Chapter 2

Jack took me to an abandoned apartment building on the outskirts of the city.

After opening the door to the room in the farthest corner of the second floor, he impatiently shoved me inside.

"A she-wolf just died in this room, so nobody wants to stay here. Lucky you. Otherwise, you would have to wait in the bathroom."

"I just got fifty million, so I'm going to find the boys and play a few rounds, have some fun. Stay here by yourself for now. Later I'll give you two slices of black bread. Don't scream."

The room was thick with the nauseating smell of blood.

The bedding was a mess, stained with large patches of dried blood and giving off an ominous air.

I curled up in a corner and tried to bite through the rope around my wrists.

It was a special silver-laced rope made specifically to restrain werewolves.

To make this "punishment" look real, Cedric had even had someone inject me with a drug that suppressed a werewolf's strength.

Now I was weaker than an ordinary human.

While I was thinking of a way out, the door was suddenly kicked open.

A man with tattooed arms and a face covered in pustules walked in.

The scent of wolf on him was mixed with blood and rot. He was clearly a maniac who killed often.

At the sight of me, his eyes lit up. He licked his lips obscenely.

"All that money I gave Jack wasn't wasted. I just tortured one to death, and now fresh goods have arrived so soon."

"Perfect. The last she-wolf died too quickly. I hadn't had enough yet. Hahaha..."

As he spoke, he pinned me down. His hands began to wander.

I tried to break free of the rope, only to discover that the harder I struggled, the tighter it became.

In my panic, I bit down hard on the man's ear.

"Who are you? I am the Luna of Alpha Cedric Blackwood and the daughter of Alpha Silverwood of the Silver Moon Pack! If you dare touch me, they won't let you go!"

The man cried out in pain, then slapped me hard across the face.

I had no time to dodge. Stars burst before my eyes, and I soon tasted blood in my mouth.

"A luna would be enjoying herself in the estate, not coming to a dump like this! You think I'm stupid?"

"Let me tell you, my stepfather is the Beta of the Shadow Pack. No matter what happens in this room, no one will interfere!"

"I wouldn't even have to pay with my life for playing a lowly she-wolf like you to death!"

The man tore my clothes apart. His teeth lengthened inch by inch, growing sharper.

Slowly, tormentingly, he bit pieces of flesh from my body, one mouthful after another, letting out satisfied and horrifying laughter.

Every bite cut all the way to the bone.

It hurt so much. The sharp pain drenched my body in cold sweat and soaked my long hair.

Cedric, do you know what is happening to me now?

If you knew that a lowborn werewolf was biting me until I was mangled and bloody, would you still have sent me here?

Or perhaps this was your purpose all along.

I struggled desperately, crying for help until my voice went from loud to faint, hoping that anyone at all would come save me.

Only the empty echoes mocked my helplessness.

"So noisy."

As the man spoke, he fetched a sharp knife.

Before I could understand his intent, my tongue was severed from my mouth, and a long column of blood sprayed out.

Then he threw me into the water tank beside him.

Ice-cold water instantly flooded my nose. I choked and coughed, only to inhale even more water.

The fresh wounds across my body soaked in faintly salty water, hurting so deeply it pierced the heart. The water soon turned red.

My hands and feet were tied. I could not struggle at all. I could only let out muffled, sobbing cries.

Through the glass, I saw the man standing outside, watching me with great interest, his eyes full of terrifying madness.

As though he were admiring a dying fish.

Every second stretched as long as a century. After an unknown length of time, my consciousness began to blur.

Beautiful images appeared before my eyes. I saw Cedric rushing over to rescue me.

I'm here... Just as I tried to speak, I choked on another mouthful of water.

My lungs hurt as if they were about to explode.

So it was only a hallucination. I smiled bitterly at myself.

Of course. Why would he come? He must have wished I would die on the pack border.

Only when I was dead could his wish be fulfilled.

In the end, my legs went from kicking desperately to complete stillness.

The man knocked on the glass of the water tank in disgust.

"Dead again? How boring."

He dressed himself and left as if nothing had happened.

And my soul drifted out of my corpse.

I stared blankly at my ruined body floating in the water tank.

My skin had been bitten until flesh and blood blurred together. My face had been slashed apart with a knife. There was only a hollow space in my mouth, and my body had swollen slightly in the water.

Though I could no longer feel pain, a deeper phantom agony trembled in the depths of my soul.

Ever since becoming the luna of the Shadow Pack, I had longed countless times for the freedom outside.

I had never imagined it would come in this form.

Cedric, was this the punishment you wanted?

But I had not yet had the chance to see my son and father one last time and say goodbye properly.

I did not know if they had returned yet.

Perhaps it was that thought that drew my soul back to the Shadow Pack estate.