot through my stomach like lightning.

It was a thousand times worse than a broken bone.

It was the pain of life being ripped away.

I collapsed, a piercing scream tearing from my lungs.

A warm liquid trickled down my thighs.

Bright red blood stained the carpet.

My baby.

My child I would never meet.

Ronan saw it first. His face was a mask of restrained pain. "Blood... is there something wrong with the tonic?" His voice trembled.

Arabella smiled and lied. "Don't worry, Ronan. The tonic makes any wolf who's used witchcraft bleed. It's just a side effect. Proof she cursed me. Her wolf will be purified now."

Tristan looked down at me in disgust, as if I were vermin dirtying his carpet.

I curled up in a pool of my own blood, completely hollow inside.

The tears were gone.

All that was left was a cold, dark abyss of hatred. Deep enough to swallow the world.

My child was gone.

My mother was gone.

The last piece of her I had... and they crushed it with their own hands.

I had nothing left to lose.

Maxim's crystal was hot in my pocket, but I didn't crush it.

Escape?

No.

I wasn't leaving.

I would stay.

And I would return this hellish pain to these monsters, ten times, a hundred times over.

I was still lying on the cold floor, a dull ache throbbing in my lower abdomen.

The tiny life was completely gone from my body.

"Lucia? Are you okay?" Arabella knelt, pretending to check my forehead for a fever.

I opened my eyes and looked at her fake, concerned face.

All the pain, all the anger, vanished in that instant.

A dead, chilling calm settled over me.

"I'm fine," I said, sitting up. My voice was eerily calm, devoid of all emotion.

Tristan and Ronan exchanged a look. They thought I'd gone mad.

"Really?" Ronan asked, a flicker of unease in his eyes.

"Yes." I stood up, straightening my clothes. "You're right."

Arabella froze. "What?"

I turned to her, a strange smile on my lips. "Thank you for the purification, Arabella. I'll do whatever you want. That includes the ceremony tomorrow. I'll be there."

"Good," Arabella sneered, her vicious smile back in place, as if she could crush me with a thought. "Then consider today's purification an early celebration, Luna."

"Of course," I nodded. "After all, the truth always comes out in the end."

They didn't catch the darkness coiled beneath my words.

"You need to rest," Ronan said. "Tomorrow is a big day."

"It certainly is," I agreed. "You should get some sleep too. Tomorrow," I promised, "is going to be a show they'll never forget."

After they left, I locked my door and pulled out my phone.

The first call was to Maya.

"Lucia? It's so late..." Maya's voice was sleepy.

"Maya, do you remember our time at the academy?"

"What about it?"

"About Arabella bullying you."

There was a silence on the other end.

"What are you getting at?"

"Are you coming to the Luna ceremony tomorrow?"

"I... I wasn't invited."

"You are now," I said. "Trust me, you'll want to see this."

The second call was to Lisa.

Then the third, the fourth...

I called every girl Arabella had ever broken, every soul whose pain had been twisted and pinned on me.

"Do you want the truth?" I asked each of them. "Do you want to see the real demon exposed?"

Then, I started gathering my evidence.

The recording on my phone.

The collar around my neck.

And my pregnancy report.

Everything was ready.

I walked to the mirror and looked at the pale, haggard woman staring back.

Bloodshot eyes. Purple bruises. And the collar, still hanging on my dresser, the word "Pet" a permanent scar.

A ghost of a smile touched my lips as I met my own gaze. “You want a show?” I whispered to the broken woman in the mirror. “I’ll give you a goddamn massacre.”

When the first rays of dawn hit my window, everything was in place.

I showered and put on the pure white Luna ceremony gown.

The hallways were already decorated with ribbons and flowers. Guests were arriving, their laughter echoing from the main hall.

"Today's your big day," Arabella said, descending the stairs. She was wearing the "Moon Goddess Necklace." "Nervous?"

"Not at all."

I met her gaze, my smile brilliant and sharp as a shard of glass. "Oh, I'm practically counting the seconds, Arabella."

The moment I stepped into Moonlight Square, hundreds of pairs of eyes locked onto me.

I looked at the sea of faces in the crowd.

Maya was there. So was Lisa.

And a dozen other girls I had contacted, all standing in the back rows.

Every one of them had the same fire, the same anticipation in their eyes.

"Nervous?" Ronan appeared at my side, reaching out to touch my cheek.

I flinched away.

"A little," I said, lowering my head, pretending to be shy.

"Don't be," he whispered in my ear. "It'll be over soon."

Yes, it'll be over soon.

The music began.

I walked toward the altar on Tristan's arm.

I saw Arabella in the front row.

She smiled at me, but her eyes were gleaming with malice.

"Esteemed guests," Tristan said, stepping up to the microphone. "Today is a great day for the Silver Moon pack. We will witness the birth of a new Luna."

The crowd applauded.

"But before we begin," Tristan's voice dropped, suddenly cold as ice, "there's a truth I must share. I will not be mating Lucia. I will be mating with Arabella."

Here it comes.

"And this woman," he pointed at me, "is not fit to be our Luna. Because she..."

"Wait."

I cut him off.

The entire square fell silent.

"Before you continue, I have something I'd like to show everyone."