Chapter 5

Early in the morning, I stepped out of the healing tent. Dew still clung to the pine needles.

“Hey, Thalia!” A sharp, sugar-coated voice called from behind.

I took a deep breath, locked every emotion inside, and turned around.

Bianca.

She was dressed up today. Curled hair, polished boots—the limited edition ones. She liked proving she was the future “Luna,” even before the mark was official.

“What is it?” My voice was cold. “Or are you here to ask for help with pre-mating fertility tonics?”

She blinked innocently. “Oh, don’t be like that. I thought maybe we could be friends. Or... sisters-in-law? Alpha Fernando always said you’re like a sister to him.”

I smiled, barely.

“How’s the bonding ceremony going?” I asked. Like I was asking if she’d eaten breakfast.

She paused, then lifted her chin. “It’s going well. Can’t believe I’ll be Luna in just a few days.”

I nodded. “That’s good.” I turned to leave.

She rushed after me, holding something up like a prize.

“Look at this ring,” she said, wiggling her fingers. “Fernando gave it to me. Pure gold, with diamonds. I told him I wanted diamonds this time. Emeralds aren’t really for Betas of noble blood, don’t you think?”

I stopped. My steps froze.

“Emeralds?” I turned back. “You said that was your birthday gift last year?”

She nodded proudly. “Yes. That emerald necklace? He gave it to me then. Told me it was the first time he spent the whole night with someone on their birthday.”

My stomach dropped. I remembered that night too well.

My father was dying from silver poisoning. I’d begged Alpha Fernando to release funds from the emergency pack reserve. I knelt outside his tent, begging him to call the healing witches.

He said coldly, “There’s no budget, Thalia. The council audits everything. I can’t risk my standing for a dying old Gamma.”

That night, I pawned my mother’s bone-carved pendant. I bit open my finger with my silver-fused canine to brew crystal salves. I didn’t sleep for three nights.

And now, Bianca was here, flaunting that emerald.

“I heard you couldn’t even afford the medicine,” she sneered. “He said you cried like a weaned pup. He said you looked like a cast-off Omega.”

SLAP.

My hand met her cheek. Hard.

She stumbled back. Her face turned red instantly. But she didn’t fight back. Instead, she screamed like a Beta gone wild.

“Alpha Fernando!! Help!! She hit me! She’s gone mad!”

I blinked. Then instinctively turned.

Alpha Fernando was storming toward us.

“What the hell is going on?”

Bianca threw herself into his arms. “I just tried to be nice! She’s jealous! She hit me for no reason!”

I stood tall. Looked him straight in the eye.

“She should’ve been hit harder.”

He didn’t hesitate. His fist hit my face.

Leona roared inside my mind:

“Still not awake? This is the Alpha you trust with your soul?”

As soon as I got home, Alpha Fernando stared at me with that cold, commanding look.

"Drop your pride," he growled. "You need to apologize to Bianca."

I didn’t move. I just stared at him, feeling Leona’s presence stirring deep inside me.

He stepped closer and leaned in to kiss me. I didn’t flinch, but every fiber of my body recoiled. I stood still, forcing myself not to move as the wave of disgust hit me.

"Let him come one step closer, and I’ll tear him apart."

Leona's voice was low and rough in my mind.

“Don’t worry,” he changed the subject smoothly, “next week, I’ll make sure you're appointed as the pack’s chief healer.”

“Next week?” I let out a cold laugh.

Isn’t that the exact day of his marking ceremony with Bianca?

Then his phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen, said the council needed him, and walked out.

I watched him leave, a smirk pulling at the corner of my lips.

How many times had he promised “next week”?

"He just wants to keep you around," Leona muttered, her tone dripping with scorn. "To clean his wounds, mix his medicine, patch him up when he’s bleeding. You're not the chief healer. You're just his backup Luna."

I didn’t respond. Because she was right.

That night, I sat on the moonstone couch, not knowing how long I’d been there until the soulchain around my wrist vibrated, waking me from a shallow sleep.

A message from Alpha Fernando blinked into view:

"You should sleep."

Just as I was about to close the soulchain, another vibration came. This one wasn’t from him.

It was Bianca.

"Are you asleep yet?"

Attached were three images.

The first showed Fernando sitting at her bedside, placing a froststone towel gently on her forehead.

The second showed him feeding her soup, spoon by spoon, concern carved into every line of his face.

The third showed him holding her hand, his eyes soft and full of possession—as if she was the only person that existed.

Then her final message came:

"Isn’t he the sweetest? I just said I had a headache and he dropped everything to be with me. He told me, ‘Bianca, nothing else matters right now but you.’ Isn’t that just perfect? Enjoy rotting alone in your cave~"

I stared at the projection from my soulchain, but I felt nothing but a deep, rising calm in my chest.

"You finally see him clearly."

Leona’s voice came quietly.

I nodded. My finger slid across the chain, and the message disappeared along with the photos.

Bianca thought she was humiliating me. But she had no idea—she was giving me freedom.

I stood up, went into the bedroom, peeled off the shawl Fernando had given me, and removed my makeup. I stared into the mirror.

The reflection wasn’t the same shattered girl from the Alpha summit.

"You’re no longer waiting for his token. No longer hoping for his promises."

I nodded again. My voice was barely a whisper. “Yes, Leona. We’re done waiting.”

The soulchain buzzed again.

I sighed and glanced down—but the irritation melted away as soon as I saw the name.

Alpha Ross.

He’d sent two pictures of dresses.

"Which one do you like better?"

I looked at them for a few seconds and replied:

"The first one."

He messaged back instantly:

"Perfect. I’ll bring it now. Tonight’s the new moon—it’s a night made for white."

I chuckled, then teased him:

"How do you know my size?"

His response came almost immediately:

"Trust me. I know."

😏

I held the soulchain in both hands and laughed aloud.

A message. Just a joke. And I blushed.

"You smile better when you're with Ross."

I bit my lip and nodded, warmth curling in my chest.

Alpha Ross is my fated mate.

We met at the summit, where I proudly stood in Fernando’s place, thinking he was the one the Moon Goddess had chosen for me.

I told Ross I already had a mate. I was loyal. I believed in that bond.

But Ross just looked at me, his golden wolflight flashing through his eyes, cutting straight into the broken pieces of my heart.

"Give me seven days," he said. "If you still feel the same, I’ll walk away from your world."

But I didn’t even need the full week.

Before the seventh day, I caught Fernando and Bianca preparing for their purification ritual—on the same day he was supposed to stand beside me for my father’s moon vow remembrance.

Just a few messages. A single emoji.

The warmth Ross gave me already outweighed all of Fernando’s years of false promises.

And in that moment, I finally understood.

Moon Goddess, it was your light that pulled me from the nightmare.