Chapter 1

I was born with the purest Moon Goddess bloodline, destined to be the most revered princess of the Crescent Moon Pack.

Yet, in my past life, every drop of my wolf essence was drained from my veins while I was still breathing.

Right before I died, my father's adoptive sister, Ella, stood over me. Her smile was as sickeningly sweet as poison.

"Years ago, I swapped you for a stillborn with your dear mother, Valerie. Watching the high and mighty Luna cling to that dead baby, watching her slowly devolve into a raving lunatic until she had to surrender her throne to me like a pathetic dog... it was the best trade I ever made."

Taking advantage of my mother's shattered mind and the pack's growing disgust, Ella had effortlessly usurped the throne of the Luna.

By siphoning the power of my bloodline day after day, she purged the inherent weakness of her Omega genes and basked in the reverence of the entire pack.

Yet, after stealing all the glory, she bribed the pack's healer to declare my bloodline corrupted. She branded me a cursed beast, a harbinger of doom for the pack.

Chained to the walls of a damp, pitch-black dungeon, I was bled dry.

I closed my eyes with a heart full of blinding hatred. But when they snapped open again, the overwhelming stench of raw blood and amniotic fluid flooded my senses.

......

My vision was terribly blurry, but I could make out the dim confines of a birthing room, where massive stone pillars cast long, shifting shadows.

I had been reborn! I was back on the very day of my birth—the beginning of every tragedy!

I could feel myself being lifted into the air.

"Is this really going to work? If the Alpha finds out..." a raspy, trembling voice asked. It was the pack's midwife and healer.

"Shut up! Silas trusts me more than anyone. When Valerie wakes up and sees she's given birth to a stillborn, she will completely break down. Meanwhile, I will have just 'given birth' to a perfectly healthy daughter."

Ella's laugh hissed like a venomous snake. "Hurry up. Swap this little bitch with my dead one!"

My heart plummeted. The memories of my past life rushed back like a tidal wave.

This was the exact moment I was stolen. And because she couldn't handle the trauma of a stillborn, coupled with Ella's daily poison and psychological torture, my mother Valerie eventually became the crazed, despised outcast of the pack.

I couldn't let history repeat itself!

I wanted to scream, to tear into this vicious woman's throat, but I was nothing more than an infant fresh out of the womb. My limbs felt like jelly; I didn't even have the strength to lift my own head.

Ella was already carrying me toward the doorway.

Driven by pure desperation, I squeezed every ounce of air from my tiny lungs, ripped my throat open, and let out a piercing, gut-wrenching wail.

Filled with the sharp, explosive vitality unique to a newborn, it echoed fiercely off the stone walls.

"Damn it! Shut her up!" Ella jumped, trembling so violently she nearly dropped me on the floor.

In a panic, she clamped her hand brutally over my mouth.

But I thrashed my tiny body wildly, my little hands clawing at the air. I fought back with everything I had. Wrestling my face away from her palm, I let out another, even louder, deafening shriek.

"Stop!"

A voice—weak but dripping with absolute, undeniable authority—rang out from the birthing bed.

I strained, forcing my eyes to roll toward the sound.

There, on the blood-soaked sheets, my mother, Valerie, was struggling to prop herself up.

"Va... Valerie? You're awake?" Ella's hands stiffened. Instantly, she slapped on that infuriating, pitifully hypocritical smile.

Pulling me into a fake, loving embrace, she put on a mask of deep concern. "You lost so much blood just now, it terrified me! I... the baby is crying so hard, I was just about to have the healer examine her."

"Give my daughter back to me." Valerie's voice was low, but it held an unquestionable command.

"You just gave birth and your body is too weak. According to pack rules, a newborn must receive the Moon Goddess's baptism from the healer to wash away the blood before she can be placed in her mother's arms." Shifting her eyes nervously, Ella took a step backward.

The healer hurriedly scurried forward, trembling as she played along. "Yes, Luna, this is the law passed down from our ancestors. The child is crying so fiercely, she might have caught an unclean draft. She needs to be baptized immediately..."

A baptism? That was nothing but a convenient excuse to get me out of the room! The second I was out of my mother's sight, that dead infant would take my place!

I refused to let them take me!

Extending my throat, I let out another wail, my infantile voice growing utterly desperate and hoarse. I forced my tiny hand toward Valerie, waving it frantically in her direction.

Valerie's piercing gaze locked onto me. The bond between mother and child is forged in blood; she could feel the absolute terror vibrating in my cries.

"I will say this one last time." Valerie violently threw off the animal furs covering her. Ignoring the fresh blood still seeping from her body, she swung her bare feet down onto the floor.

She marched straight up to Ella and held out her hand. "Hand me my child. Or I will rip your arms out of their sockets and take her myself. Which will it be?"

The sudden, overwhelming surge of bloodlust radiating from Valerie drained all the color from Ella's face.

She was just a weak Omega; face-to-face with a Luna who had literally slaughtered her enemies on the battlefield, primal instinct took over, and she began to shake uncontrollably.

"I... I was only doing what's best for the baby..." Ella's eyes quickly rimmed with red, and fat tears spilled down her cheeks as if she had just been horribly wronged.

But Valerie wasn't buying a second of her act. With one swift motion, she snatched me violently right out of Ella's arms.

The moment I returned to my mother's embrace, I was instantly enveloped by her familiar, comforting scent.

Pressing my tiny cheek against her chest, I greedily soaked in the deep, long-lost sense of safety.

"Get out," Valerie snarled, holding me securely as she shot daggers at Ella and the healer.

Ella bit down hard on her lower lip, a flash of malicious resentment burning in her eyes.

"Well, if Silas finds out you're blatantly disrespecting the Moon Goddess's traditions... he's going to be furious." Tossing out that feeble, veiled threat, Ella spun around and hurriedly rushed out of the room with the healer.

The doors slammed shut behind them. Only then did the iron-tight tension leave Valerie's body.

Utterly spent, she collapsed back onto the mattress. She gasped for breath, but as she looked down at me, her eyes melted into absolute, pure tenderness.

"Don't be afraid, my little moon. Mommy is right here. Nobody is ever going to take you away from me."

I looked up at her, but my tiny racing heart wouldn't settle.

I knew all too well that Ella's malicious scheming was only just beginning.

And the man she relied on as her ultimate weapon—my father, the Alpha Silas—could walk through those doors at any given second.