Chapter 3

The next morning, I had a maid take the dress box to Vanessa's room.

Ten minutes later, the sharp sound of scissors echoed from the end of the hall.

I was walking by with a cup of tea when I saw her. Vanessa was sitting in front of a mirror, a pair of scissors in her hand.

The moon-silk gown was spread across her lap.

She was cutting it, blade by blade, slicing off the intricate moon-flower pattern on the hem.

"This style is ancient," she sneered to her maids. "How could Julian let me, the future Luna, wear this? I'd be a laughingstock at the banquet."

She looked up and saw me.

A flicker of defiance in her eyes.

"Don't you think so, Valerie?"

I didn't answer.

I carried my tea and walked toward the medical wing.

Five years ago, Julian survived an assassination attempt by a Rogue on the border.

The Pack Healer removed the silver wolfsbane bullet, but the toxins had seeped into his blood. When it flared up, his wolf would tear himself apart in agony.

For seven years, every single morning, I came here to brew a wolfsbane suppressant.

Three hours later, the deep green potion bubbled in its vial, smelling of cool moon-petal herbs.

I wrapped the bottle in a cloth and walked toward his study.

I was still thirty feet away when I heard voices.

It was his Beta, Cedric.

"Julian, moving Vanessa into the master suite… isn't it too soon? The pack sees everything the Luna has done for you these seven years. If you keep this up, she's really going to leave."

A short silence. Then Julian laughed, a cold, soft sound.

"Leave? Where would she go? She was a stray I found half-frozen in a blizzard. I'm going to break that pride of hers. Make her understand who the real Alpha is. Once she accepts reality and learns her place, I'll give her a spot in the pack. Make sure she's taken care of."

The Beta sighed. "If you keep humiliating her, don't you worry she'll finally give up on you?"

Julian scoffed. "Give up? The only thing Valerie knows is how to cling to me. She's like a vine that can't survive without its tree. She would never leave me."

The tray in my hands tilted.

The scalding potion spilled over the back of my hand. An angry red mark bloomed on my skin. I felt nothing.

I calmly placed the tray outside his door, walked to the sink at the end of the hall, and poured three hours of painstaking work down the drain.

Just then, Vanessa appeared, wearing the butchered moon-silk gown. The hem was ragged, like a dog had chewed it.

She saw me and a smirk spread across her face.

"Oh, Valerie, I forgot to tell you. Julian wants me to move into the top-floor master suite tonight. He says it will help my wolf heal. You'll need to get your things out by today."

The master suite of the Pack House. I had lived there for five years.

It was filled with every trace of my life with Julian.

I looked at Vanessa's gloating face and nodded.

"Okay."

I walked into the master suite. I didn't take any jewelry. I didn't take the diamonds, emeralds, or rare gems Julian had bought for me.

I only took the tattered clothes I was wearing when I first arrived.

As I was about to leave, my phone buzzed in my pocket.

My brother.

“Val, your commoner file in the Werewolf Council archives has been wiped clean. Your royal status will be restored. Soon, no one will ever be able to bother you again.”

I changed into my old, worn-out clothes and walked out of the master suite.

Then, I moved into the darkest, dustiest corner of the Pack House: the basement storage room.

It was a forgotten junk room. Not even the lowest-ranking Omega would willingly spend a minute here.

I sat there, watching the northern stars through the grimy window.

Twelve hours left until I leave the Obsidian Claw territory.