Chapter 1 Chapter 1

I understood then. The people I cherished most were the ones who wanted me dead. I could only hope that once they got their wish, they would live to regret it when they finally learned the truth. In my final moments, as the Rogue's claws tore open my chest, the force of the blow tore my spirit from my body. I floated in the air, watching my own mutilated body lie on the forest floor, bathed in moonlight. At that moment, my Alpha and fated mate, Damon, was kneeling beside my sister, Chloe. His potent Alpha dominance radiated from him, thick with anxiety. "My sweetheart, open your eyes. Look at me. Tell me where it hurts." His rough palm gently traced the shallow scratch on Chloe's cheek as if it were a fatal wound. My brother, Leo, burst from the woods, his eyes flashing gold with fury. "If it weren't for that damned Omega Elena holding us back, how could a Rogue have even laid a claw on Chloe! The moment she's conscious, I'm going to teach her a lesson!" My spirit shuddered, and agony tore through our mate bond. Leo, you won't have to lift a finger. Just as you all wished, I'm already dying. Dying in the freezing chill of your indifference. The pack's healer, Anya, knelt by my body, her hands emitting a faint healing glow. She had quickly checked Chloe's injuries, a few superficial claw marks. Only then did she dare to plead with Damon, her voice trembling, "Alpha, please, lend me your power. I need you to channel it through me. Only your power can keep her from slipping away." Damon slowly rose to his feet, his face in the moonlight as cold as a winter blade. He looked down at my dying body, his eyes holding no love for his mate, only deep disgust. "She's so weak she can't even handle a simple fight. She isn't worth my Alpha power." He paused, a sharp, unexpected pang echoed through the mate bond. He scowled, dismissing it. "Don't worry, she won't die. She's too stubborn for that." I stared blankly at this man, my heart twisting as if pierced by a silver dagger. The mate bond was still there. The Moon Goddess herself had chosen us. Could he truly not feel the agony of my death? "But she did it to protect you...""Enough!" Damon's roar shook the very air. "A true Luna would never be caught in such a pathetic situation! Her incompetence is a humiliation!" Suddenly, Damon took a deep breath, and his Alpha's dominance flared. His voice traveled through the mind-link to the entire Dark Moon Pack, every member hearing his declaration. "I, Damon, Alpha of the Dark Moon Pack, hereby officially reject you, Elena, as my mate and future Luna.""You are a disgrace to this pack, a symbol of its weakness." The mate bond inside me shrieked, a desperate, keening cry. My spirit felt a tearing sensation unlike any I had ever known, as if a silver chain were tightening around my neck. It was true. He had never truly accepted me. It made sense, I suppose. The moment the Rogue's blood-red eyes locked onto him, I had thrown myself forward without hesitation, using my own body to shield him from the fatal blow. But the instant I fell, he ran straight to Chloe, who had only been spattered with blood. How could he have any affection to spare for a "burden" like me? Anya's healing light flared with her rage. "Alpha! Elena was torn apart by that Rogue to protect you! She traded her life for your safety!" Damon, convinced I was faking, let out a low, guttural growl. "Tell me, what did that waste of space promise you to go along with this little sympathy act? I never thought a failed Omega could be so manipulative." Just as he finished speaking, Chloe, who had been feigning unconsciousness for some time, finally opened her eyes "weakly." Her voice trembled, a pitiful, fragile sound designed to stir the protective instinct in every male werewolf present. "Damon... is my sister okay? It's all my fault. If I had just been a little stronger, my sister wouldn't have..." Damon looked at the delicate, helpless Chloe on the cot, and his gaze grew even more ruthless. He turned to my dying body, his Alpha's dominance crashing down like a tidal wave. "Elena! Can't you be more like your sister and have some damn dignity? She's only in this state because of your recklessness, and yet she's still worried about you! I'm giving you three seconds to accept my rejection. Otherwise, I'll sever our bond by force!"

Chapter 2 Chapter 2

The Alpha's furious pheromones thickened the air, pressing down on Anya until she could barely breathe. Leo stood nearby, fanning the flames of Damon's anger. "Why bother rejecting her?" he sneered. "Just banish her. It'll save her from further embarrassing the Dark Moon Pack!" A flicker of triumph crossed Chloe's eyes before she lowered them, her voice choking with emotion. "Damon... Brother Leo... please don't blame my sister. She's always resented my Beta blood. It's only natural for her to be hostile toward me..." A wave of absurdity washed over me. I never imagined that even as my spirit was about to dissipate, my sister Chloe was doing everything she could to slander me. But Damon would never see through it. In his eyes, Chloe was the perfect she-wolf: strong, captivating, and deserving of his protection. He would never have guessed that the seemingly accidental Rogue attack was, in fact, a death trap meticulously planned by his beloved Chloe. Three seconds. He only gave me three seconds. My spirit trembled violently in the air, enduring the tearing pain from our mate bond. "Damon, wait!" Chloe weakly pushed herself up, a shrewd glint in her eyes. "Actually... my sister was always laughed at by the pack for awakening so late. She's always had very low self-esteem." She bit her lip, feigning concern. "I think she was so impulsive tonight because she just wanted to prove she wasn't useless." Useless? I stared blankly at the sister I had protected since childhood, my heart feeling as if it were pierced by a silver dagger. Damon's gaze turned even colder. "So her answer is to drag down those who are actually strong?""No!" Chloe shook her head frantically, tears welling in her eyes. "My sister definitely didn't mean to. She just... she's just desperate for everyone's approval." She lowered her gaze demurely, offering a feigned comfort. "Alpha Damon, please don't be angry with my sister. It must be hard for her, awakening her powers so late." Damon was instantly soothed by her pheromones, his Alpha's temper subsiding. "My Chloe, you're just too kind. That's why you get dragged down by her weakness." This was Chloe's way. Always perfectly displaying her vulnerability at the most critical moments. I knew that even if my spirit could speak, even if I could recount all the ways Chloe had schemed against me, how she had deliberately suppressed the awakening of my wolf, they would only think I was jealous of my sister's strength. I had given up hope years ago. Just then, my brother Leo emerged from the deep woods, reeking of blood. His eyes first swept over the scratch on Chloe's face, and his pupils contracted instantly. "Damn it! Who hurt my sister?""Brother Leo..." Chloe called out, her voice pitiful. Leo knelt beside her, his rough palm carefully examining her wounds. "Those beasts! I should have torn every last one of those Rogues to pieces!" Only after confirming Chloe had nothing more than a superficial wound did Leo's wolf begin to calm. Then, he finally noticed me lying in a pool of blood. "Why is Elena so badly hurt?" Leo frowned, but his tone held no concern, only impatience. "Did she hold everyone back again?" Damon sneered. "What else? An Omega who can't even master basic fighting skills, trying to play the hero." Leo nodded as if in understanding. "That's what I thought. With Elena's strength, how could she possibly attack a Rogue on purpose? She must have panicked and done something stupid.""Brother Leo, don't say that about my sister..." Chloe said softly, though a flicker of triumph crossed her eyes. "Even though her weakness caused trouble for everyone, her intentions were good." So clever. Every word from Chloe sounded like a defense, but in reality, each one pushed me deeper into the abyss. "Good intentions?" Leo scoffed. "What good are intentions? Look at the result! She almost got the Alpha killed and got you hurt!" Damon's Alpha aura flared again. "Enough! I don't want to hear any more excuses for her!" He turned to the healer, Anya, his voice as cold as ancient ice. "I'll give you one last chance," he growled, turning on Anya. "Is she faking?" Anya shook her head, trembling. "Alpha, Elena is truly fading. If you don't release your Alpha power..." Damon's face darkened. "I told you, she's not worthy.""I'm warning you," Damon snarled, grabbing Anya by the collar of her tunic. "If you keep playing along with this pathetic act, you know the consequences."

Chapter 3 Chapter 3

Anya choked, collapsing to the ground and struggling for air as he released her. Chloe suddenly clutched Damon's wrist, her eyes wide with feigned pain. "Alpha... there's something I haven't dared to tell you.""Tell me what?" Chloe bit her lip, as if making a difficult decision. "Tonight's Rogue attack," she began, her voice trembling. "It might not have been a coincidence." The air instantly froze. Leo's head snapped up. "What do you mean?""I... I'm not sure, but..." Chloe's voice grew smaller. "a few days ago, my sister was asking about the pack's patrol routes. I thought she just wanted to be more involved in pack affairs, so I told her." My spirit nearly dissipated from the shock. She was implying that I had leaked the patrol routes! "Are you saying," Damon's voice was a low growl, a final judgment, "that Elena deliberately led the Rogues to us?" For a second, Chloe's eyes widened in panic, as if she'd gone too far. Then she quickly masked it with a frightened look. "Maybe I'm just confused from my injuries... I might be remembering things wrong. After all, she's my sister. How could she do something like that?""Perhaps someone deliberately took advantage of her... toward me." She trailed off, but everyone understood her implication. Leo's wolf eyes instantly turned gold. "Jealousy? Elena led the Rogues here because she was jealous of you?""I have no proof, and I don't want to believe it..." Chloe sobbed even harder. "But my sister has been very unhappy since I awakened my Beta blood.""That damned bitch!" Leo shot up, his wolf nature nearly out of control. "She dared to endanger everyone for her own selfish reasons!""But my sister surely didn't expect to get caught in it herself," Chloe continued, adding fuel to the fire. "She probably thought that with her mate bond, the Alpha would have to save her. Then she could play the hero.""Enough." The word was a low growl from Damon's chest. Leo and Chloe fell silent, stunned. Chloe whispered, her voice trembling, "Damon…?""I said, be quiet," Damon snarled, his eyes flashing with a cold light. He didn't understand his own reaction. He was trying to force the familiar narrative back into place—that Elena was the one to blame. And yet, a primal, possessive instinct roared to the surface. He would not permit an outsider to revile her. She was his to punish, his to control. His problem to handle. I wanted to scream, to defend myself, to tell them the truth. But as a fading spirit, I could do nothing but watch them tear me apart with their lies. Anya, still on the ground, finally managed to speak. "What are you all talking about? Elena was protecting the Alpha! If it weren't for her, the Alpha would be the one injured right now!""Silence!" Damon's roar made the entire forest tremble. "It seems Elena didn't just buy you off, she fed you your lines too!" Leo sneered and walked toward my body. "An Omega who would betray her pack out of jealousy deserves to die." Just then, Chloe struggled to her feet, staggering toward my body. She knelt, gently stroking my mangled face, her voice choked. "Sister, I know you were never happy that I was stronger than you, but why did you have to do it this way?""Even if you were truly jealous of me, I would never blame you. We're sisters. I would give you anything I have, even Damon...""Don't be ridiculous, my sweet girl," Damon said, his tone softening at her words. "I was going to reject Elena sooner or later. She is not worthy of the Luna position." A flicker of triumph crossed Chloe's eyes, but on the surface, she appeared even more pained. "Damon, don't say that about my sister... she might have just been confused for a moment...""Confused?" Leo laughed mockingly. "Nearly getting the Alpha killed and getting you hurt, that's being confused? That's just being malicious!" I watched it all, watched them, the people I had protected with my life, trample on my sacrifice with the most vicious words. Suddenly, I thought that maybe it was better for me to die. Maybe my death would finally give them all what they wanted. Then, a violent pulling sensation struck me. To my horror, I realized my spirit was being dragged by a powerful force, moving uncontrollably toward Damon. "No..." I tried to resist, but it was futile. The shattered mate bond held my spirit like a chain, tethering me to Damon. I couldn't even let out a cry of despair. From now on, I would be tethered to Damon's spirit, a prisoner in his mind, forced to endure this endless, silent torment. "My sweet girl," Damon murmured, his voice softening. "You need to rest."

Chapter 4 Chapter 4

A few days later, my spirit was forced to trail Damon's, a helpless spectator as he carried Chloe into his private Alpha's domain. It was a sacred space that even I, his fated mate, had never been allowed to enter. The scratches on Chloe's face had completely healed, without even a scar. She leaned delicately against Damon's chest, her voice cloyingly sweet. "Damon, I'm still a little scared. What if those Rogues come back?""Don't be afraid. I'll protect you," Damon said, stroking her hair. "From now on, you'll live in my domain. It's the safest place." My spirit trembled nearby, unable to make a sound. That was supposed to be my place. Later that night, an unsettling feeling gnawed at Damon. The mate bond, which should have been thrumming with Elena's anger or desperation, was eerily silent. It was a void, a cold nothingness he had never felt before. An instinct, ancient and primal, told him to go back to the forest, to the spot where she had fallen. He needed to see for himself. But just as his hand touched the handle, the door swung open. Chloe stood there, pale and trembling, wrapped only in a silk robe. "Damon!" she cried, stumbling into his arms. "I had a nightmare! The Rogues… they came back! They were tearing me apart… just like they did to Elena…" Her feigned terror was flawless. She clung to him, her body shaking, her scent a mix of fear and desperate need that was designed to trigger his most primal protective instincts. Damon's resolve to find me instantly evaporated, replaced by the immediate need to soothe the she-wolf in his arms. He lifted her, his voice softening. "Shh, my sweet girl. It was just a dream. I'm here. I won't let anyone hurt you." The other day, Leo even personally prepared the finest deer blood for her, afraid her wolf nature might be even slightly compromised. While patrolling the territory, Damon's Alpha pheromones were thick with violent rage. "That weakling Elena caused so much trouble for the pack! She was a curse of a mate!" Leo's Beta aura was equally murderous. "I told you. Keeping a waste like her around was bound to cause trouble. She's not worthy of the Dark Moon bloodline.""She's been a burden since she was a child," Damon continued. "Remember her first shift? She was almost twenty before she barely managed to awaken her wolf. A complete disgrace to the family." Leo laughed. "Back then, I thought she was wolf-less! The wolf she finally managed was so small and scrawny, it was pathetic." Hearing this, bloody memories tore at my consciousness like wild beasts. Since childhood, I had lagged behind. The awakening of my wolf came a full three years after the other pups. When children my age could shift with ease, I was still just a normal human. The pack elders would shake their heads and sigh. "This child's wolf blood is too thin. I'm afraid she'll never become a true werewolf." Even then, Damon would praise Chloe in front of everyone. "Look at our little princess. A perfect shift at fifteen, and her pheromones are as pure as moonlight." I could only hide in a corner, enduring the ridicule and exclusion from the other pups. The days on the training grounds were even more brutal. As a Beta, Leo was in charge of training all the young werewolves. He always deliberately paired me with the strongest opponents, watching as I was beaten into the dirt time and time again. "Elena, you can't even extend your claws. You still want to be Luna?""With inferior blood like yours, being culled from the pack is only natural!" The others my age would always form a circle, laughing at me in the center. I would desperately try to concentrate, to awaken the wolf within me, but I felt nothing. "Is she defective?""Why is a human with no wolf even in our pack?""The Luna's family produced such a failure. What a disgrace!" And whenever I was beaten black and blue, Chloe would always appear to "thoughtfully" plead on my behalf. "Brother Leo, don't be too hard on my sister. She's already trying her best." This false concern only made everyone see her as even more kind. And I became the useless one who needed to be "looked after."

Chapter 5 Chapter 5

Until, at eighteen, the Moon Goddess finally designated me as Damon's mate. I thought everything would change. I thought he would love me because of fate's decree. But reality was crueler than I could have imagined. Even after I was named his fated mate, before our bond was confirmed, Damon would praise Chloe right to my face. "Chloe is just so outstanding.""Strong, decisive. That's what a true Luna should be.""Elena, you should learn from your sister," he would say, his tone flat and detached. "Only the strong are qualified to stand by an Alpha's side." At nineteen, when I finally felt a flicker of my wolf's strength, I signed up for the pack's tournament. Because Damon would be watching from below the stage. I wanted to prove to him that I could be strong too. But the result was the same. I was slammed to the ground, breaking several ribs. Waves of laughter rippled through the crowd. I curled up in pain, catching a glimpse of Damon and Leo in the crowd. They just stood there, watching me fall with cold indifference. No worry, no heartache, not even a flicker of concern. It was as if my defeat, the defeat of a weakling, was the only outcome they expected. In that moment, I finally understood. In their hearts, I was never a precious family member or mate. I was just a shameful burden to them. The pain of the memories receded like a tide, and my spirit was pulled back to the cruel present. I was still bound within Damon's mind, forced to follow him to the pack's assembly hall. "Our little princess is simply dazzling tonight!" Everyone crowded around Chloe, showering her with praise. She wore a white silk gown, and around her neck was the Luna necklace that should have been mine. It was a moonstone necklace passed down for three generations, to be worn only by the pack's Luna. I had only ever seen it once. In just a few short days, they were already holding a celebratory banquet for Chloe. It was as if I, the true mate, had never existed. "Luna Chloe, are you fully healed?" a young Beta asked, his voice full of concern. "Thank you all for your care," Chloe said, lowering her head shyly. "It's all thanks to the Alpha's meticulous attention that I recovered so quickly." Damon nodded in satisfaction, his Alpha aura wrapping around her possessively. "I told you, no one can harm my sweet girl.""You are brave," he added, his voice low. "A hundred times braver than certain cowards." The elders vied to present her with precious magical crystals, claiming they would help stabilize her wolf's nature. Chloe simply caressed her necklace, her pride nearly overflowing. And my spirit, still shackled by the mate bond, could only watch in agony. This place that was once my home now made my very soul tremble. Sometimes I truly wanted to curse the cruelty of fate. Why not let me die completely, instead of forcing me to witness this? As night fell, Damon grew unusually agitated. He returned alone to the Alpha's chambers, pacing restlessly, his chest heaving. It's been days. This punishment should be enough. If she's just throwing a tantrum, she should have come crawling back by now. But this time... the silence felt different. It felt... final. I could feel his inner turmoil, the telltale sign of a mate bond on the verge of completely severing. He then began to call my name frantically through the mind-link, his tone shifting from anger to urgency. But the only response was a deathly silence. It was like screaming into a void, a void that was starting to terrify his wolf. After a long while, Damon smashed his fist into a mirror on the wall, blood dripping from his knuckles. Still won't answer? Do you really think hiding will earn you any sympathy, you useless waste? My spirit wanted to respond, to tell him I was dead, but my voice could never reach him. He then dialed the healer Anya's number, his voice as cold as a blade. "Did Elena put you up to this? Tell her to get her ass back here and accept my rejection, or I'll send warriors to drag her back myself!" There was a beat of silence on the other end before Anya's trembling voice came through. "Alpha... Elena's body... it vanished from the forest a week ago," she whispered. "She's gone."