The moment those words left my mouth, Kieran's expression changed abruptly.

Emotions surged in his eyes, and the Alpha aura in the air grew unstable.

I stared at him and spoke, word by word. "I, Audra Frost, reject the Alpha of the Silvermoon Pack—"

"Shut up!" Kieran roared, cutting me off.

He stepped closer, unleashing his Alpha pressure without restraint, crushing down on me.

My chest tightened, and my knees nearly buckled beneath the weight.

The child in my arms let out a faint cry.

Kieran stood before me, looking down from above, his eyes burning with barely restrained fury.

"Sever the bond?" he let out a cold laugh. "Audra, do you really think you have the right to decide something like that?"

I said nothing.

Kieran stared at me for a long moment, as if suppressing something within himself.

At last, he slowly turned away.

"From this day forward," his voice echoed through the hall. "Audra is no longer the Luna of the Silvermoon Pack."

Every werewolf present held their breath.

Kieran continued coldly, "She will be reduced to a slave of the pack until her sins are repaid."

Kieran cast me one final glance, his gaze as cold as if he were looking at a stranger.

Then he turned and left the hall, his footsteps fading into the distance.

But the atmosphere in the hall didn't ease—it grew even more unsettling.

All of them were watching me.

The shock in their eyes was gone, replaced by undisguised contempt and malice.

Just then, Elara walked slowly up to me.

She looked down at me, the corner of her lips curling upward.

"Did you hear that?" Her voice was soft, yet chilling. "From now on, you're nothing but a slave."

She turned to the others in the hall. "Since she's a slave, she should start doing what slaves do, shouldn't she?"

Voices of agreement immediately rose from the crowd.

"That's right."

"If she's a slave, she should work."

Elara smiled in satisfaction.

She pointed at me. "Start by washing the entire pack's clothes."

I held my child and didn't move.

The smile on Elara's face slowly faded.

The next second—a whip lashed brutally across my back.

The wound tore open instantly, the pain so intense it nearly stole my breath.

The child in my arms burst into frightened cries.

Laughter erupted around me.

Someone dumped a pile of filthy clothes in front of me, while another deliberately kicked over a bucket of water.

"Slave, make sure they're clean."

"If they're not clean enough, you'll be whipped again."

I lowered my head and said nothing, slowly bending down to pick up the clothes one by one.

Cold water seeped into my wounds, the pain nearly numbing me senseless.

But I didn't stop.

Because I had to live—for my child.

Time passed, little by little.

The sun set, then rose again.

I washed clothes, cooked meals, and cleaned up the pack's filth.

Every day, someone found a reason to make things harder for me.

Someone dumped an entire bucket of dirty clothes at my feet.

"Slave, clean them properly."

Just as I finished washing them, he laughed and threw them back into the muddy water.

"Not clean enough. Wash them again."

Laughter broke out around me.

And almost every day, Elara would come, standing off to the side, watching me work—watching me get humiliated.

Sometimes, when she was in a bad mood, she would do it herself.

The whip came down again and again, leaving more and more wounds across my body.

My body grew weaker with each passing day.

Once, as the whip came down, I suddenly heard a low wolf's howl in the distance.

I looked up and saw Kieran standing on a distant platform.

He stood there, watching everything.

At the moment the whip struck, his brows seemed to knit ever so slightly.

But he still turned away, as if he had seen nothing at all.

A few days later, I could barely stand.

Even so, I clenched my teeth and held on.

As long as the child in my arms was alive, I couldn't fall.

That night, I dragged my exhausted body back to the shed, cold wind pouring in through the broken window.

Holding my child, I curled up in the hay, my body trembling uncontrollably.

Just then, a faint tremor stirred in my chest.

It felt like something long asleep had shifted slightly in the depths of darkness.

I froze.

A weak yet familiar voice echoed in my mind.

"Audra…"

That voice—it was my wolf.

I shot upright, hardly daring to believe what I had heard.

"Nyra?"

"Is that you, Nyra? Have you awakened?" I asked, my voice trembling.

But no answer came.

At that moment, the door to the shed was kicked open.

I looked up in alarm. Several unfamiliar werewolves stood at the doorway.

Their scent was chaotic and savage, their eyes filled with undisguised greed.

My heart sank instantly.

They weren't from the Silvermoon Pack. They were rogue wolves.

The one in front licked his lips. "That's her?"

Another wolf chuckled. "She does look good."

"Get out," I said under my breath.

They burst into laughter as if I had said something ridiculous.

"Relax, pretty thing."

One of them stepped toward me slowly, his gaze sizing me up like prey.

"We heard you and your little one have been lonely. We're just here to keep you company."

I backed away in panic, clutching my child tightly.

Suddenly, another wolf lunged at me from the side.

I struggled desperately, but my broken body had little strength left.

He pinned me down, his heavy breath hot against my face.

"Stop struggling." He let out a low laugh. "No one's coming to save a slave."

My clothes were torn apart. In the chaos, they snatched my child away and tossed him carelessly onto the hay in the corner.

I cried out desperately for help.

Then a familiar female voice rang out—one that sent a chill down my spine.

"Kieran." Elara's voice came from the doorway, laced with barely concealed satisfaction. "I told you—you should come see this for yourself."

The rogue wolves froze. I turned toward the door as well.

Kieran stood there.

Moonlight poured in behind him, leaving his face hidden in shadow.

His gaze fell on my torn, disheveled clothes.

Before anyone could react, a terrifying wave of Alpha pressure erupted.

"Get out." His eyes turned crimson—the sign that his wolf was close to losing control.

The rogue wolves fled immediately in fear.

Silence fell over the shed.

Kieran walked in step by step, his eyes locked onto me.

There was no anger in them—only pure disgust.

"I see." He spoke in a low voice. "So you really couldn't stay faithful?"

I tried to speak, but he grabbed me by the collar and dragged me out of the shed.

The night air was biting cold, and my exposed skin scraped raw against the rough gravel.

He dragged me all the way to the riverbank.

The river glimmered coldly under the moonlight.

"Kieran, what are you doing?" Panic took over me.

Kieran's expression didn't waver. He threw me straight into the river.

The freezing water swallowed me whole.

I struggled desperately, trying to climb back up.

Kieran stood at the bank, his voice colder than the river itself. "Clean your filthy body. Without my command, no one is to pull her out."

After Kieran left, the werewolves remained on the bank, none of them daring to move.

Time passed—I didn't know how long. The water grew colder, and my body heavier.

My consciousness began to fade.

A small figure flashed through my mind.

My child…

Just as I was about to sink into darkness, a sharp pain struck my chest.

In an instant, a brilliant silver-white light burst from within me.

Those on the bank raised their hands, shielding their eyes from the blinding light.

At the same time, in the Royal Court of the White Wolf Tribe in the Northern Wilds, three figures suddenly stopped mid-discussion.

A familiar and powerful bloodline aura surged through the air.

The middle-aged man rose to his feet in excitement. "It's Audra!"

The woman's eyes turned red instantly. "Her wolf… has awakened."

Meanwhile, the younger man had already rushed out of the hall.

His voice carried barely restrained killing intent.

"The Silvermoon Pack… is asking for death!"

The freezing river swallowed me whole.

The wound left by the silver dagger tore open again, my blood spreading rapidly through the water.

Cold. Pain. Suffocation. They crashed over me all at once, threatening to tear me apart.

Water flooded into my nose and mouth, my chest felt crushed under a massive weight, and my consciousness sank deeper and deeper into darkness.

But before I slipped completely into the dark, only one thought remained.

My child was still in their hands. I couldn't die.

But my body had clearly reached its limit. I could feel my life slipping away, little by little.

Just as my consciousness was about to fade completely, a low, fragile voice suddenly echoed from the depths of my soul.

"What happened?"

My lashes trembled, and a surge of uncontrollable joy filled my eyes.

"Nyra…"

The next second, my chest jolted violently as a powerful force burst out from within me.

A freezing force surged from the riverbed, ice forming inch by inch, spreading rapidly outward from beneath my feet.

My fading aura pulled back together into my body.

On the riverbank, the werewolves who had been about to leave suddenly stopped.

Someone spun around, fear trembling in his voice.

"Wait—what's going on?"

Frost had already spread across the river, white mist curling in the air as the entire surface froze at a visible speed.

"The river… it's freezing over?"

Before they could react, a deafening blast exploded.

The ice shattered, chunks blasting into the air.

The next moment, I was lifted by the force within me, rising slowly from the center of the frozen river.

In a nearby shed, the infant who had been fussing softly in the hay suddenly fell silent. The silver-white mark on his forehead glowed faintly under the moonlight, tightly linked to my power.

The werewolves who hadn't gone far turned deathly ashen, their knees buckling as they dropped to the ground.

Others instinctively backed away, cold sweat pouring down their foreheads.

"What kind of power is this?"

"What the hell is happening?"

The freezing mist obscured most of their vision, leaving them unable to see me clearly at the center.

The less they could see, the deeper their fear grew. They turned and ran, sprinting toward Kieran.

In the next instant, an even more terrifying presence descended.

At the edge of the darkness, pairs of silver beast eyes slowly lit up.

In moments, dozens of massive white wolves emerged from the night.

They didn't howl. They advanced in silence, perfectly in sync.

The Silvermoon Pack held their breath almost in unison. They could feel it clearly—these white wolves existed on an entirely different level.

The leading wolf stopped and slowly shifted back into human form.

He wore silver-patterned armor, his posture straight, his features sharp and unyielding.

He stood at the front, his gaze cutting past everyone to land directly on me. His voice was low, yet clear enough for all to hear.

"Audra…"

I stared at him, my breath catching for a moment.

It was Edmund. My brother.

He reached out to me, his voice softening.

"Come here."

Those two simple words nearly broke me.

When Kieran misunderstood me, when the entire Silvermoon Pack humiliated me, when I was treated like a slave—I never cried.

But now, just that two words from him brought everything crashing back.

I parted my lips, and after a long moment, finally forced out a hoarse sound.

"Edmund…"

The moment the word left my mouth, I nearly collapsed.

Edmund moved in a blur and caught me before I could fall. The moment his eyes fell on me, his grip tightened.

Only then did he truly see the state I was in.

Silver wounds still bled, whip marks layered across my body, my soaked clothes clinging tightly to my skin.

His expression darkened, little by little.

The last trace of warmth vanished from his ice-blue eyes, replaced by naked killing intent.

"Who did this?"

I didn't answer. I simply glanced toward the shed.

Edmund followed my gaze and understood instantly. He raised a hand. Two guards behind him shot forward instantly, heading straight for the shed.

Only then did the Silvermoon Pack snap back to reality.

Someone spoke with a trembling voice, "Who are you? This is Silvermoon Pack territory—"

Before he could finish, a single look from the White Wolf guard silenced him completely.

Edmund slowly turned, finally looking at the werewolves gathered by the river.

His expression was calm—almost cruel.

"Silvermoon Pack," he repeated quietly.

By then, the guards had already brought my child out of the shed. The tiny body was wrapped in a soft cloak, the silver-white mark on his forehead clearly visible under the moonlight.

Edmund's gaze lingered on the child for a moment, his eyes turning even colder.

The moonlight above suddenly intensified, and a higher-tier aura pressed down from afar, blanketing the entire Silvermoon Pack in an instant.

Every werewolf froze.

The moment the pressure descended, they understood—this was not something they could possibly stand against.

"Good."

Holding my weakened body, Edmund slowly swept his gaze across every face in the Silvermoon Pack.

"I'll remember every single one of you. And the Silvermoon Pack… it's time for it to disappear."