The seer foretells that I will mate with an Alpha and give birth to the strongest heir.

Because of this, I am arranged to be mates with the Alpha heir, Chad Gibson, since I was a child. And from then on, I am groomed to become a Luna.

I devote my entire youth to bleeding, fighting, and enduring it all. Every smile, every step, and every breath is for the sole purpose of becoming the perfect Luna.

And yet, what do I receive in the end?

On the day of the marking ceremony, Chad carries in an expecting Rogue with Omega bloodline, Yelena Lockhart.

He then publicly declares that during a hunt, he accidentally consumed a lustbane and bred with Yelena. Thus, he must take responsibility and make her his future Luna.

Seeing the unshakable resolve on his face, I ask in a trembling voice, "What about me? What am I supposed to do?"

Without a moment's hesitation, he replies, "Tessa, because of that false prophecy, you have stolen the future Luna's place and enjoyed privileges that were never yours for long enough. Now, you must step aside.

"But don't worry, I won't cast you out. As long as you keep serving Yelena as her maid in atonement, you may still stay by my side."

The world falls into dead silence, and the stares of the pack weigh on me like a mountain.

I neither scream nor beg. Instead, I simply remove my veil and return the ring that symbolizes the future Luna.

Later, when Yelena gives birth, the pup turns out to be of Omega bloodline. Only then does Chad realize the prophecy is true, that I alone can bear the Alpha heir destined to lead.

But when Chad finally regrets everything and begs me to come back, it is already too late.

I have already accepted the Alpha King's proposal and no longer belong to Chad.

I stood a hundred yards away from the altar under the moonlight, watching the marking ceremony that should have been for me.

Chad Gibson, my fiance and an Alpha heir, slipped the moonstone ring onto the expecting Yelena Lockhart's finger.

The ring was a symbol of the Luna and had been passed down through generations of our pack's Lunas. It was said to carry the Moon Goddess' blessing.

Since I was young, I had been taught to nurture it with my mind force, so that on the day of the marking ceremony, I could resonate with it perfectly.

But now, it was being given to someone else.

Shy and touched, Yelena looked up at Chad with tears glistening in her eyes. Before she could even speak, he pulled her into his arms and held her tightly.

Amid the thunderous cheers of the pack, he buried his face against her neck. A muffled whimper escaped Yelena's lips, her body trembling before going completely limp in his embrace.

When Chad finally lifted his head, everyone saw the mark glowing on Yelena's neck, radiating Alpha energy.

The night wind stirred and lifted the white curtains that draped the sacred altar.

Slowly, I raised my head and swept my gaze across the faces gathered below.

The pack's elders, my family, and my friends were all present. And there, dressed in formal attire, was my younger brother, Maddox Sutton.

He was standing beside Chad, his eyes brimming with heartfelt blessings for Yelena.

"Congratulations to our Alpha heir and future Luna on sealing the mate bond. May the Moon Goddess protect you, and may your hearts remain forever as one," Maddox said, his tone loud and impassioned.

As his words fell, the elders lit the fire of blessing, and the flames roared skyward.

In the dazzling glow of the flames, Chad scooped Yelena into his arms. On his face was a look I had never seen before—a gentle smile of release, as though a heavy burden had finally lifted.

At the sight, Maddox's excitement peaked.

"The bond is sealed!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Loneliness so suffocating it bordered on despair isolated me from the surrounding clamor, as if I stood in a vacuum.

I still couldn't comprehend it.

Why?

Why did I give up my entire youth, endure the harshest training, shape every word and action into flawless perfection just to become the most fitting Luna, only to be branded as a fraud who had stolen that place?

My heart clenched with each beat, and the pain left me unable to breathe.

My gaze fell on Maddox's face. He was smiling and cheering wholeheartedly for Yelena and Chad. His joy was sincere and fervent, showing not the slightest trace of worry or pity for me.

He seemed to have completely forgotten who it was that shielded him with her own back from a fatal blow three years ago in the pack conflict.

It was all too absurd, like a nightmare I couldn't wake from.

The proclamation that reduced me to nothing but a maid still echoed cold and distant, and I could no longer reconcile the cold-blooded Alpha heir standing on the altar with the young man who once made me countless promises.

Reason told me I should turn and leave at once, yet my wolf still writhed in restless defiance. She demanded an answer, one spoken from his own lips.

I called Chad.

On the altar, his handsome features iced over the instant my name appeared on his screen.

He was about to reject the call outright, but at Yelena's gentle murmur, he chose to answer instead.

"Chad, you once swore that today, under the witness of the Moon Goddess, you would make me your future Luna," I said, my voice trembling slightly from the cold inside me.

The call had been put on speaker. Everyone at the altar fell silent at once, their gazes fixed on Chad.

"Tessa, why are you still hung up on this? That false prophecy allowed you to steal the future Luna's place for 15 years. You took every privilege that wasn't yours, so what more do you want?"

He tightened his hold on Yelena's arm as he continued, each word cutting into me like a blade, "I will take responsibility for my mistakes. It was my fault for trusting the prophecy and letting you steal Yelena's life.

"It was also I who, during the hunt, accidentally bred Yelena. So now, I'm only making things right." His voice turned cold as he spoke the next part. "And you should begin atoning for what you stole.

"But as I've said—so long as you accept your place as Yelena's maid, you may still remain by my side."

His cruel words washed over me like a tide of ice, drowning me in shame.

And yet, the last fragile thread of longing in my heart forced me to choke out one final question.

"We grew up together. Were those 15 years between us nothing but a lie?"

He once promised me that no matter what happened, he would always believe me and protect me.

So even when, three days before the marking ceremony, everyone began looking at me with suspicion, or when the soldiers inexplicably locked me away in my room, I still chose to trust him.

I even spent the very last of my strength breaking through the barrier the elders had set, just to see him.

Yet, when I finally arrived at the altar, I found him holding Yelena in his arms, ready to begin the marking ceremony that should have been ours.

Chad seemed stumped by my question, and for a moment, the line fell into silence.

I saw his lips part, as if he wanted to say something. But before he could, Maddox snatched the phone from his hand.

"Tessa, do you have no shame? Do you think everyone is a fraud who steals the future Luna's place like you? I suggest you stop clinging to your delusions!

"You should just be a good little maid to Yelena to atone for your sins, and quit doing these pathetic things that bring disgrace to the entire pack!"

After that, he hung up without hesitation.

Chad frowned, seemingly displeased by what Maddox had done. But in the end, he said nothing.

While leaning against Chad's chest, Yelena reached out gently to pat Maddox's head, her touch soft yet carrying the air of a victor as she soothed him.

"There, there, Max. Don't be upset. I'm sure Tessa didn't mean it. She just needs time to come to terms with everything, that's all."

Then, to Chad, she said, "Chad, I'm so happy today. Thank you for giving me such a grand ceremony. Let's not bother with people who don't matter."

At her touch, Maddox seemed instantly tamed, and the vicious anger on his face melted away. He nodded firmly, his eyes brimming with fierce protectiveness for her.

And when Chad heard Yelena say she was happy, the deep furrow between his brows finally eased completely.

Surrounded by their pack, they were escorted in a lively procession toward Chad's residence.

When the noise finally faded, I was left alone beneath the cold moonlight, like a pathetic sinner no one cared to acknowledge.

From within my pocket, I drew out a whistle carved from wolf fang. It was a token sent by the Alpha King's envoy on the day I came of age.

The Alpha King once told me that whenever I needed a true home, all I had to do was blow the whistle. All these years, I never imagined I would ever have to use it.

I raised the whistle to my lips and breathed life into the note that had lain silent for so many years.

Then, I turned and walked away.

I no longer wanted Chad's heart, a heart I had tried to warm for 15 years, only to find it forever cold.

That night, I tossed and turned in the small cabin at the edge of the pack's forest. Only when the sky began to pale with dawn did drowsiness finally creep in.

But just as I was about to fall asleep, a piercing alarm jolted me awake. It was the pack's emergency summons—something that only sounded in times of grave crisis.

I unlocked my phone, and at once a message from someone on the Council of Elders came through, their tone frantic.

"Tessa, tonight is the eve of the full moon, and the warriors on the border have been thrown into violent energy surges under its influence!

"The situation is dire, and only your mind force can bring their frenzy under control. You must go and aid Alpha heir Chad immediately!"

With that, he broke off all contact.

I could only laugh at the irony. So, in their eyes, I still had some use left after all.

Still, for the sake of the pack, I resigned myself and got up to put on combat gear that allowed for quick movement.

I opened the pack's intranet, only to find the entire page dominated by Yelena's brag post from last night.

There was only one photo. In it, Yelena's slender hand was enclosed in Chad's broad, well-defined one, their interlaced fingers adorned with a pair of matching moonstone rings. And on the back of Chad's hand, a faint claw mark lingered.

My heart, not long deadened, still throbbed with irrepressible pain.

He had gotten that scar during the pack conflict three years ago, when he shielded me from a frenzied beast's claw. And for all this time, I had taken it as proof that he loved me.

So he could, without the slightest guilt, use the hand that once risked its life to protect me to hold another she-wolf.

The last shred of longing in my heart finally withered away.

I pulled out a vial of stimulant potion and drank it down. With its boost, I swiftly pushed past my fatigue and adjusted my mind force to its peak state.

By the time I reached the border frontline, chaos had already consumed the place. I channeled my mind force, working to calm the warriors whose eyes had gone blood-red from the energy backlash.

But the task of soothing them was far more draining than I had imagined. Before long, my face had gone deathly pale, and sweat poured down my back in torrents.

However, someone shoved me hard from behind the next second.

Caught off guard, I crashed to the ground. The mind-link I had just managed to establish snapped in an instant, and the violent backlash of energy forced a mouthful of blood up my throat.

Behind me, Maddox's voice rang out viciously and furiously.

"Tessa, you damn leech! You even chased all the way here just to cling to him? Have you lost your mind?"

At some point, Maddox seemed to have forgotten who had dragged him out of a beast's jaws, and who had stayed by his side through the darkest nights when his awakening failed and the pack had mocked him.

Now, he had become Yelena's most devoted protector.

How laughable.

As I wanted nothing more to do with such a two-faced, ungrateful brother, I rose in silence and wiped the blood from the corner of my lips.

Then, expressionless, I fixed my gaze on him and gathered the last of my mind force, then hurled it like an invisible blast straight into his mind.

Taken by surprise, Maddox cried out in pain and clutched his head as he staggered backward. He then stared at me in shock, never expecting I would attack him this way.

Before he could react, I stared at him coldly and said, "Don't flatter yourself. Since you like being someone's lapdog so much, then be my guest. That strike was just payback for shoving me. From now on, we owe each other nothing."

I ignored the fury in his eyes and turned to resume calming the warriors.

Not far away, Chad was approaching with Yelena clinging to him, her face pale with fright at the chaos of the warrior's energy surge. He had seen everything that happened between Maddox and me just now.

Perhaps my defiance had startled him more than he expected, or perhaps it was the blood at the corner of my lips that stirred the last trace of guilt in him—either way, a flicker of unease flickered across his face.

Then, he said slowly, "Tessa, I know you're upset. Once this is settled, I'll have someone take you to get familiar with your new role as Yelena's personal maid.

"Don't worry. I won't mistreat you. You'll have your own room, and I'll see to it you're given better pay and treatment than the other maids."

Better treatment? By that, did Chad mean downgrading me from the pack's once-future Luna to a maid who must bow and scrape before Yelena?

Even now, he still wanted to control my life.

How pathetic.

I calmly withdrew my gaze from their interlocked hands and shook my head with steady resolve.

"That won't be necessary," I said.

My composure left all three of them momentarily stunned.

Maddox, who had followed closely behind, let out a derisive snort.

"Tessa, what are you trying to pull now? Drop the act already. The future Luna's place you stole has already been taken back, and now you're trying to play hard to get? How ridiculous.

"Well, let me tell you something—even without that false prophecy, you would never measure up to Yelena. The fact that Alpha heir Chad is allowing you to stay in the pack as Yelena's maid is already the greatest mercy you'll ever get."

He was still as blind as ever, utterly unable to read the room. He had no idea that I no longer loved any of them.

Upon seeing my expression remain cold, Chad frowned and said with reproach, "Tessa, this isn't the time for your stubbornness. I'll handle things here. You should go back first.

"Yelena's already shaken, and your presence will only make it harder for her to recover. Return to your cabin, and don't come out until this is resolved. That's an order."

As he spoke, he stepped forward and seized my hand, intent on dragging me away by force.

But the next second, the warriors—already on the verge of losing control—suddenly erupted completely. A devastating shockwave that was visible to the naked eye burst forth, and a massive boulder was jarred loose from above.

Chad and Maddox lunged almost at the same time toward Yelena, who was standing exposed in the clearing.

Chad, acting on instinct, shoved me aside just to clear a path for his charge toward Yelena.

That shove sent me reeling, unable to steady myself. I toppled, and the back of my head slammed hard against a rolling stone. Pain exploded through me, then everything went black.

When I came to, I found myself lying in the pack's infirmary. A sharp pain throbbed at the back of my head, and there was no one at my bedside.

After noticing I was awake, the pack's healer came forward to change the dressings on my wound.

"Why would you exhaust your own energy instead of protecting yourself?" the healer asked with concern. "That rock nearly crushed your brain. You're lucky your body's strong.

"Otherwise, you might never have been able to shift into your wolf again. Darling, you need to be kinder to yourself."

I stared calmly at the ceiling and replied softly, "Thank you. It won't happen again."

This power of mine once existed just so I could be worthy of Chad. But from this moment on, it belonged to me alone, and I would never again allow anyone the chance to destroy it.

When the healer finally had me carried out on a stretcher, I learned it was the pack's guards who had brought me here.

As for Chad? He sent me only a single message, "Yelena was so shaken up by your injury that it unsettled her and the pup, so I took her back to rest. As her maid, remember to come and take care of her once you've recovered."

It turned out he didn't care in the least that I was hurt.

In the end, the identity I gained after 15 years of blood and tears, of sacrifice and endurance, was nothing more than that of a maid. A lowly maid, forced to drag the very leg he himself had injured, just to serve his new lover.

The despair seeping through my heart left only a dull ache, yet even that was enough to make every breath hurt.

After wiping the corners of my eyes, I unlocked my phone and opened the pack's intranet social feed.

Yelena's latest post just happened to be right at the top. The photo showed her lying on the soft fur rug in Chad's main house, her face pale and tears stains still at the corners of her eyes. Besides her was a heap of get-well-soon gifts.

Her caption read, "I had a really bad scare today. Thankfully, Chad and Max were with me, and with all the gifts they gave, I feel a little better. I wonder how Tessa is doing, though.

"She was hurt so badly. I hope she recovers soon. After all, I'm still waiting for my new maid to come take care of me."

Pinned at the very top were comments from Maddox and Chad.

"Yelena, you're just too kind for your own good. Why bother worrying about that thief? You should focus on getting better. Once she has recovered, I'll personally drag her over to serve you," Maddox wrote.

"Your health is what matters most. Don't waste your thoughts on anyone else. Rest well. I'll always be by your side," Chad commented.

I read through the posts without a flicker of expression, then opened the chat group I had once pinned to the top of my message. It was a group that consisted only of Maddox, Chad, and me.

The name was still the one I had personally changed years ago—"The Three of Us". Looking at it now, I felt nothing but irony.

Without the slightest hesitation, I tapped softly on the option "Leave Group".

Almost the very next second, Chad's call flashed across my screen. I hesitated for a moment but ultimately answered.

"Why did you leave the group chat?" he asked in a voice that carried no discernible emotion. "Tessa, we've known each other for 15 years. I always thought you were someone who knew how to put the bigger picture first, someone who could tell right from wrong.

"Yelena has already suffered too much injustice, and this is my time to make it up to her. So, why must you choose this moment to seek attention in such a way?

"Allowing you to remain as her maid is already the greatest courtesy I can offer you out of respect for our past. Are you trying to force me to erase even that last trace of consideration?"

I listened to his entire speech in silence.

Just as I was about to speak, I heard Yelena's deliberately sweet and innocent laugh drift through the line.

"Chad, Tessa cares so much about you, so there's no way she truly wants to cut ties. She just wants you to fuss over her while she's hurt. Some she-wolves really do like to use this kind of tactic."

At her words, Chad's tone instantly turned cold. "She's right. Tessa, I'm utterly disappointed in you. You scheme and claw just to stay by my side, and now you're resorting to this pathetic trick to threaten me?

"Well, let me make it clear to you—if you keep this up, I won't even grant you the place of a maid. Instead, I'll banish you from the pack."

After saying that, he fell silent, as if waiting for me to break down crying, apologizing, and begging him not to be so heartless.

But I simply stayed quiet for a few seconds before calmly saying, "Fine."

"What?" Chad uttered in disbelief. Clearly, he was stunned.

"I said fine. Go ahead and banish me from the pack," I repeated evenly, enunciating each word so there could be no mistake.

With that, I hung up without giving him a chance to reply.

The moment the call ended, the composure I had been forcing myself to maintain completely gave way. A single scalding tear slid from the corner of my eye, blurring my vision.

Through the haze, I managed to dial the secret phone number with my trembling fingers. When the call connected, a steady voice answered on the other end.

With a choked but unwavering voice, I said, "It's me, Tessa. Please come take me away."