“Happy Birthday, Deanna!” I smiled gleefully.

My seven-year-old cheerful daughter dropped her wolf stuffed toy and rushed to hug me. “Thank you, Mommy. But where’s Daddy?”

Her joyous face was immediately replaced with a sad one. I brushed the hair from her face and kissed her cheeks. “Daddy will be here soon.” I threw a look at Beta Hestia, and she nodded as if to silently answer the same question that my daughter and I have.

“It’s Beta Lucas!” Deanna exclaimed and she eventually ran to my daughter’s favorite playmate. Beta Lucas is the right-hand of my mate, Alpha Killian. He’s also good with children that’s why he can easily connect with Deanna.

I knew my mate had arrived even before  I scented him because the Omegas immediately fell to their knees. The Betas greeted him with a fist to their chest.

“My mate.” Killian wrapped his arm around my waist and placed a loving kiss on my already-blushing cheeks.

“Daddy!” Deanna splayed her arms and almost suffocated her father with her tight hug.

“How are you doing, little moon?” my mate teased our daughter, tickling her neck. Deanna was wearing her usual favorite bluish silver gown, a tiara with the phases of the moon crowned her head. Killian and I just wore a matching white upper and jeans.

We’re currently in front of a lush river, near the pack’s borders. The foggy forest was across us but we ignored the creepiness that tried to distract our celebration.

“Well now that the most important people are here, let’s start my little moon’s party!” Killian announced. Among the answering cheers of the crowd was my daughter’s excited shriek.

I squeeze my Alpha’s hand and together we celebrate our daughter’s birthday party.

Deanna had just blown her cake and my mate and I just finished eating our first round of meals when Alpha Killian whispered to me.

“Sellyn, I’ve got to leave now,” his face looks as if he's in a hurry.

“What?” My brows crouched. “It’s your daughter’s birthday and you haven’t even been here for an hour!”

“Babe, we’re ruling a pack—not some book club,” he softly chuckled. It immediately halted when he saw I didn’t laugh at his joke. “There’s been other Rogue sightings at the borders on the eastern part of our pack.”

Deanna noticed that her father was about to leave again. My daughter apparently has a talent for reading body language.

“Okay. But make sure you’ll be back immediately.”

Killian kissed the crook of my neck. “I promise. And then we can have our own celebrating.”

I had a hard time mastering a rather disappointed face when I almost broke into a smile. We haven't made love for a week.

He winked and caught my mouth in a quick kiss before bidding farewell to Deanna. Although it obviously made her sad, my mate made our daughter laugh before leaving the riverside party and off to the packhouse which is an hour's drive from the packhouse.

Ten minutes have passed and my daughter had a lovely time playing with our younglings.

“It’s very lively here.” Beta Lucas was immediately on my side, and I didn’t even notice him.

“I thought you accompanied my mate?”

He shook his head, and his thick curly hair wobbled. “He went alone. He didn’t bring any Betas with him.”

“Oh?” My eyes found Beta Hestia, and surely Beta Lucas spoke true. Beta Hestia and Beta Lucas were also me and my daughter’s primary bodyguards, keeping us safe from danger especially when the birthday venue is near a pack’s border.

Hours have passed, and the late afternoon was spent with the young ones are having the time of their life with their ice cream and sweets while the adults like me are having a nice glass of beer and wine and some charred meat to pair with.

One of the Beta’s five-year-old sons came up to me, “Where’s Deanna?” My heart almost skipped a beat at the unabashed worry in his eyes.

I panicked at first, but when I spotted a little girl with neck-length blonde hair by the river playing with the water, I exhaled. Relief washed through me and Beta Hestia noticed it, she patted my back.

I half-way turned my head to Beta Lucas to ask him about the Omega who gave him a nice ride last night when in the corner of my eye, dark wolves sprang from the water and pounced at my daughter.

“ROGUES!” One of the Omegas shouted, and the whole birthday party became a chaotic mess of people running for their lives and people fighting against their death.

My wolf, Chenault, immediately took over and shifted. Her great gray fur immediately joined the scene. Chenault howled, and it halted the fight between the Rogues and my pack for a heartbeat—before returning to the chaos.

I immediately went for Deanna, who was already crying while hugging her wolf stuff toy. Chenault swiped once at the Rogue that pounced at her and blood sprayed. She growled and the Rogue stepped back, not realizing the river was the one behind him.

A splash wet my paws but I was already moving.

I urged my daughter to climb my back. She was just one foot away when we were knocked down by two black wolves. Green and blue eyes respectively met my Chenault's amber gaze.

I didn’t hesitate to engage in a fighting mode my Alpha King father taught me how to deal with a two-versus-one fight.

Deanna’s crying pierced my ears and I mind-linked Beta Hestia and Beta Lucas. But they were nowhere to be found. They’re even out of my sight, probably fighting their own battle.

I positioned myself between my daughter and the two Rogues. I growled—the growl of an Alpha King’s daughter.

The one on my left, the green-eyed one, lunged at me first. I dodged and he landed a few paces before Deanna. I bit his tail and he screamed before hoisting him with Chenault’s maw and throwing him at his blue-eyed companion.

They crashed into one another.

Chenault and I knocked them down for a few seconds before they were up again. Shaking their furs and positioning themselves in an attack. Judging by the Rogues’ moves, not only these two but from those around me, these Rogues are well-versed in fighting and on the battlefield. I wonder if this was an ambush. It's hard to believe they just randomly came across us.

I ready my stance, my fist and feet are ready for a battlefield dance.

But they were smirking—as if they already won.

I was about to throw my first punch at the green-eyed one when I heard Deanna’s scream behind me being dragged away in the grass like some plaything.

"NO!" My first instinct was to turn towards Deanna, my back exposed to my enemies. “DEANNA—”

A kick hit my back and I was knocked to the ground, sending me almost into the water. I dug my feet into the soil so I won't fall.

I snarled at them.

“Let me handle this,” Chenault barked.

A pair of Rogue hands were on each of my shoulders when—

Chenault shifted. One met her sharp lightning-fast claws, the other her fearful-gaping maw.

We fell to the ground and it shook the river's surface.

Among the three of us, Chenault and I were the only ones to get up alive.

“DEANNA!” I shouted for my daughter’s name. And with my voice searching in despair with the Alpha’s daughter, it attracted Beta Hestia, who was clutching her left leg. Beta Lucas was in his wolf form, characterized by the white and red fur, licking his paws clean after taking down two Rogues.

“Where’s Deanna?”

“That’s my question too.” My lips pursed into a thin line. "I saw her being dragged earlier,” I said in a shaking, extremely worried voice. I hope some Omegas managed to fend off that wolf who took her away.

 “Luna Sellyn!” Coincidentally, a panting bloody Omega came running towards me. “I found Deanna hanging from a branch of a tree from the foggy forest.”

My eyes widened and I didn’t think twice to sprint towards my daughter. I hope she's okay and just climbed to a tree to escape the bloodshed and violence.

My hope turned into a hideous scream.

“All but one Rogue are dead, Luna.” Beta Lucas whispered.

“Did anyone call the Alpha?” I swallowed, my fists clenched tight on my sides.

“There was no time to alert the Alpha. We were all busy fighting all of them since they attacked all of us at once.”

“Is this a planned attack?” One Omega asked, the one who approached me earlier.

“It looks like one. But it’s impossible since this part of the border can only be accessed by a shortcut that only from the Silver River Pack knew.”

“Mommy...” Deanna whimpered. I immediately lowered my gaze to my daughter. I was clutching her in my arms, providing her comfort. Her injuries are worse than I thought. I never thought that that fucking Rogue's bite is deep. I couldn’t imagine what else that brown-eyed Rogue would do to my daughter if we hadn't found him lurking and waiting for Deanna to come down.

I finished him off with my hands wrapped around his throat and snapped his neck.

Today is her birthday, but it seems...my heart sank to consider the thought of her dying on her seventh birthday.

We found Deanna hanging from a branch of a tree, blood dripping from where she was dangling. My brave little girl was smart enough to escape her attacker by climbing, but she wasn't lucky enough to remain unscathed.

Her tiny body felt heavier as I held her tighter in my arms. For once, I close my eyes and hope this is just a nightmare, that this is just the effects of the liquors we consumed earlier. That this is not real. That the sight of my little moon wounded and pale is not real.

Of course, even when it’s just a bite at Deanna's side, near her heart, she’s just seven years old. She didn’t yet know what pain and bleeding felt like.

I uncurled and furled my fingers to a fist and brushed my daughter’s blood-crusted hair away from her face. “Hush, sweetheart. Mommy is just here...”

My daughter looked behind me. She still tried to speak even with her broken voice. “Thank you, Mommy...But where’s Da-Daddy?”

Deanna was now mortally wounded, and yet, she was still looking for her father.

And yet, her Alpha father was still not beside her.

“He’s coming, little moon. Don’t worry. Daddy loves you. He will never leave you.”

“I...want...to...hug...Daddy...” her voice broke into a sob. And I didn’t know I was crying too. I knew everyone around us was doing the same.

“Luna, let’s take her to the pack healers. She can still be saved.” Beta Hestia touched my arm.

I instantly broke from my stupor. Right. It’s still not the end. Deanna’s not going to die today.

“Don’t worry, Dea. Mommy’s going to save you,” I promised.

I jerked my chin and Beta Lucas shifted. He’s currently the fastest here aside from me and Beta Hestia. The female Beta was unfortunately mildly wounded. Scooping my daughter from the blood-splattered riverside grasses, I climbed Lucas’s back.

“I’ll go find the one that escaped, Luna,” Beta Hestia held out a hand to help me climb Lucas's wolf even with her leg. “I promise I will avenge us.”

“Make sure you do,” I wiped a tear with the back of my hand, my voice firm.

“Let’s go save Deanna, Lucas.” I said to the Beta, “Let’s run like we never run before.”

So we did.

“It’s too late, Luna,” the Head Doctor looked me straight in my sorrow-filled eyes, “Deanna has lost a lot of blood. We have done all we could. Besides, the Rogue's bites are beyond repair. We can only hope for a miracle from the Moon Goddess now, nothing else.”

I simply nodded absentmindedly. But deep down, I was empty. My joy, my daughter, left me.

I left the room before my tears could escape as soon as the pack healer informed me of my daughter’s death.

I swallowed. Anger and the thirst for vengeance crashed into me, drowning me like a rising tide.

My daughter died—without seeing her father. My daughter died not having a hug from her Alpha father. Her final simple request wasn’t even fulfilled. Her birthday party ended with her own death.

I glanced back at her bluish-silver dress. She was still wearing her moon tiara even with her last breath.

And even with her last breath, Alpha fucking Killian is nowhere to be found.

“Is the Alpha still taking care of that matter about the eastern borders?” I asked softly, but I knew the healer saw the fury that gleamed in my eyes.

A pack healer beside me tilted her head to the side as if wondering too. “I never heard about that. Most Rogues attacks are at the northern and southern. Eastern is rarely seen with Rogues as it is the one near the Alpha King’s pack’s borders.”

Of course, my father has the best guards when it comes to overlooking packlands and borders.

But hearing that the pack healer never heard of that Rogue attack at the east...

“So where is our Alpha?” I expelled a harsh breath. I just let that anger within me remain at bay.

The Head Doctor blinked. “I thought he’s with...oh—“

“You thought he’s with who?”

“Isn’t Alpha Killian with you at the birthday party?”

I scoffed. “If he was, I wouldn’t tire my ass fighting some piece of Rogue shit.”

An Omega strode and handed me water. “I saw the Alpha with Nicole, the Beta's daughter. She was even linking her arms around his and having a stroll in the Alpha’s garden villa. That's what makes me wonder considering Deanna's birthday was held at the riverside.”

“Keep your gossip within your Omega circle of friends, Pip!” The pack healer reprimanded.

“It’s true!” The Omega, Filippa or Pip as to what her friends called her, flipped her hair to her back. “The bitch uses her status of being a Beta’s daughter so that she won’t be called a whore when in fact she is one! No wonder Beta Paulson refused to marry her and rejected their mating bond.”

“Enough.” I commanded with that soft voice but in a Luna’s authoritative tone. “Please... just please watch over my Deanna for the meantime until I dragged our Alpha’s ass over here.”

They all nodded as I exited the pack's hospital.

I can’t let myself be inside any longer without bursting into tears.

And with these tears, with this anger, with Deanna’s death...I went on a search for my mate.

I was just in the hallway when I saw from afar that his office doors were half-closed. He always either closes it or opens it, never halfway.

Moans of passion wended in the air.

I already knew what they were doing just by Nichole’s sweet encouraging words of 'harder' and 'faster' and the creaking of the office chair. Not to mention the scent of arousal that tinged the air even in the hallway.

I kicked the door open in one motion even when my legs slightly ached due to the attack earlier.

“What the fuck are you doing?” my question is not for Nichole, the daughter of the oldest Alpha’s Beta. My eyes sliced at my mate's direction.

He was beneath Nicole, his hands froze on her waist. The bitch's back was across the door while Killian's face is the view when I kicked the door open.

“Sellyn,” Killian swallowed, but he remained sitting on his office chair. Nichole was an inch away from kissing him, or perhaps kissing him again. Her hands are on either side of the armrests as she remains straddled atop Killian. “Is Deanna—“

“Her last request will be to see you." I let the disappointment that washed through me shine in my eyes. "Yet you failed in it.”

Alpha Killian lifted an alarmed face. “I—I’m sorry. I promise I’ll make up today. I’ll put her to bed tonight, I’m sure it’ll make Deanna happy.”

“No, you won’t,” I said coldly.

It seems my mate hasn’t even heard what happened to us at the riverside border. Or even the sudden death of our beloved little moon.

Nichole, finally, unblocked the view by removing her body from my mate.

“On my birthday, you weren’t there. On this year’s mating anniversary, you excused yourself because of an important meeting with Nichole’s father,” I threw the woman an unpleasant look. “And now on our daughter’s birthday, you’re gone too?!”

“Sellyn, you’re overreacting. Those are just coincidences.”

I blinked. “You left in the middle of her birthday party for this so-called urgent pack matters,” I waved a casual hand to Nichole, who may paint an innocent Beta’s daughter’s face but her eyes blazed with glee over this conversation. “You might not even know it’s Deanna’s birthday.”

“Don’t say such a negative thing, Sellyn.”

“Oh, you’re the negative one here, Killian.” A dry chuckle escaped from me but it was far from being amused, “You didn’t even know what happened at the party or to our daughter!”

With that Beta Lucas and Beta Hestia instantly appeared at the door and were just about to tell the heartbreaking news when I delivered another awful news to my mate.

“We’re over, Killian.” All of them gasped, even Nichole. “This marriage is over. I’ll return to my father’s pack and you’re free to hook up with any she-wolf you like. I might as well cut short our mating bond. After all, it’s someone else whom you constantly waste your time.” I emphasized the last sentence by pinning Nichole a burning glare.

“Sellyn...”

“SHUT UP!” I shrieked. I don’t know how many rivers of tears I’ve managed to shed today but I don’t care. “I’m done loving you, Killian. Goodbye.”

With that, I slammed the door shut—including the one inside my heart.