Chapter One
Chapter One
Lunara’s POV
A cold numbness spread through me as I stood outside Alpha Kael’s office, the door slightly aja
I could hear them speaking inside.
“Are you sure no one suspects anything?” Beta Lucas asked, his tone tense.
“No one knows,” Kael replied flatly. “Lunara still believes Ethan died in that rogue attack.”
My heart froze.Ethan. My son. My little wolf.
“What about the healers?” Lucas pressed. “They could talk.”
“I gave them enough moonstones to stay silent for life. They won’t risk angering the Alpha of Bloodfang Pack,” Kael snapped.
My ears rang. My knees weakened. What was going on?
“You… took Ethan’s heart to save Ashira,” Lucas whispered. “Your own son.”
The air left my lungs. No. I couldn’t have heard that right. Ethan died protecting our borders… didn’t he?
“You think I wanted this?” Kael growled. “Ashira was dying. Ethan was a perfect match–same bloodline, same shifter genetics. One life for another. Hers was worth more.”
A sharp pain gripped my chest. I stumbled back, gasping for breath. My Ethan… wasn’t a casualty of war. He was a sacrifice.
“But he was just a pup,” Lucas said, his voice trembling. “He didn’t even shift yet.”
“And Ashira is the future Luna,” Kael snapped. “Ethan was frail. Weak. He wouldn’t have survived the next shift season anyway.”
“There were others,” Lucas argued. “Other matches. You didn’t even wait.”
“I couldn’t risk it!” Kael snapped. “Ashira means everything to me.”
Tears spilled from my eyes. I stared down at the parchment in my hands–the healer’s report. I had come here to tell Kael I was pregnant. That we were getting a second chance after losing Ethan. Now that joy felt cruel.
I gripped the doorframe to steady myself.
“And what did Ashira say? After you told her she lived because her nephew–her sister’s son- was killed for her?” Lucas asked.
“She cried… for a minute. But she accepted it. She knew Ethan was too sick to last long.”
I covered my mouth to silence a scream. My sister… she knew?
“She better never find out,” Lucas muttered. “Lunara would tear this pack apart.”
“She won’t,” Kael said with that same smug certainty I once trusted. “She’s soft. Loyal to a fault. Even if she did find out, she has no one. She’s powerless.”
Powerless? The word lit a fire in my chest. No. Not anymore. They took my son. Lied to my face. Used my love and trust as weapons.
He Chess My Sister Co
4:12 am GDDI
I turned and walked away, heart pounding in my ears, hands trembling as I clutched the pregnancy scroll to my chest. I made it outside the packhouse, shifted into my wolf, and bolted into the forest, not knowing where I was going–just needing to run. Run far from them. From the lies. From the pain.
Night fell as I found myself at the edge of the sacred grove–where the fallen are honored. My paws slowed, shifting back into human form as I approached Ethan’s grave under the moonli oak.
A single stone marked it:Ethan Thorne
Beloved Pup. Swiftly Taken by Fate.
I dropped to my knees, the earth damp beneath me. My fingers brushed over his name as the truth stabbed deeper than any silver blade.
I remembered the night Kael came home, covered in blood, eyes red.
“Rogues ambushed us,” he had said, voice raw. “Ethan… didn’t make it.”
I had blacked out. When I woke, Kael said he’d already buried our son. Said it was mercy. Mercy?No. It was a cover–up. Guilt buried in haste.
“I’m sorry, baby,” I whispered, my voice broken. “I should’ve seen through him. I should’ve fough harder.”
But I wasn’t the same she–wolf I was then. My grief had burned into something else–something sharp and unrelenting.
“I will avenge you,” I swore. “Kael. Ashira. Anyone who stood by and watched. I’ll make them pay.”
I stood, the breeze rustling through my hair as moonlight kissed my skin.
They thought I was powerless.
They were about to learn what a mother wolf is capable of.
4:12 am G
