Chapter 1

"Don't let me catch sight of you again. Women aren't cut out for prison."

The guard sized me up, smoking.

I ignored him, leaving behind Moon Fang Keep, the place that had held me captive for three years.

The long-lost sunlight fell on my skin. Under my sleeves, my clenched fists betrayed my true feelings. I walked away trembling.

“Julie. I’m here to take you home.”

I lifted my head. My gaze landed on that pair of familiar yet strange father and son.

The man was my mate, the Alpha of the Ember Hide Pack, William Jones.

The boy was my own flesh and blood, my son, Rocco Jones.

Three years apart, and they were still powerful; their scent thick with dominance, the pressure of people who’d spent too long at the top.

Yet because of them, I was no longer the gentle and obedient person I used to be, wasting away day by day.

Our eyes met, and William’s expression faltered.

“Get in the car.”

There wasn’t a shred of guilt in his voice. “Three years in Moon Fang Keep should’ve taught you how to behave well. Don’t challenge Pack law again.”

Rocco frowned too, his voice young but hard.

“Dad’s right. Aunt Ann has already forgiven you. But Mom, if you hurt her again, Dad and I will never forgive you.”

“Forgive?” I let out a short laugh,

"Shouldn't it be you two begging for my forgiveness?"

Watching their expressions visibly stiffen, I continued:

“But then again, an Alpha who personally sent his own Luna to Moon Fang Keep has the nerve to talk about forgiveness?”

This father and son used to be my entire world.

And three years ago, they were the ones who shoved me into hell with their own hands.

At that banquet, Ann suddenly coughed up blood and collapsed in front of everyone.

Clutching her mouth, pale as a sheet, she pointed a trembling finger at me

"It was her... she poisoned my drink."

I fell to my knees, desperately begging William to look into the waiters and the glasses.

But he just frowned, staring at me for what felt like an eternity.

Rocco shoved me away in disgust.

At that moment, I laughed.

I laughed at how stupid I’d been.

They turned me over to the Silver Moon Tribunal on the charge of “harming the Pack member.”

For three years, I was tortured in that prison, silver chains biting into my bones, venom wolves tearing at me.

If my Luna blood hadn’t been stubborn, I would’ve been dead long ago.

And now they said, as if it were nothing:

“Rocco and I don’t mind you’ve been in jail. We’re willing to take you home and you should be grateful. Lucy is waiting. Don’t waste time.”

“Yeah, Mom, stop making a scene.” Rocco urged.

When I looked up again, my voice was calm. “I’m not going back with you.”

Love and family were a joke to me now.

A person shouldn’t fall in the same place twice.

William narrowed his eyes, Alpha pressure pouring off him. “A Luna with a crime record, where do you think you can go without me?”

“That’s my business.”

I said flatly, “I’m done being a woman you keep stepping on.”

He froze for a beat. He hadn’t expected the Julie who used to obey without question to talk back.

Three years in prison, people can teach you countless times but you won’t learn. Life teaches you once, and it’s enough.

I stared at that father and son, my heart cold as iron.

“William,” I said, “let’s get a divorce.”

“Mom, you went to prison and you still want a divorce? What will people think of you?”

Rocco blurted it out.

Even William went still.

He’d assumed I’d do what I always used to do, crying, begging him to change his mind, or demanding compensation. He didn’t expect me to ask for a divorce. I used to care obsessively about how others saw me. My reputation and my family’s dignity mattered more than anything.

Three years ago, I’d lowered myself into the dust just to stay beside them.

Now, fresh out of Moon Fang Keep, the first thing I said was divorce.

This transformation was a lesson I learned at the cost of blood.

To him, though, it was just another one of my usual tricks.

Play pitiful, fish for sympathy, and force him to soften.

Just as the air was about to freeze solid, the butler suddenly came over, holding a little blonde girl in his arms.

“Alpha, the pup insisted on seeing you and the madam.”

It was my younger daughter, Lucy.

She was only five, but she’d inherited my eyes, light brown irises, clear as spring water under moonlight.

William’s brows drew together. “Who told you to bring her here?”

“I came on my own.” Lucy lifted her chin, her voice baby-soft but serious.

She wriggled free of the butler’s arms and walked toward me carefully, reaching up to tug at the edge of my clothes.

“Mom,” she looked up, eyes wet but stubborn, “you went to prison and you want a divorce. Will people laugh at you?”

I froze.

In that instant, something stabbed hard into my chest.

Her words—they were actually identical to Rocco’s.

But her voice trembled, clean and pure.

I crouched down, my fingers brushing gently through her hair.

She was too little. She’d only been taught by them —a woman who’d been in Moon Fang Keep was shameful.

I gave a hoarse little smile. “That’s Mom’s business. It has nothing to do with what other people think.”

Lucy blinked, half understanding, then added in a whisper, “But… I’m worried you’ll be sad.”

I almost couldn’t hold back my tears.

William’s voice cut cold. “Rocco’s right. Where exactly are you going to go without the Jones family? Julie, if you keep this up, you’ll turn yourself into the entire Pack’s joke!”