4

The pack house door slammed shut.

Leaving only my daughter's tiny body curled into a ball on the cold stone floor.

I knelt beside her, knowing it was futile, but still trying again and again to pick her up.

It was useless, all useless.

The pack's healing center had long been closed. Without Kieran's command, no one dared help my child.

The blood at the corner of my daughter's mouth had already congealed.

She moved her eyelids slightly but couldn't open her eyes.

Only the small packet of pain-relieving herbs in her arms, what little Willow hadn't taken, made a faint rustling sound.

The healing gemstone she had worn around her neck was gone, lost somewhere in the struggle.

Only a thin mark remained on her skin, evidence that she was once a treasured child, protected and loved.

I don't know how long I knelt there, how long I cried.

I only knew that the pain in my chest had numbed, and my tears had completely dried up.

Just when I thought everything was over, Kieran came down.

His custom leather boots made sharp sounds against the stone floor.

Kieran walked to the center of the hall, staring at my daughter's motionless form, his eyes dark and unreadable.

"Haven't you played enough?"

"Is this how Scarlet taught you to fake sympathy?"

"You don't actually think I'll soften my heart just because you're playing the victim?"

"Dream on!"

Kieran's icy voice rang out, each sentence like a blade repeatedly stabbing my heart.

I wanted to ask him: Are you even a wolf?

How dare you maliciously doubt my pup?

She's so good, so sensible, so...

Tears fell in streams, landing on my daughter's face.

Perhaps it was my imagination, but my daughter's eyelashes suddenly twitched.

Meanwhile, Kieran continued his harsh words, but noticing my daughter's lack of response, the man finally showed some unease.

He lifted his foot and walked step by step toward my daughter.

"Emma?"

"Why aren't you speaking?"

"I've seen through your act, stop pretending."

Kieran's tone grew heavier with each sentence, his walking pace quickening with each step.

Just as he approached my daughter, a warrior came: "Alpha! The Rogues wolves sent Luna back."

Kieran froze mid-step.

The panic on his face immediately transformed into anger at being deceived once again.

"I told you your mother is a liar. Look—she's back, just as I said she would be. And still she teaches you to lie about being in danger."

After that, Kieran left without hesitation.

My daughter stood up immediately, a desperate hope filling them despite her injuries.

"Mom's back? She's alive?"

The warrior's face remained carefully neutral as he carried her toward the pack's border.

That's when she saw my broken body lying on a stretcher at the border.

She was stunned when she saw my tortured form, covered in silver burns, my skin gray and lifeless.

She hobbled forward, taking out the few remaining pain-relieving herbs that were tightly held in her small hand.

With trembling fingers, she tried to feed them into my mouth.

"Mom, eat this. The therapist said it helps with pain. You won't hurt anymore after eating this."

Her small voice cracked with desperation.

"Mom? Can you hear me? The herbs will make it better."

After saying this, she collapsed into unconsciousness.

Just then, another warrior who had been examining me screamed out.

"Alpha! Luna Ava is dead! The silver torture marks are real—they're all over her body!"

Chaos erupted at the border as warriors crowded around, voices rising in shock and alarm.

Kieran, who had come to the border for normal patrol, stopped abruptly.

"What foolishness is this?" he growled, turning back. "I told you all that—"

"Luna is dead! And she was pregnant!"

Another warrior called out in horror after examining my body more closely.

All the guards at the border grew noisy with panic and grief.

The Alpha heard the commotion and pushed the crowd away irritably.

"What are you doing here? If you disturb Willow's recovery with this nonsense, each of you..."

Alpha's words suddenly stopped.

He saw the woman lying on the stretcher, silver burns covering her body, her stomach slightly swollen with pregnancy.

And he saw his daughter lying across me, barely breathing, her small body covered in claw marks and bruises.

His face immediately turned pale.