On the eve of the Blood Moon Ceremony, the most sacred night for our pack, I discovered my fiancé and my mate, Damien, locked in a passionate embrace with my step sister, Ember. The sight clawed at my soul, a betrayal that ripped through my wolf and left me exposed, bleeding.

The shock of it sent my mother, our pack’s elder healer, into cardiac arrest. Her heart, weakened by years of service, gave out. She needed a rare, ancient ritual to save her, a ritual that required a powerful blood sacrifice.

I, as the eldest daughter, was the only one who could offer it. Without hesitation, I gave a part of my life force, knowing it would leave me weakened, vulnerable for the rest of my life.

Desperate for the rare herbs needed for the ritual, I turned to my fiancé. He, the keeper of Pack’s infirmary, claimed the pack’s stores were depleted, offering only empty promises.

In my despair, Lucas, a wolf from a rival pack, appeared. He possessed the herbs I needed and performed the dark ritual, saving my mother. But when I awoke, his expression was grim. "Your mother… the ritual… it was corrupted. It failed."

She was gone. Forever.

With tear-filled eyes, I clung to Lucas. He held me close, whispering words of comfort, swearing to protect me. I believed him and married him.

Seven years into our uneasy alliance, fate struck another cruel blow. A whispered conversation I overheard shattered my world.

"So you used Ava’s life force to empower the ritual for Ember? That’s… barbaric.”

"There was no other choice. Ember's bloodline is stronger. She’s vital to the pack’s future. Ava, being her step sister was the best choice for her,”

"But they had another good match ready. It would have taken only a few hours. Was it really that urgent?"

Lucas sighed, his voice laced with regret. "I couldn't take a risk on Ember. Not even for a moment."

***

Inside the alpha’s den, Lucas paced, his tone cold.

“If pack law prevented me from claiming her then, the least I could do was ensure Ember’s survival.”

Liam, a subordinate who assisted Lucas in his dark rituals, hesitated, his face etched with worry. “But Ava’s connection to her wolf is now fractured. She suffers from constant chills, weakness… and she can’t even shift fully.”

“Her wolf is barely clinging to her,” he pressed, desperation creeping into his voice. “She’s fading. Are you really going to make her suffer like this? She loves you more than anything. Just give her back the life force. You have other sources now for Ember’s strength.”

Lucas’s expression hardened. “No. The more life force I have, the stronger Ember will be. I won’t take that risk. Not for anyone.”

Liam’s heart sank.

“What about Ava? I still remember her mother’s eyes, the way they glazed over as her life force was stolen. Aren’t you afraid Ava will seek vengeance when she learns the truth?”

Lucas went silent, then let out a low, bitter laugh.

“If she wants my life, she can take it. I’m already intended to devote my whole life to Ava and taking care of her as my redemption. As long as Ember thrives, I’ll accept any fate.”

My claws dug into the wood of the den door, my body trembling, my wolf howling in silent rage.

Heart pounding, I fumbled for the enchanted stone, recording everything before fleeing to my own small dwelling, my legs barely carrying me.

The moment I collapsed inside, my breath hitched, my mind reeling. My wolf had never fully recovered from the loss of my life force. Weakness clung to me like a shroud, chills racked my body, and the shift, once effortless, was now a painful, incomplete transformation.

Lucas had told me the ritual required a willing sacrifice to sign a blood pact before getting their life force pulled out. My mother had been willing but too dead to sign the pact, which meant there was no way to restore what was stolen.

I had thought it didn’t matter so long as my life force could stay with my mom forever that I couldn't. But, It was all a lie.

No wonder Lucas had stopped me when I begged to be at my mother’s side during her final moments, insisting I was too weak. He had overseen everything himself.

So this supposed love, this supposed sacrifice, it was nothing but a calculated act of theft, planned by a monster.

He had never truly cared for my mother.

Both of us had been nothing more than offerings for the she-wolf he truly valued.

And to keep me from ever suspecting the truth, he took my mother inside the ritual chamber first , forcing her to watch, powerless, as her own daughter’s strength was ripped away and given to another.

She had died in anger and helplessness, knowing she was too powerless to save her daughter going into death's den in front of her eyes.

I couldn't stand listening to their conversation anymore and ran back to my room. However, my wolf howled in anger. Desperate to avenge herself, she exerted too much force to get me shifted which resulted in my human body acting up. I couldn't properly shift to my wolf, instead I began shivering in the cold.

"Ava?"

At some point, Lucas had appeared.

His expression darkened at the sight of me laying on the floor, shivering in cold.

Without hesitation, he scooped me into his arms and laid me on the bed, his fingers trembling as he wrapped me in a blanket and began rubbing my hands and sole of the foot.

"I'm sorry, Ava. I failed to take care of you." He said in a regretful voice. I could see his eyes moistened with guilt and concern, just as they always were whenever he saw me in pain.

"Don’t worry. I’ve arranged for the best moonstone this time. It will last longer than the previous one. In a few days, I’ll replace the moonstone in your body with this new one."

I used to believe that those tears in his eyes were genuine for me. I even forced myself to be strong, and patient. I would even laugh and crack jokes while being in pain just to lighten his mood. Looking back now, I was such a fool.

"Lucas, I've endured so much pain all these years while inserting a stone in my chest." My voice was weak, yet every word carried the weight of my torment. "Can I stop using these moonstones anymore?"

‘Didn’t you already prepare spare life sources for Ember? Then… Can I have my life source back?’

For a fleeting moment, uncertainty was visible in Lucas's eyes, only to be swiftly replaced by a warm, reassuring smile. His fingers gently brushed against my cheek, his touch disarmingly soothing as he said, "Ava, don't torment yourself with impossible hopes. Your condition is too fragile. You don't have your life source and are dependent on moonstones to live. Abandoning the moonstone is out of the question. Without the artificial heart, your life would be... unpredictable. Can you really ask me to take that risk?"

But I knew the truth – the life force giving energy to Ember was mine, stolen from me by the man I loved. A cold dread seeped into my bones, leaving me numb. Yet, I managed a faint smile, a very good attempt to conceal the turmoil brewing inside. "You're right, as always. I was being foolish.”

After dinner, I grabbed an opportunity to mix a sleeping potion in his wine. As expected, he fell asleep early. Even in his sleep, due to the presence of intoxic Wolf's Bane in the potion, he couldn't help muttering his heart out loudly, “Ember… I’ll protect you forever, even if it costs my life.”

I laughed at his words in irony. The person who was risking their lives for his beloved was not him, but me and my mother.

I quietly left our bedroom and walked into his study room, a place I was never allowed before.

As expected, the room’s door was locked with patterns. I drew the pattern that resembled the initial of Ember’s wolf name and it cracked open. As I scanned the room, I found it to be filled with Ember's memory. There were many paintings showing Ember with Lucas, their interaction looking intimate, and considering the relationship they shared with each other, one would call them shameless.

I found a diary lying on his study table that was supposed to be his journal. Five words were written on it: “First and last love: Ember”

I flipped the pages of his journal. Every page was filled with sketches of Ember that were drawn by him with affection. His journal was filled with his feelings and devotion towards Ember. He wrote

[Today, I saw Ember for the first time, and I think she is the one made for me]

[We live at the same home. I can touch her whenever I want but I can't claim her because of the rules of our pack. The distance between us is getting me crazy]

[Today, I married Ava. She is Ember’s step sister and looks similar to her. I couldn't hold myself in bed. Despite knowing her body is fragile, I went for three rounds. I miss Ember too much, so I keep calling her name in my heart as if that would turn the woman beneath me into her…]

And that wasn’t all. Pages after pages, he wrote how he slept with me thinking about Ember or made me close my eyes while he stared at her painting when releasing himself in me. He also mentioned all the expensive gifts he had been sending to Ember all these years.

Not a single one for me.

He had even bought a necklace made up of the precious gemstone that was one of its kind in the whole world.

And the only thing Lucas had ever given me… was a stone in my chest that brought nothing but agony.

While I was drowning in grief over my mother’s death, shivering in cold and losing my wolf, Ember had been flaunting the necklace to her friends that she received from my husband.

In rage, I closed Lucas’s journal, planning to return. As I turned to leave his study room, my legs stumbled on something and a wooden box fell from the table. The shining stone placed on the top of its lid grabbed my attention and I couldn't help opening it. Inside were laying several pacts signed by the blood, just as the one I signed before I agreed to donate my life source for my mother.

I opened all the pacts and read the content written on them. There were several pacts Lucas had managed to sign with those who were in need of money or some dark rituals he could perform only on one condition, and the condition was whenever he asked them to give their life source to Ember, they would be ready to hand it over.

Since my pack was filled with healers and shamans, I knew very well that whoever performs dark rituals, his wolf suffers worse than death and after dying, both heaven and hell reject him. Being a top shaman in the whole kingdom, he must have known the consequences of all those dark rituals he had been doing for these people yet he did it willingly, all for Ember. He was indeed a devoted lover, but he was my mother’s murderer and I was never ever going to forget that.

The night had been endless, and sleep seemed like a distant dream. By morning, Lucas assumed I had woken up early and suspected nothing. Perhaps because he had seen me struggling to shift the night before, he made breakfast himself, a table filled with carefully arranged, nutritious dishes, each one an illusion of care.

When Lucas saw me sitting quietly, he watched me with concern. "Ava, why aren't you eating? Are you feeling unwell?"

I shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. "Just a little tired, that's all."

Lucas's gaze softened, and he reached out to stroke my hair. "You've been pushing yourself too hard, Ava. You need to take care of yourself."

I felt a surge of anger at his feigned concern, but I pushed it down. I was about to bring up the divorce, but Lucas casually continued. "Ava, I was thinking... since the full moon is approaching, why don't we hold a Pack's gathering at the late Alpha’s residence ? It might do you some good to get out and stretch your legs."

I raised an eyebrow, my tone cold. "You want me to go on a run with the pack and your mother, knowing how much she hates me?"

Lucas's expression turned sheepish, but he quickly recovered. "I know it's been tough, Ava, but I promise I'll be there to protect you. And besides, your sister will be there too. It'll be good for you to bond with her."

I felt a pang of anger at the mention of Ember's name, but I kept my cool. "I'll think about it," I said, my voice neutral.

Lucas smiled, seemingly satisfied with my response. "That's all I can ask for, Ava. Now, let's get ready to head out. The pack is waiting for us."

When we arrived at the pack's gathering spot, I saw Ember, dressed in her usual elegant attire, chatting with Lucas's mother, Emily. Emily was also sparing no chance of showing her adoration to her. Ember's eyes locked onto mine, and she smiled, saying pretentiously to Emily, “Grandma, stop feeding me so much out of love, I’ll get fat. Why don't you offer your special dishes to Auntie? Maybe by then, she will not look this sickly?”

Ember, was the maternal granddaughter of Emily’s husband from his first wife. Lucas didn't have any blood ties with Ember since he was Emily’s son, and Ember’s mother was Emily's step daughter. Since the late Alpha didn't have any male heir from his first wife, he married Emily and had Lucas. Lucas later inherited the pack while Lucas’s step sister married my father out of love, who was the Alpha of the pack and had been already married to my mother.

My father, being seduced by his new mistress, chased my mother and me out of his residence and we lived in isolation, only to be robbed of both my fiance and husband by Ember just like her mother robbed my mother's. Lucas's mother hated me for being ordinary and sick. She also felt ashamed of accepting me as her daughter-in-law in public.

As soon as her gaze fell on me, her knuckles tightened and she rushed to my side, whispering coldly, “Who asked you to come here? You are nothing but a sickly thing. Do you want everyone to assume we don't treat you well?”

“My son is getting older day by day, still without a son to inherit his pack. You can't give him a son, can't help him in running his pack, too sick to even please him in bed. Why don't you leave him to marry someone else? Or just die?”