Chapter 2

The next morning, I was sitting in a corner of the Packhouse's archive tower flipping through ancient tomes, when the Temple Emissary's mind-link sounded in my ear.

"Elara, come to the front hall's side chamber immediately. Someone reported you to the Temple for the alleged theft of a sacred relic. The memory crystal and a copy of the Elder Council's trial transcript have all been delivered to the High Priest."

I calmly closed the parchment scroll and left.

When I arrived at the door of the side chamber, sure enough, Elara was already there.

She leaned against a stone pillar, arms crossed, smiling like a winner.

"Open this door now, and your pathetic healer qualifications will be reduced to ashes."

She looked me up and down.

"Wearing this lowly body of mine, you have no trust fund and no pureblood connections. The only thing you have to your name is your pathetic hard work."

I couldn't be bothered to entertain her and reached straight for the doorknob.

Instead, she stepped sideways, blocking my path completely.

"Last chance." She raised her chin, deliberately releasing a trace of the Alpha's oppressive aura. "As long as you bare your throat and submit to me right now, I'll go in and tell the Emissary that the relic incident was just a prank."

"No need."

Without sparing her another glance, I walked right past her and pushed the door open.

Inside the side chamber, the Temple Emissary's face was livid.

Spread out on the table were several scrolls of Potions essays that Elara had pulled all-nighters to rush through, densely covered in red annotations.

Seeing me enter, the Emissary slammed the parchment onto the table.

"You've scored top marks in your assessments for three years straight! Your name is already carved into the Temple's stone pillar on the recommendation list for elite healers! Why would you commit such an unforgivable felony at a critical time like this?"

"The Alpha didn't subject you to physical punishment, which means there's still a chance to turn this around. As long as Lady Astoria is willing to use her pureblood status to vouch that this was merely a misunderstanding, I can still find a way to cover for you with the Temple. Don't show off misplaced pride at a time like this!"

I lowered my eyes, my tone calm. "I have failed your teachings, Lord Emissary."

"I don't need your apologies!"

Right then, he caught sight of Elara eavesdropping outside.

"Lady Astoria, please come in. Regarding the relic, was it really a misunderstanding?"

Elara walked in, putting on an extremely conflicted look.

"Lord Emissary, I'd like a private word with Elara."

Out in the corridor.

"You heard him, didn't you?" She lowered her voice, dripping with the sadistic thrill of having the upper hand. "The only chance you have to turn your life around rests entirely on a single word from me. You're at death's door, and you still refuse to submit?"

"Are you really that desperate to see me bare my neck and wag my tail for your mercy?"

"Of course! I dream about it!" She took a step closer, suppressing her manic excitement. "I want to see you kneel at my feet forever, like the true lowly Omega you are!"

"Then I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed. True baseness runs in the bones; even wearing a pureblood's skin can't cover it up."

"You..."

"Lord Emissary, she did indeed steal the sacred relic."

Elara stood before the Emissary, adopting an air of absolute righteousness.

"Out of personal mercy, I could let it go. But if the Temple lets a thief off the hook just because our Blood Moon Pack flexes its authority, would that be fair to all the other apprentices training so bitterly at the Temple?"

The Emissary was speechless for a long time. The look he gave me was filled with profound sorrow and regret.

Since it had come to this, I turned to leave.

"Wait." The Emissary stopped me, shoving a parchment scroll bound by a magic contract into my hand.

"There's one more thing. The advanced potion cultivation program you were participating in carries extremely strict conduct clauses. Since you've been stripped of your qualifications, all the resources the Temple invested in you, along with the breach of contract penalty, must be refunded in full."

I flipped straight to the last line of the contract.

"One hundred flawless silver crystals?"

"That's exactly why I told you to beg the Alpha." The Emissary gave me a deep look. "Elara, don't completely seal off your own escape route."

"There's no need. Just proceed according to the Temple's rules."

Two days later, the Temple's official expulsion notice was posted on the Packhouse's bulletin board.

Healer qualifications stripped. Expelled from the potion program. Ordered to return one hundred flawless silver crystals within the stipulated deadline.

As I stood before the bulletin board, Elara's footsteps sounded right on cue behind me.

"Stripped of the pack's protection, the only thing this lowly identity could rely on was hard work." Her voice dripped with a sickly amusement. "Now that even this path has been crushed, does it hurt?"

She tapped a lace-gloved finger lightly against the massive penalty figure on the notice.

"And these one hundred silver crystals—how exactly are you going to pay them back?"

That night, the air in the Packhouse hall was exceptionally oppressive.

My parents had already learned of the Temple's punishment.

Dad sat at the head of the table and spoke first, his tone dripping with condescending charity.

"Since the Temple is no longer an option, you will remain in the territory. I'll arrange a menial position for you with the outer border patrol. A youngster making a mistake isn't the end of the world; don't just write yourself off as a useless wolf."

He paused when he mentioned the hundred crystals.

"As for the penalty fee, the pack's treasury will front the money for you, lest you bring shame to the Blood Moon."

Mom immediately nodded in agreement. "Yes, let's settle the Temple's accounts first. Don't completely sever your own lifeline."

Hearing this, Elara practically shot up from the sofa.

"Dad! You absolutely cannot pay it for her!"

Her voice was so shrill it cracked, and even Dad frowned and looked at her.

Realizing she had lost her composure, she forcefully steadied her breathing and softened her tone to play the voice of reason.

"I'm not trying to target her. But it's exactly because of these one hundred crystals that she'll truly learn her lesson."

"If the pack bails her out this time, what happens next time? A lowly Omega needs to learn to pay for her own mistakes in blood!"

She suddenly turned to me, her eyes as vicious as poisoned daggers.

"If you can't pay it back, then go to the black market and sell your life to pay it off slowly. You can't always expect purebloods to clean up your messes."

A momentary silence fell over the hall.

"Astoria, mind your words!" Mom frowned. "She grew up in the Packhouse, after all."

"I'm just teaching her to recognize her own inferior bloodline!" Elara talked back unyieldingly, though her eyes remained locked dead onto me.

I quietly looked at my parents sitting in the high seats.

They were looking for even a shred of a way out for "Elara."

Meanwhile, the "biological daughter" they were so proud of was standing off to the side like a rabid dog, desperately trying to cement that path shut forever.

Dad remained silent for a moment before asking in a deep voice, "Elara, what do you think?"

My gaze fell on Elara's face.

She was trembling. She was nervous.

She was terrified that the pack would actually pay off this astronomical sum for me. Terrified that the abyss she had dug with her own two hands would be so easily paved over.

I raised my chin and spat out a single, freezing sentence.

"I don't need the pack's charity. I will pay this debt myself."

Late that night, in the low-ranking servant's quarters.

I had just lit the magic candelabra when Elara kicked the door open and walked in.

She looked down at me condescendingly, ready to deliver her final humiliation.

"One hundred silver crystals—to me right now, that's barely the spare change for a couture gown."

She pointed at the tip of her shoe. "Kneel down right now, lick the tip of my shoe, and swear to submit to me forever. Swear you'll stop fighting me. If it puts me in a good mood, I might just show you some mercy and pay it off for you."

As I wiped the dust off the table, I coldly threw back, "Playing the generous benefactor with my money? Do you really think you're the master of this house now?"

"You—stubborn to the bitter end!" Enraged by the humiliation, she suddenly raised her hand, trying to invoke the Alpha's oppressive aura.

Right at that moment, the communication stone inside my pocket vibrated.

[Your soul mark preliminary review has been approved. Please proceed to the underground black market at midnight tomorrow to sign the Blood Pact.]

The Moon Goddess Temple's debt collection process was too sacred, too concerned with maintaining decency. Even if I defaulted, they would merely drag it through the Elder Council's arbitration.

That was far from enough.

I needed to change the creditor to a bloodthirsty demon—one who absolutely wouldn't let Elara off the hook ten days from now.

The following midnight, I donned a black cloak and ventured into the treacherous underground black market alone.

Without a moment's hesitation, I used Elara's soul mark to sign a "Blood Pact Loan" with the highest possible interest rate from the notorious Vampire Syndicate.

Once the one hundred silver crystals hit the account, I teleported directly to the Temple and cleanly settled all the breach of contract penalties.

As for the final repayment date on that vampire Blood Pact, I precisely set it for a very special day.

—The very first morning the full moon curse would lift, and our bodies would swap back.