On the eve of the Blood Moon Ceremony, the most sacred night for our pack, I discovered my fiancé and my mate, Damien, locked in a passionate embrace with my step sister, Ember. The sight clawed at my soul, a betrayal that ripped through my wolf and left me exposed, bleeding.
The shock of it sent my mother, our pack’s elder healer, into cardiac arrest. Her heart, weakened by years of service, gave out. She needed a rare, ancient ritual to save her, a ritual that required a powerful blood sacrifice.
I, as the eldest daughter, was the only one who could offer it. Without hesitation, I gave a part of my life force, knowing it would leave me weakened, vulnerable for the rest of my life.
Desperate for the rare herbs needed for the ritual, I turned to my fiancé. He, the keeper of Pack’s infirmary, claimed the pack’s stores were depleted, offering only empty promises.
In my despair, Lucas, a wolf from a rival pack, appeared. He possessed the herbs I needed and performed the dark ritual, saving my mother. But when I awoke, his expression was grim. "Your mother… the ritual… it was corrupted. It failed."
She was gone. Forever.
With tear-filled eyes, I clung to Lucas. He held me close, whispering words of comfort, swearing to protect me. I believed him and married him.
Seven years into our uneasy alliance, fate struck another cruel blow. A whispered conversation I overheard shattered my world.
"So you used Ava’s life force to empower the ritual for Ember? That’s… barbaric.”
"There was no other choice. Ember's bloodline is stronger. She’s vital to the pack’s future. Ava, being her step sister was the best choice for her,”
"But they had another good match ready. It would have taken only a few hours. Was it really that urgent?"
Lucas sighed, his voice laced with regret. "I couldn't take a risk on Ember. Not even for a moment."
***
Inside the alpha’s den, Lucas paced, his tone cold.
“If pack law prevented me from claiming her then, the least I could do was ensure Ember’s survival.”
Liam, a subordinate who assisted Lucas in his dark rituals, hesitated, his face etched with worry. “But Ava’s connection to her wolf is now fractured. She suffers from constant chills, weakness… and she can’t even shift fully.”
“Her wolf is barely clinging to her,” he pressed, desperation creeping into his voice. “She’s fading. Are you really going to make her suffer like this? She loves you more than anything. Just give her back the life force. You have other sources now for Ember’s strength.”
Lucas’s expression hardened. “No. The more life force I have, the stronger Ember will be. I won’t take that risk. Not for anyone.”
Liam’s heart sank.
“What about Ava? I still remember her mother’s eyes, the way they glazed over as her life force was stolen. Aren’t you afraid Ava will seek vengeance when she learns the truth?”
Lucas went silent, then let out a low, bitter laugh.
“If she wants my life, she can take it. I’m already intended to devote my whole life to Ava and taking care of her as my redemption. As long as Ember thrives, I’ll accept any fate.”
My claws dug into the wood of the den door, my body trembling, my wolf howling in silent rage.
Heart pounding, I fumbled for the enchanted stone, recording everything before fleeing to my own small dwelling, my legs barely carrying me.
The moment I collapsed inside, my breath hitched, my mind reeling. My wolf had never fully recovered from the loss of my life force. Weakness clung to me like a shroud, chills racked my body, and the shift, once effortless, was now a painful, incomplete transformation.
Lucas had told me the ritual required a willing sacrifice to sign a blood pact before getting their life force pulled out. My mother had been willing but too dead to sign the pact, which meant there was no way to restore what was stolen.
I had thought it didn’t matter so long as my life force could stay with my mom forever that I couldn't. But, It was all a lie.
No wonder Lucas had stopped me when I begged to be at my mother’s side during her final moments, insisting I was too weak. He had overseen everything himself.
So this supposed love, this supposed sacrifice, it was nothing but a calculated act of theft, planned by a monster.
He had never truly cared for my mother.
Both of us had been nothing more than offerings for the she-wolf he truly valued.
And to keep me from ever suspecting the truth, he took my mother inside the ritual chamber first , forcing her to watch, powerless, as her own daughter’s strength was ripped away and given to another.
She had died in anger and helplessness, knowing she was too powerless to save her daughter going into death's den in front of her eyes.
