My fifth year as Luna, and it was the first time my Alpha, Marcus, sat down to have breakfast with me alone. But a three-year-old boy was sitting right next to him. “Catherine’s husband passed away last month. She’s struggling to raise the boy alone. We grew up together, and I can’t just stand by. I’m bringing them to live here for a while.” The boy looked up. His features were almost identical to Marcus’s. I froze. Not because of his face, but because I couldn’t smell a thing. A three-year-old pup was sitting right in front of me, yet I couldn’t scent him. Even now, my wolf didn’t surge forward to rip Marcus’s throat out. #### I pushed down the tremor in my chest and sneered. “Grew up together? Her husband just died, and you’re already rushing to bring her into our home?” His face darkened. “She doesn’t want any status. She’ll just live here to help take care of the kid… You’re still the Luna, and you get an extra child. It’s a win-win.” I set my fork down and stared at the Alpha in front of me. Five years ago, when the Blood Ridge Pack declared war, the Shadow Fang Pack was almost wiped out. It was my father who led his warriors to push them back, rebuilt their territory, and established their supply lines. Without the Silver Creek Pack, the Shadow Fang Pack wouldn’t even exist today. “Marcus, I’m leaving. Take your woman and your kid, and get the hell out.” He picked up the boy, placed him in his chair, turned to me, and slid his hands into his pockets. “Luna Elena, you’ve been married into the Shadow Fang Pack for five years. Everything here is under my command.” His tone was flat, stating a fact that needed no debate. “I remember the favor your father did for us back then. But since you married in, those resources belong to Shadow Fang. If I say no, they have nothing to do with you anymore.” He pulled out a chair, sat down, and casually picked up a piece of toast, taking a bite. “What do you have to fight me with?” The three-year-old boy sat on the high chair, poking his yogurt cup with a spoon, glancing at me with every poke. His brow bone, the bridge of his nose, even the mole at the corner of his lip—he was a carbon copy of Marcus. “You think I didn’t come prepared?” “Prepared what? Calling your father’s messenger?” He smirked. “That guy bowed his head to me yesterday. In this territory, no one dares to defy my orders.” I just stared at him. He put the toast down, brushed the crumbs off his hands, and stood up. “Luna Elena, stop throwing a tantrum. Catherine is coming this afternoon. Help clean up the room next door.” He walked to the door to change his shoes. Bending down to tie his laces, he glanced back at the boy. “Liam, be good. Daddy will be home tonight.” Daddy. Not uncle. He wasn’t even trying to hide it anymore. After the door slammed shut, I stood by the window, watching Marcus’s car drive out of the gates. I lifted my arm and sniffed. Nothing. I couldn’t even smell my own scent anymore. I walked back to the kitchen and opened the deepest cabinet. Three months ago, Marcus started giving me a “nutritional supplement” every morning. He said it was formulated by the pack healer and was good for my body. I drank it every time, never thinking twice. But now, I was starting to wonder. Over the past few months, my wolf felt weaker and weaker. Every time I drank that stuff, my body felt sluggish in a way I couldn’t describe. I used to think it was just stress. Now, putting everything together, the answer was staring me in the face. I didn’t make a scene. I just took a clean vial from the cabinet, poured half of tomorrow morning’s “supplement” into it, screwed the cap tight, and hid it at the very bottom of my closet. Then, I went about my day like nothing had happened. Yesterday, I tried to send a messenger to contact my father, wanting him to send people to pick me up for a few days. Now, it seemed that messenger had already fallen into Marcus’s hands. Twelve minutes after the door closed, my phone rang. An unknown number. “Luna Elena, this is Catherine.” Her voice was soft and sweet, with a southern drawl. “Alpha Marcus said I should come over at three. Is the room ready?” “What else did he tell you?” “He said… you agreed to it.” “When did I ever say I agreed?” The line went quiet for two seconds. “Luna Elena, I really won’t take up much space. I’m just here to help with Liam and cook. You can just treat me as a free nanny…” “Who is the pinned contact on your Snapchat? What’s his nickname?” Her breath hitched. “I saw it this morning. Between eight and nine today, you sent him eight messages. The last one: ‘Honey, did she agree? I’m so nervous.’” “Elena…” “You also have another social media account called ‘Secrets of Happiness’ on TikTok, with 1.17 million followers. Three months ago, you posted a video. The background was a living room with warm lighting, a mahogany coffee table, and custom Italian drapes. You told the camera, ‘Everyone, this is the home my husband and I share.’” She fell silent. I continued, “That living room is mine. Those drapes were ordered by me from Milan. I brought that coffee table in.” She remained silent. “Are you still coming at three?” Her voice was small, but she didn’t back down. “Luna Elena, Alpha Marcus told me to come.” At three sharp, the doorbell rang. She wore a cream knit dress, her hair in a low ponytail, her skin ridiculously fair. When she smiled, two deep dimples appeared. “Hi, Luna Elena.” She bowed slightly, dragging two suitcases. The boy jumped off the couch and ran into her arms. “Mommy!” She picked him up, kissed his forehead, and looked at me. There wasn’t a shred of guilt in her eyes. She walked around the living room as if she owned the place. In her mind, maybe she did. “Luna Elena, where is the guest room? I can find it myself.” “That ring on your left hand.” Her smile froze. On her left ring finger was a sapphire ring. My engagement ring. Two years ago, Marcus said he took it for cleaning and never brought it back. She hid her hand behind her back. “Alpha Marcus gave it to me…” “I know he did.” I turned and went upstairs. Her voice trailed behind me, laced with a whiny, spoiled pout. “Luna Elena, I really am just here to help.” ####
“Don’t be so petty.” Victoria’s call came earlier than I expected. “Marcus told me. The boy’s father died last month. It’s hard for a single mother. As a woman, how can you lack such basic compassion?” “Victoria, that boy looks exactly like Marcus.” “So what if they look alike? It’s just a coincidence.” Her words came fast, like she’d been practicing them all night. “Marcus also told me. The girl is only staying for a few days. If you have to think the worst, is it because you haven’t produced a pup in five years of marriage and feel insecure?” As those words pierced through, my nails dug into my palms. “Victoria, do you know why I haven’t had a child in five years?” “If your health is poor, go get it treated. How many times do I have to tell you?” “Marcus had me taking medicine for six months, claiming it was to help me conceive. I took the prescription to get it checked. Long-term use of that drug causes permanent infertility.” The line went silent for two seconds. “Nonsense. My son treats you incredibly well. Are you just trying to tear this family apart?” She hung up. I put down my phone and pinched the bridge of my nose. Three months. Every single day. Marcus handed it to me himself, telling me it was a supplement. I trusted him for three months. I opened the bottom drawer of my nightstand and took out the vial from this morning, containing half a bottle of dark liquid. A few dried droplets clung to the bottom. At noon, Catherine came down from the guest room and cooked a full spread. Roasted pork ribs, garden salad, fruit salad. Liam sat at the dining table, holding his bowl, his face smeared with food. She sat next to him, wiping his face with a wet wipe. Seeing me come downstairs, she stood up. “Luna Elena, I scooped a bowl of soup for you.” The soup bowl was placed at the far end of the table. She was sitting in my usual seat. I didn’t touch the soup. That afternoon, when I went out to buy some medicine, I swiped the credit card Marcus gave me. “I’m sorry, ma’am, this card has been deactivated.” I switched to my personal debit card and entered the PIN. Insufficient funds. I opened my banking app. Three days ago, a transfer had been executed from my personal account. One point four million dollars, fully transferred to the Shadow Fang Pack’s escrow account. Authorized by: Marcus. Marcus had revoked my resource access. He froze my accounts. He didn’t need my consent; he only needed to issue an order. In the evening, Victoria arrived. In her seventies, wearing low-heeled leather shoes, she walked in carrying a bag of fruit. The moment she saw Catherine, she beamed. “Oh, look at you, so beautiful. Come, let me see Liam.” She held the boy, stroked his face, and kissed his forehead, her eyes crinkling into slits. “This nose is exactly like Marcus’s when he was a boy.” She knew. She knew everything. Victoria pulled a box from her bag and opened it. A moonstone bracelet, gorgeous. I recognized it. It was a family heirloom amulet my family gave me when I got married, valued at eight hundred thousand dollars. During our second year of marriage, Victoria asked to borrow it once and never returned it. She slid the bracelet onto Catherine’s wrist. “Here, this is for you. Thank you for working so hard with the baby.” Catherine feigned a polite refusal before accepting it perfectly. “Thank you.” She said it while smiling at me. Victoria sat on the couch, took a sip of the tea Catherine poured, and glanced at me. “Luna Elena, you’re thirty now. They say it’s hard for a female to conceive after thirty. Look how sweet Liam is. Just raise him as your own first, and we can talk about the rest later.” “Victoria, that amulet is mine.” “What’s yours is mine? Once you step through the gates of the Shadow Fang Pack, it belongs to the Pack.” She set her teacup down. “Luna Elena, if you really can’t get over this, let me make things clear. Marcus told me you want to leave.” She stared at me, her warm expression shifting into something cold. “You can enter the Shadow Fang Pack, but you don’t get to just walk out. The resources your father provided were a donation. Support can be cut off, but haven’t you learned your lesson? You don’t even have your wolf anymore. You’re no different from a cripple. How many days do you think you’d survive out there?” Catherine stood by the kitchen door holding Liam, keeping quiet. But she was smiling. Victoria stood up and brushed off non-existent dust from her skirt. “Think it over before you speak to me again. An Alpha like Marcus has countless she-wolves lining up to marry him. You should be counting your blessings.” ####
“Come to the main house for dinner tonight. Elder Luna invited a few people.” Marcus’s message arrived at four in the afternoon. When I arrived, seven or eight people were sitting in the living room. The core members of the Shadow Fang Pack, usually busy with their own tasks, were all gathered today. At the dinner table, my seat was gone. Catherine sat on Marcus’s right, with Liam on her lap. My usual chair had been pushed to the corner. “Luna Elena is here. Grab a chair for yourself,” Victoria said, not even looking up. Margaret spoke up, her eyes scanning Catherine and Liam, a knowing smile playing on her lips. “He really does look like you when you were little.” Marcus smiled, not denying it. Margaret turned to Catherine. “Long time no see.” “Yes, Margaret,” Catherine replied, smiling sweet and demure. Victoria piped up, her voice loud enough for everyone to hear. “Exactly. Some people have been here for five years without a single sign of a pup. Others come back, and in three months, the child is already running around.” At a table full of people, not a single soul spoke up for me. They cut their steaks, poured their wine, and occasionally exchanged knowing glances. No one looked at me. I stood there, holding a glass of water. “Luna Elena, don’t just stand there. Sit,” Marcus finally spoke, pointing to a small, temporary chair placed at the far end of the table. I didn’t sit. “Where is the messenger I sent to my father?” “We’re having dinner. Why bring that up now?” The table fell silent for a few seconds. “Luna Elena,” Victoria tapped her fork against the table. “Are you trying to make a scene in front of everyone?” “Is this what you call making a scene?” “You just have no sense of decorum,” Margaret put down her glass, her voice turning cold. “Marcus has been more than generous with you. You haven’t produced an heir in five years, and he hasn’t complained. In any other pack, you would have been rejected long ago.” I looked at Margaret. “So he brings his mistress and bastard home, and I’m supposed to bow down in gratitude?” Margaret’s face twisted. “How dare you speak like that?” “Am I not stating facts?” “Enough.” Marcus finally set his fork down. His voice wasn’t loud, but it instantly silenced the room. He looked at me, his eyes showing no anger, only a condescending patience. “Elena, you’re tired. Sit down and eat.” I didn’t sit. “Where is the messenger I sent to my father?” “I said, we don’t discuss this at the dinner table.” “What did you do to him?” The room fell dead silent for three seconds. Marcus stared at me, a trace of a smirk still lingering on his lips. “What do you think?” My heart sank. But I didn’t press further. I wouldn’t get answers now anyway. Catherine kept her head down, feeding Liam, keeping quiet and avoiding my gaze. But her phone screen lit up. I caught her sneakily typing a quick message: *”It’s handled.”* Who she sent it to, I couldn’t see clearly. But I clearly saw the nickname of the chat thread: *Baby’s Daddy.* At eleven PM, I sat alone in my bedroom. All my resource permissions were severed. My communication channels were blocked. The entire pack leadership stood by his side. From the room next door, the faint, sweet sound of Catherine cooing to her child drifted in. I pulled out my phone, stared at my father’s contact number, and put it back down. Not yet. But I snapped a picture of the half-filled vial of “supplement” and saved it in a secure folder only I could access. The day I walked out of here, this evidence would serve its purpose. ####
“Drink it.” The next morning, Marcus slammed a bowl of dark liquid in front of me. My sense of smell had mostly deteriorated, so I couldn’t tell what it was. But its color and texture were identical to the “supplement” I’d been given every morning for three months. Combined with my recent symptoms—loss of smell, inability to summon my wolf, and full-body sluggishness—the truth was glaringly obvious. Fine, black sediments rested at the bottom of the bowl. I looked up at him. He didn’t flinch. “Drink this, and I’ll let you leave here alive.” He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat opposite me. “You can live in the cabin near the border. Someone will deliver food and supplies to you every month. It’ll be enough to keep you alive.” Keep me alive. When the Blood Ridge Pack attacked years ago, it was my father who saved the entire Shadow Fang Pack. The post-war reconstruction, the supply lines, the warrior training—my father handled all of it. Marcus owed everything he had to the Silver Creek Pack. And he repaid me with wolfsbane. “And if I don’t?” He took a sip of his coffee. “If you don’t? You can still try to leave. But you won’t make it out of this territory. Your wolf will get weaker by the day, and within a month, you’ll be completely crippled. You won’t even be able to stand. How far do you think you’ll get?” He set his cup down and locked eyes with me. “Luna Elena, you overestimate yourself. What do you think you have? Your father’s name? That might work on other lands. But in my Pack, I make the rules.” Catherine walked out of the kitchen with plates. Fried eggs, toast, fresh orange juice. She placed a plate in front of Marcus, and another in front of Liam. There was nothing for me. “Alpha Marcus, have some breakfast.” She sat right next to him. At this table. In my seat. Victoria came downstairs, glancing at the bowl on the table. “Drink up, Luna Elena. The sooner you drink, the sooner you find peace. Look at you now—no money, no power, no allies. Why keep struggling? If you refuse, don’t blame me for being harsh. Strip away your father’s connections, and what do you actually have left?” Marcus leaned back, crossing his legs as he watched me. I knew that expression all too well. It was a confidence born from his very bones. He was certain I would drink it. Certain I had no leverage. Certain he had won this game. “Luna Elena, you don’t have to drink. But once you leave the Shadow Fang Pack, you are nothing.” He smirked as he said those words. Right then, my phone rang. The screen lit up—it was my father. I didn’t have time to answer. Because in the exact same second, Marcus’s phone rang too. Marcus frowned as he answered. The voice on the other end spoke only one sentence. I couldn’t hear what was said. But I watched his face. The color drained from it, layer by layer. He put his phone down and stared at me, his lips trembling, unable to make a sound. Victoria’s phone connected too, and someone was shouting on the other end. Her face instantly crumpled. “What do you mean all supply lines are severed? What do you mean their warriors have completely withdrawn?” Catherine stood there holding the child, her smile frozen, completely clueless about what was happening. I picked up my phone and answered. “Father.” My father’s voice on the other end was calm. “My daughter, it is done.”
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