Chapter 1
Brianna's POV
My name is Brianna, Luna of the Sapphire Pack.
I used to think Warren Crawford was the best husband and father in the world.
Until the night of the full moon. My six-year-old daughter, Lydia, was slapped in public by him and locked in a dungeon—all for taking a piece of apple tart.
He claimed locking her up was to save a life.
Three years ago, Beta Roman took a fatal blade for Warren, leaving behind his widow, Lorelei, and their daughter, Clarissa. Now Clarissa was diagnosed with bone cancer, and the only matching trial subject was my Lydia.
My own husband personally sent our daughter onto the operating table.
I knelt outside the operating room, bashing my forehead against the floor until I bled, but he dismissed it as me making a scene.
Covered in blood, I rushed into the VIP ward holding a dying Lydia, begging him to save her. Instead, he ordered his guards to throw us out into the cold street.
Lydia died in my arms. Her last words were: "Mommy, if I die, will Daddy like me just a little bit?"
I had no answer for her.
At that very moment, her father was sitting in a VIP ward, peeling grapes for another woman’s daughter.
I spent three days handling my daughter’s funeral alone.
When I pushed open the front door holding her urn, I was greeted by a sky filled with confetti and balloons. My husband was hosting a lavish birthday party for that woman’s child.
"Warren, I beg you! Open the door! Lydia is only six!"
I slammed my hands against the heavy iron door of the dungeon, my palms quickly turning into a bloody mess. From the crack in the door came my daughter’s terrified cries: "Mommy! It’s so dark! I’m scared!"
Warren Crawford stood on the stone steps. Short dark brown hair, icy grey-blue eyes completely devoid of warmth.
Just moments ago at the full moon banquet, six-year-old Lydia had reached out for a piece of apple tart out of craving. This high-and-mighty Alpha of the Sapphire Pack backhanded her to the ground and threw her into the dungeon like trash.
"She’s scheduled for a drug trial tomorrow. Sweets will affect her blood metrics. Any deviation will ruin all our preparations," Warren said, his voice flat. "Brianna, your spoiling is delaying a life-saving procedure. You are courting disaster."
It hit me like a thunderbolt. "Drug trial? Save who? What are you talking about?"
"To save my Clarissa!"
A soft, tearful cry echoed. Lorelei staggered over and fell to her knees beside me, tears and mucus streaming down her face. "Brianna, please don't blame Warren. It’s all my fault. Clarissa was diagnosed with bone cancer last month. The doctor said only Lydia’s blood and antibodies are a perfect match. Only she can save my child!"
I stared at Warren. All his weird behavior over the past month instantly clicked into place. He had forbidden Lydia from eating snacks, forced her to undergo daily check-ups, and stayed by her bedside when she had a fever. I thought it was fatherly love. It turned out he wasn't protecting his daughter—he was protecting a qualified test subject.
"She is your biological daughter!" I lunged forward, grabbing his collar. "Warren, how could you risk Lydia's life to test drugs for someone else?!"
Warren coldly shoved my hands away and turned to support the trembling Lorelei. "Roman saved my life. I cannot watch his only daughter die. Stay away from the dungeon and stop embarrassing yourself here."
Three years ago, everyone said Roman took a fatal strike for Warren and died on the spot. From that day on, Warren treated caring for the mother and daughter as an endless debt.
He had once held me and sworn that Lydia and I were the most important people in his life. But now, Lorelei only needed to shed a single tear for him to send his own daughter to a trial lab.
"Go back and stay with Clarissa," Warren wiped away her tears. "I’ll handle things here."
Lorelei leaned into his chest. As she passed me, she whispered, "Thank you, Brianna. Clarissa will remember Lydia’s sacrifice."
Before I could speak, Warren was already escorting her away.
My heart felt shredded by a blade. Gritting my teeth, I frantically smashed at the dungeon’s iron lock. My skin tore, blood splattered, and after a heavy crash, the lock finally broke.
"Lydia!" I rushed into the darkness, tightly wrapping my arms around my trembling daughter.
"Mommy! I’m so scared..." She sobbed in my chest.
Before I could hold her tight, two guards burst in and forcibly tore Lydia from my grip.
"Let her go! What are you doing?!" I threw myself at them like a madwoman, biting and scratching, but I was shoved aside. My arm slammed into the stone wall, blood instantly soaking my sleeve.
"Luna, please don't make this difficult for us," the enforcer said coldly. "The Alpha has ordered it. Miss Clarissa’s condition has deteriorated. The drug trial must be moved up immediately."
"No! Mommy, save me!"
Watching Lydia being dragged away, I gave chase, only to see them head straight for Pine Ridge Clinic, a desolate facility tucked away from the Pack.
In the hallway, Warren stood under the harsh light. Seeing me rush in covered in blood, he frowned and stepped forward to grab my wrist. "Brianna, you're bleeding. Let me bandage you up—"
"Get off me! Don't touch me!" I yanked my hand back. "Give Lydia back to me! Are you even human?! How dare you risk our daughter's life just to pay off your own debt?!"
Warren’s face darkened, and his suffocating Alpha aura crushed down on me. "I owe Roman my life! This is just a basic drug trial, it won't kill her! Stop throwing an irrational tantrum!"
He looked down at me, every word slicing like a blade. "Don't forget, I am the Alpha of this Pack, and more importantly, I am Lydia’s father. If she can’t even handle a basic trial, she doesn't deserve to be my daughter!"
Looking at the man who had once promised to protect us, the last flicker of hope in my heart went out.
Just then, the operating room doors burst open. The chief physician, Dr. Vance, ran out drenched in sweat. "Alpha Crawford, everything is ready, but Miss Lydia is resisting violently. Please decide: should we inject a sedative and forcibly begin the trial?"
