Chapter 1

On the day my father,Adrian Greywood,was confirmed as the Alpha heir of the northern Greywood Pack,he tore up his future Luna vow with my mother in front of everyone and demoted her to an Omega.

And Lily,the personal maid who had disrespected my mother again and again,became the future Luna.

From then on,Mom became Lily's scapegoat.

At the elders'banquet,Lily said the Beta families were nothing but a bunch of stubborn old bones.

So Dad punished Mom by making her kneel before the stone steps of the Packhouse,holding a red-hot wolf crest in her hands until the elders'banquet ended.

"You failed to stop the future Luna and caused her to say the wrong thing.You deserve to be punished."

After Mom's palms were burned raw,she asked Dad to return the moonstone pendant they had exchanged when they made their mate vow.

Lily kept misreading the prayers to the Moon Goddess.

So Dad punished Mom by making her kneel beside the altar and copy the Pack law code a hundred times.

"You failed to teach her properly.You deserve to be disciplined."

The night the silver wound on Mom's wrist flared up again,she asked Dad to return the obsidian ring from their bonding ceremony.

Then,during the moonlit hunt,Lily stole prey from another Pack and startled the current Luna's youngest pup badly enough to injure him.

When the Alpha was about to punish her severely,Dad,red-eyed,begged my mother,who was pregnant with a wolf pup,to take the silver lash for Lily.

"Lily was only afraid of losing.She didn't mean it.Take the punishment for her."

"I promise,this is the last time.I'll make it up to you properly from now on."

Mom did not cry the way she used to.She accepted it calmly.

When the pup in her belly dissolved into bloody water,I saw a blurred dark-red rose mark rise on her wrist.

It was a mark I had never seen before.

Mom looked at that mark and said softly,

"Nora,when the marks becomes completely clear,Mommy will return to our real home."

...

Servants carried basin after basin of bright-red bloody water past me.

I did not know what that blood rose meant.I only knew Mom's body was getting colder and colder.

I clutched Mom's hand.

"Mommy,Nora doesn't want you to die!You said you would stay with me while I grew up!"

She smiled at me.There was no pain left in her eyes.

"Mommy isn't dying.Mommy is going home."

I trembled.

"Mommy,we haven't had a home for a long time."

Back then,Mom had pitied Lily and brought her here from the Bennett family when she married.

But Lily accused the Bennetts of mistreating her.

So,to vent Lily's anger,Dad framed the Bennett family for secretly colluding with the Greywood Pack's sworn enemy,the Blood Moon Pack.

He had only meant to scare Mom.He had not expected Lily to accidentally leave the forged secret letter in the council hall.

The Alpha was furious and ordered the execution of the entire Bennett family,who had served three generations of Greywood Alphas.

Mom and I begged Dad to explain.

But Dad said Lily had always been lowborn,and after she became future Luna,the elders all looked down on her.

If they found out he had forged evidence for Lily,every elder would decide Lily was a burden dragging down the Alpha heir.

Because of that,Dad admitted with his own mouth that the Bennett family had colluded with an enemy Pack.

The Bennetts had once poured all their strength into helping him secure his place as heir.In the end,all of them were dragged onto the judgment platform.

Carl,who used to let me ride on his shoulders to look at the moon,Anna,who made my little cloaks,and countless warriors and wolf pups all died.

Mom broke down.She cut her wrist open with a silver blade,wanting to let all her blood drain away.

But Dad held me in his arms and threatened her,forcing her to survive.

I threw myself onto Mom.

"I don't want Mommy to leave.I don't want the last person who loves me to leave too."

The moment I finished speaking,a tall shadow fell over us from behind.

Dad lifted me onto his lap,stroked Mom's cold cheek,and looked at her with eyes full of pain.

"Evelyn,I know you blame me for not protecting our pup,but no matter how angry you are,you can't use death to frighten Nora."

"I brought some things.You and Nora can see if there is anything you like."

Dad was always like this.

After he did something wrong,he used whatever Lily had already picked through to compensate us.

Mom did not even look.She only stared at the wrist guard on his arm.

"I want that."

Dad froze for a moment,displeased.

"You braided this for me yourself on the night I shifted for the first time."

Mom's eyes were empty.

"I gave it to the mate who loved me most.You are not him anymore,so I want it back."

Dad's arms trembled around me,and his voice went hoarse.

"Evelyn,I know I've wronged you both.But Lily has no inner wolf,and other wolves have bullied her.She's too fragile,and she won't accept my help.I made her future Luna only to save her."

"Evelyn,you are the only one I love."

Dad said that every time.

But even I could tell Dad was not doing it to save Lily.

He had simply fallen for her.