Chapter 2

Sure enough, less than an hour later, the wooden doors flew open.

A suffocating, oppressive wave of Alpha pheromones instantly flooded the room, carrying the heavy, dominant scent of black pine.

"Valerie! What the hell is going on here?" Silas stormed into the room.

"Silas, please don't blame her. She just gave birth; it's normal for her to be emotionally unstable. I just wanted to follow the traditions and take the baby for her baptism, but Sister... she threatened to kill me."

Trailing pitifully behind him were Ella, whose eyes were red and brimming with ongoing sobs, and the healer, who kept her head bowed, trembling like a leaf.

A cold sneer bubbled in my chest.

In my previous life, Silas was fooled by this pathetic, victimized facade until his dying breath.

He had always seen Ella as the sole surviving bloodline of the old Alpha—his adoptive father—treating her like a fragile Omega who desperately needed his protection. He had absolutely no idea what a vile, blackened soul lurked beneath that pretty skin.

Valerie leaned weakly against the headboard, her gaze sweeping over Silas and Ella as she pulled me tighter against her chest.

"She tried to take my child. The only reason I didn't rip her throat out on the spot is out of respect for you."

"Valerie!" Silas snapped, stepping forward with a scowl. "Ella was trying to help! The healer said the baby's cries were unnatural, that she must be baptized by the Moon Goddess immediately, or she'll draw misfortune to the pack. You are the Luna—how can you be the one breaking our most sacred laws?"

"Misfortune?" Valerie scoffed, her gaze slicing into the healer like a polished dagger. "I'd love to ask our 'wise' healer a question. The sky was burning with a crimson glow when my daughter was born—a clear omen of blessing. Yet, coming from your mouth, it somehow turned into a curse that requires an immediate baptism?"

The healer dropped to her knees with a loud thud, cold sweat pouring down her face, stammering incoherently.

Seeing this, Ella hastily grabbed Silas's arm, tugging on it gently. "Brother, maybe my scent upset the baby. I've heard some newborns are hyper-sensitive to an Omega's pheromones. How about we just let the healer take the baby alone to the side hall for the baptism? Sister really needs to rest."

What a brilliant pivot! Knowing Valerie was completely on guard against her, she suggested the healer take me alone. As long as I was out of my mother's sight, that dead infant could be swapped in at any second.

I immediately began squirming in Valerie's arms, whimpering with distress.

"No one is touching her," Valerie rejected adamantly. "Baptism? Fine. When I've regained my strength, I will personally carry her to the Moon Altar. Until then, she isn't leaving my side for a single second."

Silas's face darkened entirely. As the Alpha, having his absolute authority repeatedly undermined by his mate in front of others infuriated him.

"Valerie, you're being paranoid," Silas sighed, his tone turning harsh and commanding. "You are incredibly weak right now. You can't even control your own pheromones. Holding her like this is only distressing her. Give the child to the healer."

With that, Silas actually reached out, intending to forcefully rip me from Valerie's embrace.

True terror gripped my heart. Silas was an apex Alpha; given Valerie's current physical state, there was no way she could fight him off!

Just as his massive hand brushed against my swaddle, I didn't hesitate. Flinging my mouth wide open, I summoned every ounce of my newborn strength and chomped down viciously on his finger. I didn't have teeth yet, but my hard gums clamped down with enough surprising force that he instinctively jerked his hand back.

Timing it perfectly, I unleashed a blood-curdling, heartbroken wail, acting as if he had just terrified me to death.

"Silas! You're frightening her!" Valerie roared, instantly pulling me tighter to her chest, dodging his hand entirely.

Silas stood there stunned, staring at the faint red mark left by my infant gums. Then he looked at Valerie's fiercely defensive expression, and an inexplicable surge of angry frustration rose in his chest.

"Fine. Fine! If you want to hold her yourself, do it!" Silas waved his hand in fierce annoyance. "But you're in a terrible state. You need to rest."

Without another warning, Silas unleashed an overwhelmingly potent wave of Alpha pacifying pheromones.

To a normal werewolf, this aura was wildly suppressive, but to a Luna whose body was already running on empty right after giving birth, it acted like a forceful, inescapable sedative.

Valerie's face changed instantly. She gritted her teeth, fighting desperately against the crushing wave of lethargy, but her eyelids were growing heavier by the second.

"Silas... you..." her voice trembled.

"Sleep, Valerie. Just close your eyes. I'll have Ella and the healer guard the door. Absolutely no one is going to touch your baby." Silas softened his tone, looking incredibly proud of himself, as if he had just made the most brilliant decision in the world.

As I watched Valerie's pupils rapidly lose their focus, a suffocating wave of despair washed over me. Silas, you utter fool! He had no idea he was personally shoving his mate and his daughter right back into the abyss!

But just a split second before Valerie succumbed entirely to the darkness, she seized her final shred of lucidity and thrust her hand down the collar of her gown.

I felt something cold and hard slip swiftly deep into the layers of my swaddle, pressing tightly against the small of my back.

It was Valerie's most prized possession—a pure silver pendant inset with an ethereal, deep-blue moonstone. It was a coming-of-age gift from her brother, Gareth, and it was entirely one-of-a-kind within the pack.

"My... baby..." Valerie's hand dropped limply to the bed. She had completely blacked out.

Silas cast one last glance at his sleeping mate, sighed heavily, and turned to Ella. "Keep an eye on them. Report to me immediately if anything happens. I have pack affairs to attend to."

"Don't worry, brother. I will take excellent care of my sister and my precious little niece." Ella's voice was so sickly sweet I wanted to vomit.

Silas strode briskly out of the room. The moment the door clicked shut, the pitiful, hypocritical mask on Ella's face vanished without a trace.

She snapped her neck around, staring at the unconscious Valerie and me lying utterly defenseless in my mother's arms. A deeply venomous, triumphant sneer crept onto her mouth.

"Rest well. By the time you wake up, you'll find that the treasure you nearly died birthing is nothing more than a frigid corpse."

As she spat the words, her long fingers reached directly for me.

I tried to thrash. I tried to wail. But a newborn's fragile body had a limit, and my earlier struggles had completely drained me. A crushing wave of exhaustion surged over me like a dark tide, and my consciousness began to aggressively blur.