Chapter 1

I'm strapped to a cold metal bed in the pack's infirmary, staring at water stains on the ceiling, counting down my final hours.

This medical wing sits at the crossroads of several territories—wolves constantly passing through. Yet no one stops for me. I'm invisible.

Through the thin wall, I can hear Ryan's gentle voice comforting Vivian in the next room, promising her everything will be alright.

My insides feel like molten fire as the wolfsbane ravages my system. My wolf, Luna, severed our connection hours ago—her suffering even more excruciating than mine.

The only cure that could save us was just taken next door.

My breathing grows shallow, each inhale more difficult than the last. My extremities have gone cold.

Eventually, I lose even the strength to blink, and my heart stutters to a stop.

The last sound I register is cheering from the adjacent room. Vivian has recovered from the wolfsbane poisoning—at the cost of my life.

I refuse this ending. Something—perhaps the Moon Goddess herself—tears my spirit from my body. I become a ghost, unseen by the living, able to move through solid objects.

I drift through the wall and witness Ryan, Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack, embracing Vivian tenderly. He kisses her forehead with such gentleness it makes my nonexistent heart ache.

Though I no longer have a physical form, the pain of betrayal cuts through me like silver.

He was my mate, my Alpha, my destined other half. I want to scream, to ask if he spared even a moment to worry about me while I fought for my life mere steps away.

The answer is obvious in his every action.

Ryan had mobilized nearly our entire pack searching for the antidote to save Vivian. In the end, I was the one who found it—risking my life to venture into forbidden territory.

To ensure I wouldn't "interfere" with Vivian's treatment, he ordered his enforcers to confiscate the herbs and lock me away. He refused to listen to a single word I said.

He believed I had fabricated my poisoning to withhold Vivian's cure and watch her die.

I begged repeatedly, pleading with healers to confirm my condition, but Ryan stripped them of their positions. "I won't have liars serving as pack healers," he declared.

An Alpha's command is absolute. I had no power against his will.

As the wolfsbane spread, I writhed in agony while my wolf trembled within me. I had failed to protect her.

All I could do was beg through our mind link, "Ryan, I won't fight you anymore. Whatever you say is right. Just please give me a small portion of the antidote. I can find more. Without it, I'll die!"

As his Luna, I had never humbled myself like this before. I thought that if I completely submitted, acknowledged whatever sins he accused me of, he might show mercy for the three years I'd been his Luna.

I was wrong. He laughed coldly and spoke with cruel finality, "Enough lies. You conspired with the healers to harm Vivian. As long as I live, you won't escape punishment!

"You're only saying this to avoid consequences. Even if you did find the herb that saved Vivian, it doesn't erase your crimes. You've tormented her for years. Once she recovers, you'll answer for everything.

"Don't think death will save you. You'll only die when Vivian forgives you—if she ever does!"

My lips parted helplessly. Anyone facing false accusations would instinctively deny them, but I had no strength left. I released a faint breath, unable to utter a single word.

The wolfsbane was attacking my nervous system. Soon, it would destroy me completely.

Ryan didn't care about my silence. His rage consumed him as he spat, "You disgust me!"

No matter how many times I reached for, I still remembered our wedding day with painful clarity. The ceremony had been grand—the Silver Moon Pack had spared no expense for their Alpha's marking ceremony. Lanterns illuminated the sacred clearing as pack members gathered in their finest attire. I wore a gown of silver silk that caught the moonlight, with white moonflowers woven through my hair.

Ryan had seemed entranced that night, his eyes rarely leaving mine as we performed the ancient lunar binding ritual. When he pulled me close to complete our marking, his touch was gentle, reverent.

"You are the most beautiful she-wolf I've ever seen," he had whispered against my skin before sinking his fangs into the sensitive spot where my neck met my shoulder, marking me as his forever. The bond had flooded my senses with warmth and belonging. "The Moon Goddess herself brought you to me. You'll be my Luna until the end of time."

I believed every word.

What I didn't know then was how many pack members viewed our union with contempt. After the ceremony, during the feast, I overheard three high-ranking she-wolves speaking when they thought no one could hear.

"It should have been Vivian standing there," one hissed. "I can't believe he chose an orphan from Shadow Ridge over her."

"Give it time," another replied with cruel certainty. "Vivian will return, and this little nobody will see her true place."

The third laughed coldly. "Did you see how the Alpha's mother barely acknowledged her? She didn't even offer the traditional Luna's blessing. This marriage won't last."

I had retreated silently, heart breaking even on what should have been the happiest night of my life. When I returned to Ryan's side, he seemed distracted, his eyes scanning the crowd as if searching for someone who wasn't there. Even then, I suspect he was looking for Vivian.

That night set the pattern for all that followed—moments of perfect bliss shattered by the reality that I was never truly accepted, never truly his first choice. If only I had recognized the signs from the beginning, perhaps I wouldn't be lying here now, dying while he saves another. him through our link, he never responded again.

The room fell silent. I heard my bones cracking as the poison took its toll. And just like that, my love for Ryan shattered like ice beneath summer sun.

He cut the link between us. He looked at me now with the same contempt one would give a rabid stray.