Chapter 2

The next morning, I wrapped my still-bleeding hand with a strip of cloth and headed to the pack's mountain clinic.

Martha's condition had been getting worse.

When my biological parents abandoned me in the wilderness, she had been the only low-ranking wolf who had ever warmed me with her own body heat.

Years ago, she had suffered severe silver injuries protecting me.

Now that she was old, a serious lung infection had returned. She had to drink moonlight herb medicine prepared by the pack's witch doctor every day just to stay alive.

The moment I reached the clinic, I heard frantic cries from inside.

"Miss Lilith is coughing up blood! Get the Alpha!"

I walked inside expressionlessly. Lilith was lying in Carlos's arms, a smear of dark blood at the corner of her mouth.

A bowl lay shattered on the floor, its dark medicinal liquid spilled everywhere.

Carlos's eyes were bloodshot.

His furious Alpha aura filled the room, its crushing pressure forcing the surrounding servants to drop to their knees.

When Lilith saw me, she weakly lifted a trembling finger and pointed at me, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Selena… why…?"

She coughed violently and buried her face against Carlos's chest.

"You work so hard all the time. I only wanted to help you prepare Martha's medicine… Why did you secretly mix wolfsbane into the herbs you had already measured out?"

Carlos whipped around. His gaze locked onto me like a blade.

He strode toward me, grabbed me by the throat, and slammed me against a rough stone pillar.

"Selena! You vicious woman!"

His veins bulged along the back of his hand.

"You were angry because I burned that worthless blanket yesterday, so take it out on me! How dare you put wolfsbane in Lilith's medicine? Don't you know her wolf can't withstand that kind of poison?"

I could barely breathe. But I didn't struggle.

I simply stared coldly at him.

Derek and Irene arrived after hearing the commotion.

When Irene saw the dark blood on the floor and Lilith's weak state, she rushed over and slapped me hard across the face.

The sharp sound echoed through the clinic.

A trace of blood appeared at the corner of my mouth.

"How could we have given birth to such a vicious daughter?" Irene trembled with rage. "Lilith was only trying to help you, and you tried to kill her! You don't deserve to be this pack's Luna!"

Derek slammed his cane against the floor.

"Carlos, you can't keep indulging her! Make her surrender the Moonlight Signet and give it to Lilith to keep. Then confine her until she admits her wrongdoing!"

The Moonlight Signet was the symbol of the pack's Luna. It was also the key to mobilizing the territory's resources.

Carlos released me.

I slid down the stone pillar and coughed violently.

"Hand over the signet." Carlos looked down at me, his gaze devoid of warmth. "Looking at you makes me sick. You don't deserve to wear it."

I lifted my head.

Lilith was leaning against Irene, the faintest victorious smile playing at the corner of her lips.

She wanted the signet. She wanted to replace me completely.

I braced myself against the cold wall and slowly stood.

I didn't cry and explain like I had in the past. I didn't tell them that Lilith had been the one who insisted on preparing the medicine.

I simply raised my left hand and removed the Moonlight Signet without hesitation.

Clink.

I tossed it at Lilith's feet as casually as if it were a piece of worthless trash.

Carlos froze.

His eyes remained fixed on the ring. For a brief moment, his brows tightened.

The extreme rejection of his mate seemed to trigger an instinctive ache through their bond.

But he quickly buried it beneath his anger.

In the past, I had treasured that ring more than my own life.

Carlos had placed it on my finger himself on the day we formed our mate bond.

"Take it." I looked at Carlos calmly. "Now give me Martha's healing herbs."

A flash of unwillingness crossed Lilith's eyes.

Suddenly, she clutched her chest and cried out.

"Carlos… it hurts so badly… The poison is so strong. It feels like my insides are burning…"

Enraged by Lilith's suffering, Carlos kicked over the medicine pot prepared for Martha.

"You poisoned her this badly, and you still want to save that old woman?"

"I didn't poison her." I stated the fact calmly.

"You're still denying it?" Carlos pointed at the dark blood on the floor.

"You've always been responsible for preparing these medicines. If it wasn't you, then who?"

I didn't even bother looking where he pointed.

I walked directly to the stove and picked up the still-steaming medicine pot.

In front of everyone's horrified eyes, I drank the remaining liquid.

The bitter medicine burned down my throat.

Lilith had added a tiny amount of wolfsbane to make her act convincing.

For an ordinary wolf, even that amount would have caused severe pain.

But I remained expressionless. My bloodline was powerful enough to suppress the poison.

And besides, this little bit of physical pain meant nothing compared with what my heart had endured.

I set the empty bowl down hard.

"Clang!"

Ceramic shattered across the floor.

I wiped the remaining medicine from the corner of my mouth and looked coldly at Carlos.

"That amount of wolfsbane isn't enough to kill anyone." My voice was quiet, but every word struck them.

"If I had really poisoned her, she wouldn't have had the chance to cough up blood and call for help."

Carlos went still.

He stared at my pale but fearless face, his throat moving as though he had forgotten how to speak.

Lilith's face went white. She bit her lip and didn't dare make another sound.

I ignored all of them.

I walked to the medicine cabinet at the back, grabbed a fresh packet of moonlight herbs, and left the clinic.

Behind me, Carlos's voice suddenly sounded strangely unsettled.

"Selena… you…"

I didn't turn around. The poison churned painfully in my stomach. I didn't care.

I smiled faintly, clutched Martha's lifesaving medicine tightly, and walked straight into the blizzard outside.