It didn’t take long for Lyra’s message to arrive.
Lyra:“See it now? Alpha Jace was never yours. The Luna’s title should’ve been mine all along.”
I’d barely finished reading when the pack’s public forum exploded.
Breaking: Alpha Jace Thorn Spends 10 Billion to Summon Elite Healing Mages for Actress Lyra’s ‘Minor Wound’
The post featured photos—
Jace crouched beside Lyra, brushing silver dust from a faint scrape on her back, eyes dark with worry, his hand trembling as if she were his heart itself.
My chest tightened.
It felt as if my bones were dissolving, the strength draining from every vein.
---
Five years ago, on my eighteenth blood-moon ceremony, I was to be blessed as the next Luna of the Silverfang Pack.
That night, the Moon Altar lights dimmed, and a messenger arrived—my parents had been taken by rogues.
I panicked.
Jace went alone.
He came back the next evening, half-dead, legs shattered, carried by my blood-soaked parents.
I fell to my knees, tears streaming.
“Don’t cry,” he whispered through the pain, his voice gentle even as blood seeped from his lips.
“Our Seris looks best when she smiles… cough…”
When the healers spoke, their verdict was devastating—his wolf legs crushed beyond healing, his spirit stones drained, both kidneys gone.
I volunteered my own.
Through a sacred blood ritual, I gave him a part of my life.
Afterward, I was never the same—my wolf weak, my energy fading, my nights haunted by trembling hands clutching moonwater to survive.
Two years later, he proposed beneath the Lunar Oak, eyes glistening red as he vowed, “I’ll love you for eternity.”
How ironic those vows sound now.
---
“Luna,” said the old steward softly, stepping into my chambers with a steaming goblet. “Your medicine.”
“Leave it,” I murmured, locking my screen.
He hesitated. “Alpha ordered that I watch you drink it.”
I smiled faintly, took the cup, and downed it all in one breath.
The liquid burned like melted silver on my tongue.
When the steward left, I waited until his steps vanished down the corridor, then hurried to the kitchen and gathered the ashes of herbs from the fire pit.
The next day, I brought them to a healer I trusted in secret.
Hours later, as I stood in the cold moonlight, his words echoed in my mind:
“These herbs look like tonics, but they counter each other. Taken long enough, they’ll rot her wolf core from within. Her body will collapse naturally.”
I nearly dropped the report.
The shaking wouldn’t stop.
---
When I returned home, the mansion was quiet—too quiet.
I pushed open the door to the sun hall and froze.
Jace was kneeling on one leg, a damp cloth in hand, gently wiping the dust from Lyra’s bare feet.
His touch was reverent, almost worshipful.
And beneath her feet—
lay the moon-woven blanket I’d made for him four winters ago.
Back then, he couldn’t walk.
He’d sat in the dark, refusing even to celebrate his birthday.
So I stayed up for three nights, weaving that blanket from blessed wolf-wool under the full moon.
He’d smiled then, holding it close.
“I’ll treasure it forever,” he’d said.
Now, it was crushed under another woman’s heel.
---
Lyra startled when she saw me. “Seris, I—I didn’t mean—Alpha just saw me stumble and offered to help. I was about to leave—”
Jace rose instantly, stepping protectively before her.
“Don’t blame Lyra, Seris. If you have anger, take it out on me. She’s innocent.”
Lyra sniffled prettily, clutching his sleeve.
“Jace, please don’t scold her. It’s all my fault. I tripped again, silly me. I’ll leave now before she gets upset…”
Her words dripped sweetness—sweet as venom.
I looked at Jace.
His jaw tightened; his eyes flashed with irritation—not for her, but for me.
A thousand memories clawed through my chest: the surgery, the vows, the poison.
The air shifted.
My wolf stirred—weak, but awakening.
Silver light flickered in my eyes as my voice came out low and trembling:
“Tell me, Alpha Jace… which part of me will you take next?”
