chapter 4

"Harper, how could you be so vicious?!"

I looked at him calmly, unable to understand what I had done that was so cruel.

If I had even a shred of cruelty in me, maybe my daughter wouldn’t have died such a brutal death.

"My mother was right—I should’ve severed our fated bond and sent you back to Shadowmoon Pack long ago! Then she wouldn’t have been poisoned to death by you!"

I froze for a moment, then laughed coldly. "Your mother is dead?"

What a coincidence.

"Still pretending?" Jackson’s eyes were bloodshot, his sharp fangs peeking from his lips. His whole expression screamed he wanted to rip me apart.

"This morning, you said you’d never forgive me or my mother. And this afternoon—bam—she’s dead! And it just so happens she was killed using a poison only the Shadowmoon Pack knows how to make. Don’t tell me you had nothing to do with it."

All the evidence pointed to me. I was the only one with a reason to kill Madam Dorothy.

She hated that I gave birth to a girl. Sasha died under strange circumstances. It was Dorothy who ordered my daughter's body fed to the bears.

But I hadn't done it.

All I had wanted was to break our bond and leave Darkridge with my daughter.

Now Sasha was gone, and I no longer had a reason to live. Why would I go out of my way to kill anyone?

Jackson took my silence as guilt. He let go of my throat and spoke coldly.

"From today on, I sever our mate bond as Alpha of the Darkridge Pack. This pack doesn’t need a Luna as wicked as you. But don’t even think about returning to Shadowmoon Pack. You’ll stay in this room and repent for what you’ve done."

After I was confined, every wolf in the pack began whispering ugly things about me.

They said I had dared to poison Madam Dorothy, that I was a disgrace to the title of Luna.

They brought me moldy bread and said that was all I was good for now.

They said I was an abandoned Omega, and my future would be one of captivity and forced breeding—or I’d be tossed into the bear pit like my daughter.

I listened quietly every time, sometimes even feeling the urge to laugh at their stupidity.

But to my surprise, someone actually came to visit me.

It was Clara. She snuck two sandwiches past the guards and handed them to me in secret.

"Luna, I know you didn’t poison Madam Dorothy. Please hang on just a few more days. I’ll find evidence and tell the Alpha the truth. I’ll clear your name."

I held back tears and forced a smile.

"Don’t call me Luna. Jackson and I severed our bond. I’m nothing now. I just never expected you’d be the only one to visit me in the end."

I pulled a white moonstone from my waistband and handed it to her.

"Clara, can I ask you a favor? Go to East Town, there’s a gem shop there. Give this to the owner and tell him… Harper regrets everything."

Clara nodded firmly.

Watching her leave, I felt a rare moment of comfort.

Clara had always been softhearted. She was the oldest of the four who once served me.

Saddie was clever and full of tricks.

Autumn was vain, always dreaming of power.

Elsie was timid and aimless—the youngest.

I’d assumed that the moment they were marked, they had chosen to betray me.

But at least one of them still remembered the kindness I had shown.

Days passed, and Jackson never came.

The wolves outside my room gossiped that he had taken his anger out on me by sleeping with every female elder sent to him.

One night, I was jolted awake by thick smoke choking my lungs.

Flames roared outside my door.

I tried to shift into wolf form to escape, but I couldn’t connect with the wolf inside me.

I smelled the sharp sting of Moonblight in the smoke.

Soaking the bedsheets, I threw them over myself and burst out of the room. That’s when I saw a shadow moving suspiciously in the distance.

It was Saddie.

She was trying to burn me alive.

The moment she saw me, she shifted into her wolf form, then dashed toward me and threw me back into the burning room. Standing in the glow of the fire, she sneered.

"Harper, so what if you were born privileged? A princess of the Shadowmoon Pack, living in luxury your whole life. We’ve served you all these years—if nothing else, we deserve credit for that. But you’re too coldhearted. You couldn’t make space for us, so now we can’t make space for you."

She laughed, cruel and triumphant.

"After tonight, the fire will turn everything to ash. Everyone will believe you set yourself on fire out of grief."

Then she added, "The Alpha said once I give birth to his child, he’ll make me Luna of the Darkridge Pack. Isn’t that wonderful?"

The smoke burned my throat. I coughed violently.

Before she left, Saddie fanned the flames higher. Fire surrounded me on all sides.

I tried everything to get out.

But the thick smoke stung my eyes. I couldn’t breathe. My throat felt like it was bleeding, and my mind grew hazy.

Was I really going to die here?

Then the door was kicked open.

A massive gray wolf burst in, voice hoarse and urgent.

"Harper, I’m here to save you!"