Chapter 3

When I woke up again, a pack healer was standing by my bed, with the warrior Ronan watching nearby.

Seeing me awake, he spoke slowly, "Luna, Alpha King Matthew asked me to mend your bones. Please move around now so I can check if they're properly positioned."

I endured the nausea and pain as I moved. Only after seeing that I could control my leg movements freely did he feel relieved.

Ronan handed me a pup's ceremonial fur cap and a rattle. "Luna, these are from Alpha King Matthew."

I ignored him. The cap was obviously too small. Asher's head circumference was already forty-five centimeters, but this looked like a cap for a three or four-month-old pup. It seemed like something given away when buying a cap for Cassandra's child.

They tactfully left the room.

I was imprisoned in this giant cage once again.

I took out the communication crystal hidden under my bed and contacted my mother through the pack bond link. "Mom, I want to come home. Dawn is breaking, and the Blackwood Pack is about to collapse..."

Tears of joy came from the other end. "Alright, Mom will come get you."

I held Asher's lifeless body and cried. It was all my fault.

I shouldn't have stayed to help Matthew rebuild his pack.

Three years ago, when Matthew's pack was nearly destroyed, Mom said he wasn't a good Alpha and I didn't need to help him rise again. She wanted me to return to the Ghostmoon Pack with her, but I refused.

Mom was heartbroken. She only left me with the words "call me when you are ready to come home" before departing.

I thought Matthew truly cared for me. When he started rebuilding, I used my pack's secret resources to provide him with funding, yet he cruelly called me a rogue omega.

But I was just helping my mate.

He was ambitious too. In two years, he became the most powerful Alpha King. After our mating, we treated each other with respect, until his childhood friend Cassandra returned and everything changed.

I couldn't accept his transformation, and I knew Cassandra was only after Matthew's power.

So I secretly investigated Cassandra and found evidence of her meetings with rival Alphas, which I gave to Matthew.

I never thought Matthew would not only disbelieve me but also take and share a photo of me breastfeeding a puppy.

Matthew threw those photos hard at my face. "You just love to slander others, don't you? This is just a warning. Next time, it won't be a breastfeeding photo, but a shot of you looking slutty in bed!"

That's when my heart turned cold, and I was ready to ask my mother to come get me.

Matthew was convinced that Cassandra's evidence was forged ones I had created. He snatched my communication device and smashed it hard. The device shattered into pieces, and the flying fragments cut me. "What's this device good for except disturbing my work? All you do is create fake evidence to deceive me!"

Matthew slammed the door and left. Even the front door was locked from the outside, just because I had gone to his office to bring him food today and interrupted his intimate moment with Cassandra.

I was trapped inside for three days.

Mom said she could arrive in two more days by great eagle. Watching Asher slowly grow cold beside me, I sorted out all of Asher's clothes.

He was already gone, yet he couldn't even be given a proper pup's funeral. I wasn't willing to accept this. Was my Asher really going to disappear without a trace? Mom's great eagle was coming soon.

I opened the fireplace and drew out some flames.