The Luna Who Belonged to No Alpha

I stood silently in the middle of the hall, my eyes fixed on the burning brazier.

Inside it, a small blanket covered in pale blue wolf fur was crackling in the flames.

It was the only thing my pup, who had died before he was even a month old, had left behind in this world.

The flames leapt high, casting the hall in shifting light and shadow.

"Selena, don't look at me like that. You're scaring me…" Lilith shrank into Carlos's arms, her eyes rimmed red and her voice trembling. "I really didn't mean to touch your pup's keepsake."

She sniffed and looked away guiltily.

"I only went to your room because I wanted to borrow a necklace. I accidentally opened your drawer and saw the blanket. It looked like it had fleas."

"You know how weak my body is…" she continued, pressing herself closer to Carlos's broad chest. She lifted her tear-streaked face toward him.

"Even the slightest contact with parasites makes me break out in rashes. It could even send my already-weak wolf into a deep sleep. Carlos only had it burned because he was trying to protect me."

Carlos tightened his arms around her.

The oppressive presence of an Alpha spread through the hall, his aura carrying an unquestionable force.

He frowned and looked down at me with undisguised impatience and disgust.

"It was just a scrap of cloth. Do you really have to make that face?" Carlos's voice was hard as steel.

"You know how fragile Lilith is. Are you trying to kill her? As Luna, you're supposed to protect the members of this pack, yet you secretly kept something so filthy in your room. If something happened to Lilith's wolf, how would you make up for it?"

I looked at him.

At the man who had formed a mate bond with me and once sworn in my ear that he would protect me for the rest of his life.

There wasn't a trace of guilt on his face over my dead pup.

Only endless favoritism toward Lilith.

"Selena, you've disappointed us."

My father, Derek, struck his cane heavily against the floor, his expression stern.

"Lilith is the adopted daughter we went through so much trouble to bring back from a rogue pack. She's suffered enough, and her health has always been poor. As her biological sister, how can you have so little compassion?"

My mother, Irene, sighed as well. She stepped forward and gently stroked Lilith's hair.

"Exactly. That child has been dead for nearly three years. Why are you still keeping a useless old blanket? All it does is make everyone uncomfortable. Apologize to Lilith and let this go."

For the past ten years, they had said the same things and done the same things.

Whenever Lilith shed a single tear, I was automatically the one in the wrong.

I said nothing.

I simply turned my head and looked at the brazier again.

Three years ago, on that rainy night, my pup suddenly developed a high fever and began convulsing. He desperately needed his Alpha's calming aura to suppress the violent blood coursing through him.

I knelt outside Carlos's door, begging him to come see our child until my forehead was bleeding.

But that night, Lilith said she was terrified of thunder and that the pain in her chest made it hard for her to breathe.

Carlos stayed by Lilith's bedside all night.

He even released his Alpha aura to seal off the hallway, forbidding anyone from disturbing her.

My child slowly went cold in my arms on that freezing night.

Back then, they had said the same thing.

"He was only a defective pup whose wolf couldn't even be sensed. If he died, he died. If Lilith got too frightened by the thunder, she could have lost her life."

I clenched my fists until my nails dug into my palms, yet I felt no pain.

My heart had already died three years ago, on that rainy night.

"Crack!"

A bright spark burst from the brazier, violently dragging me back to reality.

"Selena, say something…" Lilith cried even harder. "Are you still angry with me?"

"If you really hate me that much, I can put my hand into the fire and make it up to you."

She pretended to move toward the brazier.

Carlos immediately grabbed her.

"Selena! How much longer are you going to keep this up?!" he roared. "Are you not satisfied until you kill her?!"

I merely shook my head.

There was barely a ripple in my eyes.

I didn't defend myself. I didn't scream or argue.

I simply walked toward the brazier.

In full view of everyone, I reached toward the flames.

I stretched out my right hand and plunged it straight into the roaring fire.

Sizzle.

Flames lapped at my skin. The searing burn was nothing compared to the heart‑wrenching agony I had endured on that rainy night three years before.

I searched among the hot embers with a blank face, my palm blistering and charring from the glowing embers, until my fingers closed tight around the half‑charred scrap of fabric still dotted with live sparks. The acrid stench of singed flesh hung thick in the great hall.

I eventually retrieved a partially burned piece of the blanket from the brazier.

Lilith screamed and hid behind Carlos, trembling.

Derek and Irene rose in shock, staring at me as though I were some kind of monster.

"I don't need an apology."

My voice was dry and hoarse, completely devoid of emotion.

"It's burned. Let it be burned."

Without acknowledging their stunned expressions, I turned and walked out of the hall.

Back in my cold, damp room, I carefully placed the charred remains into a small glass vial and wore it around my neck.

Then, using the blood from my injured palm, I quickly drew an extraordinarily intricate golden rune on an old piece of parchment hidden beneath my bed.

It was ancient blood magic that could only be activated by pure royal blood.

The rune glowed faintly.

A deep, respectful voice entered my mind through the mind link.

"Your Highness, the Royal Shadow Guard awaits your command."

I looked at the warm light glowing from Carlos's main house through the window and issued my order coldly.

"Pass down the order. In seven days, withdraw the Shadow Forest protection barrier completely. And send a team to escort Martha and me seven days from now."

There was a brief silence.

Then the voice erupted with barely restrained excitement.

"Yes, Your Highness! You've finally come to your senses!"

I severed the connection and leaned against the cold wall.

The countdown had begun.

Without my protection, I wanted to see whether they could still laugh seven days from now.