Chapter 2
Jovyn's insult left the entire hall in dead silence.
I should have cried. I should have begged for mercy and endured everything, just as I had in my previous life.
But the reborn me only wanted to laugh.
"Impure bloodline? Since I'm apparently unworthy of anyone..." I surveyed the hall. "Then why don't you two share Zorvaya? After all, one Alpha might not be enough for her entertainment."
The hall instantly erupted.
Torin's face turned ashen. "Seraphina, what are you saying?!"
Jovyn's eyes blazed with fury. "How dare you insult Zorvaya like that?"
Both Alphas advanced toward me.
But Zorvaya delicately reached out and held them back.
"Don't... don't be angry with Seraphina. She's just acting on impulse. After all, Seraphina did save you in the forest ten years ago..."
If she hadn't brought it up, I might have almost forgotten that twisted memory.
Ten years ago, when Jovyn and I were still childhood sweethearts, we had been attacked by rogue wolves while playing in the border forest.
When the rogues cornered him, I cut my own wrist and used the scent of my blood to lure them away.
I was badly injured and lost consciousness, while Jovyn managed to escape.
Zorvaya only arrived after the attack was over.
Yet when I woke up, everyone told me she had saved Jovyn and that I had merely gotten in the way.
Worse, they claimed the rogues' tainted essence had corrupted my bloodline through my wounds.
From that day forward, I was treated as an impure half-blood.
Jovyn glared at me.
"Stop bringing up what happened ten years ago! If you hadn't acted recklessly and gotten yourself corrupted, I wouldn't have been in danger in the first place!"
Torin immediately backed him up.
"Zorvaya was the one who discovered the contamination and helped cover it up. Instead of thanking her for protecting your reputation, you keep using that incident to make everyone feel indebted to you."
Zorvaya lowered her eyes, pretending to defend me.
"Please, don't blame Seraphina. She probably didn't mean to cause all this trouble."
I almost laughed.
The girl who had arrived after the attack had somehow become my savior. The wound I suffered while protecting Jovyn had become proof of my corruption.
And now, the two men I had once trusted were demanding that I thank her for it.
Zorvaya glanced at me, a hint of triumph hidden behind her tears.
"Seraphina, as long as you stop making trouble, we'll still let you stay. Otherwise, a disgraced Luna wandering the wilderness would only bring shame to the pack."
I looked at Zorvaya, then at the two Alphas standing beside her.
"Keep your excuses. I'm going to the Northern Territory and taking the ancient Luna bloodline trial. I'll prove whose bloodline is truly pure."
Marwen slammed the table.
"Your bloodline is already corrupted! You think you can pass an ancient trial?"
"Then you can watch me prove you wrong."
In my previous life, that accusation had sent me straight into the basement, where I was forced to endure years of so-called purification treatments while Zorvaya stole everything that belonged to me.
Not this time.
Torin reached for my arm, but a surge of power burst from my body and sent him stumbling backward.
I looked him straight in the eye.
"You've all had eighteen years to decide who I am. Now I'll let the Moon Goddess decide."
Three months later, Northern Territory snow mountains.
I severed all pack bonds with Ravenspire, completely cutting ties with the past.
With Marwen's reluctant consent, I came to the sacred grounds of the ancient Frostrealm Pack. She thought I would fail the Moon Goddess trial and die from the backlash of ancient lunar power.
She was wrong.
When I stepped into the Moon Goddess sanctuary and accepted the sacred trial of ancient Luna heritage, the entire mountain trembled beneath the moonlight.
Silver light poured from the altar, wrapping around my body. Ancient runes appeared beneath my feet, and the entire sanctuary fell silent.
"Luna Seraphina!"
The Moon Goddess priest knelt reverently, his voice trembling.
"The Moon Goddess has granted her divine blessing! You have received the highest sacred mark in a thousand years—the Silver Moon Seal!"
The priest raised his head, his expression filled with awe.
"Your bloodline is not corrupted. The curse marks were artificially implanted, but the Moon Goddess has now completely cleansed them. Your bloodline is among the purest ever recorded."
A murmur swept through the sanctuary.
"Only absolute devotion to the Moon Goddess and a pure spirit during bloodline awakening could achieve this," I said calmly.
The trial had not only cleansed the curse Zorvaya had planted in my bloodline, but also revealed the truth I'd been denied for eighteen years.
Just then, the moonstone pendant from my mother's belongings grew warm against my chest.
Marwen's voice echoed from within.
"Seraphina! Return immediately! Your mother's memorial rite is approaching! As her daughter, how dare you not return?"
Mother's memorial rite...
That was an emotional chain I couldn't refuse.
I smiled coldly. I had already guessed they would use this to summon me back.
"I'll return," I replied coolly.
Since they were so desperate to call me back, let me see what game they were really playing.
Under the full moon, I had just taken my position before the ceremonial altar when familiar voices came from behind me.
"Seraphina, you finally came back."
Zorvaya smiled warmly, but jealousy flashed in her eyes.
"I heard you had a rough time during your trial in the Northern Territory?"
"After all, the Moon Goddess trial is so dangerous. Being able to return alive is already remarkable. Marwen said she'll let me continue your purification treatment once you return."
I ignored her and slowly raised my left hand.
The Silver Moon Seal gleamed beneath the moonlight, its sacred power spreading across the altar.
"What is that?"
Zorvaya's smile vanished.
"The Silver Moon Seal, granted directly by the Moon Goddess. The highest sacred mark in a thousand years. Proof of the purest Luna bloodline."
A stunned murmur swept through the crowd.
Torin stood among them, his eyes fixed on the mark.
His face drained of color.
Only three months ago, he had stood beside Zorvaya and called my bloodline corrupted. He had told me to be grateful that she had supposedly protected my reputation.
Now the Moon Goddess herself had proven him wrong.
"Impossible!" Zorvaya shrieked. "Your bloodline was corrupted! That mark must be fake!"
I looked at her coldly.
"The trial also revealed that curse marks had been deliberately implanted in my bloodline. Zorvaya, do you know anything about that?"
Zorvaya trembled all over.
"You... how would I possibly know? I've always been helping you cleanse it!"
"Really? Then why are you so terrified?"
I stepped closer.
"Because if the truth comes out, you can no longer steal my bloodline?"
Zorvaya looked at my determined eyes and knew her lies had been exposed.
Her face twisted, madness flickering in her eyes.
"Seraphina! Even if you got some damn mark, I won't give up! I'm going right now to prove that I'm more worthy of the Moon Goddess's recognition than you!"
"I'm going to the Moon Goddess ruins in the Forbidden Forest! That's the true test of Luna heritage!"
She frantically rushed from the altar, running wildly toward the Forbidden Forest at the pack's border.
I didn't stop her. I simply watched as she disappeared into the night.
The Forbidden Forest...
That place was indeed dangerous, but it had nothing to do with me anymore.
I was about to leave this place forever.
Torin took a step forward, as if he wanted to say something.
But I didn't even look at him.
Whatever explanation he had prepared, I no longer cared to hear it.
Early the next morning, I was packing to leave the pack permanently.
Suddenly, Torin and Jovyn burst into my room.
"Seraphina!"
Torin's face was pale with panic.
"Zorvaya never came back last night! This morning, our patrol found signs of a struggle and her scent trail at the edge of the Forbidden Forest!"
Jovyn's eyes burned with rage.
"It's all your fault! If you hadn't pushed her, why would she have run to such a dangerous place alone?"
Torin pointed at me.
"Seraphina, come with us to rescue Zorvaya right now! This happened because of you. You must take responsibility!"
I looked at them in disbelief.
"Don't even think about running away! Until Zorvaya is safely brought back, you're not going anywhere!"
