Chapter 3

"I ask the Alpha King to handle this according to Pack law, without exception."

At those words, Vera's face went red. She looked frantically to Gerald for help.

Gerald stood frozen, cold sweat soaking through his clothes, unable to raise his eyes, let alone speak for her.

Vera saw that and completely lost it. She hit me hard across the face, screaming.

"You ungrateful daughter! You snake! I'm your own mother!"

"I gave birth to you and raised you, and this is how you treat me?! You deserve everything coming to you!"

I pressed my hand to my burning cheek and looked up at her.

"You're so certain I was with Luca, and the child is someone else's?"

"If you were telling the truth, then why are you scared of a Blood Rite? Why are you jumping up and screaming?"

"You... you..."

Vera choked on her own words. She couldn't catch her breath and nearly collapsed.

Damien had watched this entire spectacle with cold eyes. The ice in his gaze was growing heavier. Finally, he spoke.

"Bring the Alpha Heir. Prepare the Blood Rite. Today, I will see with my own eyes whether this child carries my blood."

The Former Luna Eleanor didn't dare delay, and quickly sent people to prepare.

Within minutes, everything was ready. The nurse-maid carried the bundled infant in and walked forward.

The child and Luca each had blood drawn, and both drops fell into the bowl.

Every eye in the hall fixed on the water.

But right there in front of everyone, those two drops of blood drifted together and merged completely, inseparable.

A sound like a shockwave ripped through the hall.

Eleanor screamed.

"It's a bastard! The blood merged!"

"Exile her now! Execute her on the spot! Take the baby too!"

The She-Wolves of the Pack dropped to their knees, crying out for the Alpha King to punish the guilty.

Vera laughed in the crowd, clapping her hands.

"You see! I was right! This bastard was fathered by some outside male!"

A vein in Damien's temple pulsed visibly. His eyes were full of murder.

But before he could act, a sharp voice rang out from beyond the hall doors.

"Former Luna Eleanor has arrived —"

Every voice in the hall cut off instantly. Even Damien went still.

My heart seized.

Eleanor almost never left her meditation wing. Why had she come today of all days?

She was known for being unyielding. Pack honor, female purity — she treated them as law, with no tolerance for any deviation.

Once, a She-Wolf had only spoken a few extra words to her visiting brother, and Eleanor had her punished on grounds of improper conduct. The woman ended up with permanent injuries, locked in the Pack's coldest quarters for life.

A few words to a relative earned that punishment. What would happen to me now, accused of sleeping with an outside Guard and bearing a bastard child?

Eleanor entered the hall and no one dared breathe.

Her gaze went straight to the verification bowl. Without waiting for me to speak, she raised her hand and hit me hard across the face.

"You've dragged the Pack's honor through the dirt, you filthy thing."

The blow left my ears ringing. Blood flooded my mouth. I didn't move.

She tilted her chin toward her personal attendant.

"By ancient Pack law, a She-Wolf who violates her status is stripped and displayed before the Pack, then bound and thrown into the river at the Pack border."

The words barely finished before she turned to the guards on either side.

"What are you waiting for? Hold her down!"

"Strip her!"

Four large guards stepped forward immediately, pinning my arms behind me and forcing me to the ground.

I couldn't move. I could only watch them tear at my thin robe. The humiliation was so complete I wanted to die.

Vera stood nearby, eyes bright with satisfaction.

"Good! This is exactly what you deserve! This is what you get for turning your back on your own mother!"

"This is your punishment!"

Then two attendants carried a brazier forward, burning coals crackling inside it. Waves of heat hit my face.

The lead attendant gripped iron tongs, lifted a glowing coal, and walked toward me.

"Don't blame me, my lady. Blame yourself for dishonoring the Pack."

Every hair on my body stood up. If those coals touched me, I was going to die.

I twisted and fought with everything I had, screaming for help, but the guards pressed their hands over my mouth and pinned my body. I couldn't move at all.

The heat scorched my thighs.

Eleanor's cold voice pressed from above.

"Move faster! Once it's done, bag her and throw her in the river!"

"Don't let this filth stain the Pack Grounds any longer!"

Two more guards dragged forward a sealed cage, waiting to haul me away.

Despair and terror soaked through every inch of me.

Just as the burning coal was about to reach my body, my eyes swept across the Blood Rite bowl on the floor nearby.

Something was wrong. Something was wrong.

Then it hit me. I shoved past the guards with a strength I didn't know I had and threw myself toward the bowl.

I dipped my finger in the water and put it to my tongue. Then I screamed.

"Alpha King! Former Luna! This water has been tampered with! Someone put something in it!"