It was the night of the full moon, and my mating ceremony had finally arrived. My once simple dress now shimmered with the moon's glow, and my reflection in the mirror revealed eyes that gleamed with anticipation as I awaited my groom, Trent Ford. But he never came as the hours passed and the moon rose higher. I howled into the night, the unanswered calls echoing in the darkness.

I had waited so long, my heart pounding not just with excitement but with the primal energy coursing through my veins. By the time the sun began to rise, I had become a joke among the pack, my mother’s lifeless body a silent testament to the tragedy of the night. Her heart, already weakened, couldn’t bear the shame, and she passed away that very night.

As the pack whispered and the dawn’s light crept over the horizon, a post from Trent’s first love, Winona Lei, appeared. "You are always there for me when I'm down. It's so great to have you!" The image was intimate, their faces close, and their bodies touching. Trembling with rage, I took a screenshot and sent it to Trent. "Is this why you missed our wedding?"

But it wasn’t until my mother’s ashes were buried that he finally responded, his words dripping with cold indifference. "We can get married any day, but she can't live without me."

Instead of texting back, I left my last message through the mind-link. "Trent, let's take a break." With that, I blocked him, severing the last tie between us.

For seven years, I had chased him, loved him, and molded myself to his desires, my inner wolf growling in dissatisfaction. When he said he liked short hair, I sheared my wild mane without hesitation. When he complained about my size, I starved myself, denying my natural hunger even as my strength waned. When I needed him most, I faced the pain of transformation alone, fearing he’d find me weak or, worse, needy.

But Winona’s presence was a constant thorn in my side. No matter what I did, he would always be by her side, telling me, "You're strong, Niana. You don't need me like she does." My strength, once a source of pride, became the excuse he used to abandon me every time, over and over again.

After blocking Trent, I found myself at my mother’s grave, my claws gently tracing her name on the cold stone. My human father had died when I was just a pup, leaving my werewolf mother to raise me alone in the shadows of the pack. Her only wish was to see me mated to Trent, but that dream had died with her.

As I stood there, mourning, Trent appeared, supporting Winona, who held an urn. The scent of death clung to them both. "Trent, this place is close to my den. If I bury my baby here, it’s like he never left," Winona whispered, her voice carrying over the wind. The "baby" she spoke of was no child but a beloved pet puppy she had adopted.

I was ready to leave when Trent blocked my path, his eyes dark with suspicion. "Are you following me?"

The accusation stung, but I had no fight left in me. "No, I’m just leaving," I growled low, turning away.

But Winona wasn’t finished. "Niana," she purred, her eyes glinting with malicious satisfaction, "my puppy died, and Trent stayed with me for his funeral. Please, don't misunderstand." Her words were honeyed, but the look she gave me was a challenge.

"Good for you," I muttered, resisting the urge to bare my fangs.

Trent scowled. "Niana, can’t you show some sympathy? Winona’s in pain. Why do you have to be so cold?"

His words were like a dagger, twisting in my chest. I had given him everything, yet here he was, defending Winona. I was tired, too tired to fight anymore.

"I don’t need to hear this," I said, my voice ice cold, before turning my back on them.

Trent followed me; his steps heavy as he caught up to me. "Are you still upset about the wedding?"

"It’s over, Trent," I said, my voice flat and final.

"Winona needed me. You’re strong. You can handle yourself. But she needed me," he insisted, oblivious to the hurt he was causing. "Please tell your mother I’m sorry. Let’s reschedule the wedding."

His ignorance was the final straw. "There’s no chance," I snarled, my voice breaking.

Desperate now, Trent grabbed my arm. "Okay, I know I messed up. But your mother treated me like her own son. She would want us to be together. Let’s set a new date."

Once, I might have wavered, but not now. My mother was gone, and my last tie to Trent was with her. "I won’t marry you," I said, shaking off his hand and leaving him behind.

As I walked away, I heard him on the phone. "Rod, send a gift to Niana’s mother and tell her we’ll have a grand wedding in two days."

But it was too late. I was done howling at the moon for a love that was never mine.

Before I reached the cemetery gates, a chilling call came from the cemetery manager. The voice on the other end was frantic, laden with urgency: someone was digging at my mother's grave. The words struck me like a thunderclap. Without a second thought, I spun on my heel and sprinted toward the graveyard, my breath coming in ragged gasps as I pushed myself harder, faster.

My mother had been the embodiment of kindness, a beacon of warmth and love in my life. She gave everything she had to those around her, never asking for anything in return. Even when the doctors delivered the grim news of her heart disease due to having no mate, she remained selfless, refusing to let the shadow of death darken my life.

"Niana," she had said, her voice steady despite the pain, "Don’t engrave my name on the tombstone. Just write, 'May my daughter live a safe and happy life.' That’s all I want for you." Her words were etched into my soul, a final wish I had vowed to honor.

But now, that sacred promise is just a joke for some heartless werewolf!

As I arrived at the gravesite, my worst fears flashed before my eyes. Winona, a woman whose presence had always set my nerves on edge, was there with her loyal wolfmen, desecrating the ground that held my mother's remains. The urn that held my mother’s ashes had been callously cast aside, while Winona’s dog’s urn was being lowered into the grave that had been my mother's final resting place. Two of her wolfmen were reburying the disturbed earth as if they had every right to do so.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I roared; my voice raw with fury as I sprinted toward them. My fists clenched, and I could feel the sharp bite of my nails digging into my palms. “Who gave you the right to dig up someone else’s grave like this?”

Winona feigned a look of innocence as if she were the victim in this twisted scenario. She cowered behind Trent, her eyes wide with mock fear.

“This is the new home I chose for my baby,” she simpered, a venomous sweetness coating her words. “We’ve already spoken to the cemetery manager. The inscription on the stone spoke of a mother’s love for her daughter—it is fitting for my beloved Angel. Besides, I’ll give the daughter some money. I’m sure she won’t mind. Why are you so worked up? You look terrifying.”

Her words made my blood boil. Without a second thought, I lunged forward and yanked the shovel from one of the wolfmen’s hands, fury fueling my strength as I began to undo the damage they had wrought.

“Niana, stop this madness!” Trent’s voice cut through the air like a whip as he snatched the shovel away from me.

“Trent, how could you let this happen? How could you stand by and let them defile this grave?” I screamed, my voice cracking under the weight of my anguish.

But I didn’t stop. I dropped to my knees and started clawing at the freshly turned earth with my bare hands, desperate to reach my mother’s urn, to put right the wrong they had done.

Winona’s calm facade began to crumble as she saw me walking closer to the urn. “Stop her!” she shrieked; her voice laced with panic. “My baby has suffered enough. I won’t allow him to be disturbed again!”

At her command, the wolfmen seized me, their grip like iron as they held me back, preventing me from reaching my goal.

“Let me go!” I thrashed against them, my voice hoarse from screaming, but their hold was unyielding.

Trent stepped closer and his face twisted with anger. “Niana, Winona is already heartbroken over her dog’s death. And here you are, digging up its grave, making everything worse. You’ve gone too far. Apologize to her, now!”

“Never!” I spat, the word bursting from me with all the venom I felt. Winona had dug up my mother’s grave—my mother, who had been nothing but good and kind.

I wanted to tear Winona apart for what she had done, to make her pay for every moment of agony she had caused.

But Winona, ever the manipulator, saw an opportunity in my defiance. She turned to Trent and said, “Trent, you always said Niana was a good person, but look at her now. She’s completely lost it. She’s acting like a rogue. If you really marry her, you’ll be the laughingstock of the pack and the neighboring packs as well.”

Trent’s expression hardened. His loyalty to Winona is evident in every line of his face. “Who dares to laugh at my woman?” he retorted; his tone icy. But I could see the doubt flickering in his eyes, the way Winona’s words started to sink in.

She gave him a sweet smile, but there was no mistake in her gaze. She had won, and she knew it.

Trent looked at me with disappointment. “Niana,” he began, his voice cold, “I can’t believe you’re making such a fuss over a grave. This is beyond ridiculous. If you apologize to Winona, maybe—just maybe—I’ll forgive you.”

I met his gaze, my heart heavy with a betrayal so deep it felt like a physical wound. “And if I refuse?” I asked, my voice trembling with the effort to keep my emotions in check.

His silence was answer enough.

"Don't forget, your mother still needs the drug from my company. I told you there's only one type of surgery that can cure her heart disease, and I’ve scheduled it for next week." Trent's voice was a low growl, a warning that sent a shiver down my spine.

He was no longer the alpha I once thought I knew. The wolf within him had begun to surface, a dangerous predator who would do anything to protect what he saw as his territory—including Winona, the woman who had come between us.

"Are you saying you would abandon my mother for her?" I asked, my voice trembling with disbelief. My mother had always treated Trent like her own son, welcoming him into our pack when he had no one else. She had seen the potential in him. She believed that he could be a strong alpha and loyal mate for me. In her eyes, Trent was the perfect match — a werewolf who could lead and protect.

Trent had respected my mother deeply, not just because she had once saved his life, but because she had shown him kindness when others had not. He had promised her, again and again, that he would cure her heart disease, that she would live a long life and see her grandchildren run through the forest. But now, he was threatening to cut her off, to let her die, all because of Winona.

He pulled out his phone, his eyes dark with intent. "That's right. So, are you going to apologize, or not?"

His words stung, each one like a lash against my skin. I had already lost hope in Trent, but this—this was a new level of betrayal. My heart ached, and before I knew it, tears were streaming down my face. Having human blood running in my veins because my father wouldn’t let me transform even though my wolf was there and in pain; she felt like a prisoner inside my body.

Trent’s expression faltered for a moment as he saw my tears. There was a flicker of something in his eyes—does his wolf feel my wolf’s agony? But before he could say anything, Winona, standing beside him with her arms crossed, sneered at me with disdain.

"I really don’t understand why you're being so dramatic," she said, her voice cold. "I didn’t dig up your family's grave!"

With a wave of her hand, she ordered the wolfmen behind me, "Refill the grave and let my baby rest in peace."

The two wolfmen released their grip on me and turned back to their task. But I couldn’t let them desecrate my mother’s resting place any further. I stepped forward, my hands trembling with rage.

"Are you done?!" Trent snarled, grabbing me roughly by the arm and shoving me aside.

I stumbled and fell hard to the ground. My shoulder hit my mother’s urn, and to my horror, it tipped over, spilling her ashes across the wet earth. For a moment, the world went silent. The pain was so intense it stole my breath away.

Watching my mother die with regrets had been the most agonizing experience of my life. Now, I couldn’t even protect what remained of her. The grief and hatred that surged within me were unbearable.

As if mocking my despair, the sky opened up, and rain began to pour down in torrents. The downpour soaked the ashes, turning them into a muddy paste. I screamed in anguish, falling to my knees as I tried desperately to gather them up with my hands.

"No, no!" I sobbed, but it was useless. The rain washed my mother away, and I was powerless to stop it.

Winona walked over, her footsteps squelching in the mud. She looked down at me, a twisted smile playing on her lips. "Niana, why are you lying on the ground like a dog for a stranger's ashes? Enough of this charade."

Her words were the final straw. With a surge of strength fueled by fury, I pushed her away. She staggered back, her eyes wide with surprise, but Trent was there to catch her before she fell.

"Niana, you almost pushed Winona to the ground!" Trent’s voice filled with fury. "I’ll teach you a lesson today!"

He raised his phone to his ear and called his Beta, "Rod, don’t send the gift. Also, stop providing the drugs for Niana’s mother and cancel the surgery immediately!"

There was a pause on the other end before Rod, replied, "Alpha, your Luna’s mother died on your mating ceremony day."

Trent’s face drained of color. "What nonsense are you talking about? How is that possible?" he demanded, his voice shaking with disbelief.

"It’s true, Alpha," Rod insisted. "I also discovered that the grave where Ms. Lei buried her dog belongs to Luna’s mother."