Vanessa snarled, "Your carelessness cost me my precious dog. You'll pay for this!"

My father's gaze turned icy. "A daughter's misdeeds reflect her mother's failures." With that, he seized my mom and forced her into a suitcase, slamming the lid shut.

I tugged at the lock, desperation coursing through me. Ketchup seeped out, staining the floor red. Inside, Mom's struggles grew weaker, then stopped.

I raced downstairs, pounding on Dad's car. "Please, let her out! I'll do anything! Just don't punish Mom for my mistake!"

The car shook violently.

Vanessa's cries echoed from within.

When Dad finally rolled down the window, his words were like a dagger. "You're no longer my daughter. Call me Uncle."

"Your mom dared to oppose me. She'll stay in there until she learns her place."

A week later, they opened the suitcase. The sight left everyone speechless.

That same day, Dad returned with Vanessa, her belly rounded. "Where's your mother? Has she repented yet?"

I choked back a sob. "Uncle... Mom is gone. She's never coming back."

......

Richard slammed his fist on the door, Emily beside him curling her lip.

"Chloe! Open up-this reek could choke a direwolf!"

I chewed moldy bread, crumbs falling on my paws. "Uncle says not to let strangers in."

Emily crouched, her tail twitching. "Where's your mom? Your bond scent... it's fading."

I pointed to the suitcase.

"Mom's napping. Uncle put her there 'cause she wouldn't stop howling."

Richard wrenched the lock apart.

Inside, Mom lay still, ketchup staining her . Red everywhere.

"She's cold," I whispered, poking her snout.

"Mom, wake up. The neighbors brought deer jerky."

Emily fell back on her haunches.

"That's no nap. Her throat-"

"Shh!" Richard shouldered her aside.

"The pup's only three. She thinks..." His voice cracked.

"Chloe, sweetling-your mom's gone to the Great Run."

Gone? Like Vanessa's dog?

I hugged Mom's cold hand. "But she promised to teach me to howl at the next full moon."

Richard turned away, fingers-digging into his palms.

"Who does this to a she-wolf? Stuffs her in a box like... like roadkill?"

Emily covered her muzzle.

"And the cub doesn't even know-"

"I know!" I snapped, bread falling.

"Uncle says Mom's just resting. When she wakes up, we'll go to the maternity sanctuary, and she'll see I didn't mean to lose Vanessa's dog."

Silence. Richard's growl rumbled low.

"Your uncle... ."

I didn't understand why they were howling under their breath.

Mom would wake up soon.

The suitcase still smelled like her favorite lavender soap-under the ketchup.

Emily summoned figures cloaked in obsidian - hued uniforms.

They draped a pearlescent shroud over Mom and whisked her away in a midnight - black vehicle.​

In that instant, realization crashed over me.​

My mom was now one of those distant stars...​

"Mom! You can't abandon me! I'm your cub!" I wailed, my voice cracking.​

I chased the car, my feet pounding the cold ground. But they were too swift. I stumbled, crashing to the pavement.​

No gentle licks from Mom to soothe my wounds.​

My heart felt like it was being torn asunder.​

When I lifted my gaze, a towering billboard loomed.

Dad and Vanessa's faces stared back at me, their expressions smug.​

Emily, her eyes filled with pity, reached out and pulled me to my feet.

"Some wolves fade from the mortal plane, leaving their three - year - old cub adrift, while the father vanishes without a trace! And there are those flaunting their new life, plastering their joy across every beacon!"​

Richard nodded, his voice laced with disdain.

"Alpha Lucian Thorne of the Joravia - kin, the wealthiest wolf around. Drowning his mate and cub in luxury. But this poor cub? Her mother bound herself to a worthless coward who's abandoned them both."​

Unbeknownst to them, the Alpha they were slandering was my father.​

I wrenched my arm free from Emily's grasp and stumbled home, my paws bare against the frigid ground. Tears blurred my vision, turning the world into a hazy mess of pain.​

The house loomed ahead, ablaze with light, yet it held no warmth for me.

I activated the moon - linked crystal on my smartwatch and called Dad, praying for an answer.​

The connection rang and rang, each chime a dagger to my heart. Finally, he picked up.​

"Luna Natalie! Rein in your cub! One more disturbance, and I'll sever the Thorne blood - bond with you!"​

Hearing him use Mom's name like that, cold and dismissive, felt like a physical blow, shattering what little hope I had left.

Dad remained oblivious that Mom had ascended to join the constellations of fallen wolves.​

"Uncle, they said Mom crossed the Veil. The shadow - cloaked ones took her away in their midnight chariot..." I choked out, my voice trembling.​

The line crackled with static as Dad froze at the title. "Luna Natalie, what dark sorcery are you conjuring? Using our cub as a pawn in your desperate bid for my return?"​

I could almost feel his disbelief . "You think leaving the seal loose fools me? This is just another ploy to draw me back early."​

His words tumbled out in a rush, the urgency of his vow evident.

"A thousand times over, I've sworn my soul to yours! I'd face the eternal void for you! But every wolf must complete their lunar - bound quest. One cycle of the moons is all I ask!"​

"Once my task is fulfilled, I'll reforge our bond. With only seven waning moons left, can't you hold on a little longer?"​

Before I could utter another word, the connection severed, leaving me in stunned silence. I never got the chance to tell him Vanessa had sealed the fate - woven suitcase shut, or that Mom's spirit had already joined the celestial pack.​

In a desperate plea for escape, I reached out to Uncle Mark. He was deep in negotiations with distant packs.​

Just as I was ending the call, Grandma burst through the door, her eyes wild with a mother's fury. "Chloe, my precious cub, where do you think you're going? That traitor - mate of yours will pay for what he's done!"​

I clung to her sleeve, tears soaking through the fabric. "He has a new pup now, Grandma. He's not my dad anymore. I want to be with Uncle Mark."​

Grandma's knees buckled at my words, and she caught me in a vice - like embrace, her sobs echoing the breaking of her own heart.​

Grandma shrouded the house in moon - bleached silk.

Mom's visage, painstakingly cut from a blood - moon - blessed bond proof, hung in the center, her eyes eerily lifelike as if watching over the silent vigil.

While Dad's countless images with Vanessa, captured under the auspices of forbidden lunar rites, plastered every beacon.​

For six long nights, Dad ignored the calls, his absence a yawning void.

On the seventh, Grandma, driven by a mother's fury and a grandmother's despair, dragged me through the howling wind to the pack gathering place.​

"Where is Alpha Lucian?" she demanded,.​

One of his so - called friends cowered under her gaze.

"He and Vanessa are in Shalandra - pack, performing the Blood - Moon Vows."​

Grandma's knees buckled, her wolf form flickering in and out of sight.

"That traitor! His mate's spirit has joined the celestial , and he desecrates her memory with a false bond!"​

She turned to me, her hands trembling.

"Chloe, my son has broken the sacred bond. I failed to teach him the ways of loyalty. It is my sin."​

I held her close, my own grief mingling with determination. "Mom sacrificed her experiments for the bond. I will take her essence to Uncle Mark. When I come of age, I will complete her work under the watchful eyes of the moon goddesses."​

Grandma's sobs echoed through the empty park. "You are the true heart of the Thornes, Chloe. Your mother would be proud."​

The night before Uncle Mark's arrival, Dad returned, his arm around Vanessa.

Her belly, swollen with the fruit of a forbidden union. Without a care for the sacred space, he pinned her to the couch.​

"Easy, Alpha," Vanessa cooed, her voice a sickening mockery of the love Mom and Dad once shared. "Our pup is precious."​

I flipped on the lights, the sudden brightness illuminating the room's solemn decor. Vanessa's eyes widened in horror at the sight of Mom's image. She let out a blood - curdling scream and hid behind Dad.​

Dad's face contorted with rage.

He snatched the crystal - framed image from my hands and shattered it on the floor, stomping on the pieces. "Natalie! Show yourself! This display of jealousy is beneath you! Using our cub in your petty games? You forget I am bound by lunar oaths!"

"I can't believe you're still acting! You dragged my mom into this, made a scene at the park, and now you've turned the house into a circus! What, you want a funeral that bad? Why don't you just drop dead for real?"

His rage scared me, and I started to sob.

"Uncle, Mom's already gone. She's not upstairs."

His eyes turned cold, and he slapped me hard across the face. It burned like fire.

"Luna Natalie! Get out here and see the great pup you raised! Instead of teaching her right, you've got her playing your sneaky little games!"

"If you don't show yourself, I'll have to teach her a lesson for you!"

Silence answered him.

That she-wolf watched, smirking, as Dad's pride took a hit. He grabbed a broom and snapped it in half.

The stick was as thick as my arm.

I begged, "Uncle, I'm scared..."

Dad's face darkened, seeing me tremble. "Don't play innocent! You and your mom lied to trick me. You're so manipulative at your age-if I don't straighten you out, I'm not your father!"

The stick came down with a thud, splitting my skin.

I screamed as it swelled red.

Dad's voice echoed through the house, venomous.

"Luna Natalie! Get out here now!"