Chapter3

After a long moment, Adrian's tone softened.

"Sarah, I do have a favor to ask."

"Eve's body is weak. When saving me, she was infected with a rare toxin. Our mate ceremony is in four days. I came to ask for three drops of your heartblood to purge the poison, so she can recover sooner."

My royal heartblood contained the primordial healing power bestowed by the Moon Goddess, capable of purging any lycan poison.

In my previous life, whenever Adrian was critically injured, I would not hesitate to pierce my own chest to draw my heartblood and save his life.

Over time, my wolf grew terribly weak, and my chest was covered in a dense web of silver scars.

But this time, he was demanding my heartblood for Eve—that scheming spy.

In his eyes, was I, the Crimson Moon princess, just a cheap blood bag?

I let out a cold scoff. "Don't even think about it."

Adrian looked at me with deep impatience. "It's just three drops of heartblood. I brought the rarest moonflowers and silverleaf herbs as compensation. That should be enough."

Just three drops of heartblood.

Everyone knew that forcefully extracting heartblood went against a wolf's very nature.

Losing even a single drop required months of slumber under the full moon just to barely recover one's vitality.

In my past life, I drew so much blood to save him that my wolf completely withered away.

Now, reborn into this second chance at life, my father Elias had finally nursed me back to health.

Who would have thought he'd come for my life again, all for a spy.

Let alone three drops, I didn't want to give him a single one.

I had no idea where he got the audacity to think I would agree.

"Even if you ceded the entire Northridge territory to me," I said coldly, "I wouldn't give you another drop of my blood."

Before Adrian could utter another word, I ordered the Crimson Moon guards to throw him out.

Outside the heavy oak doors, Adrian roared in exasperation, "Sarah, are you really that jealous of Eve? Can't you have a shred of female compassion? Tell me, what will it take for you to give me the blood?"

His furious roar made me pause my steps.

I turned around slowly and mocked him through the crack in the door. "It's not that hard, actually. Publicly announce to the Pack Council that you are giving up the Alpha King crown, and I'll agree."

Ever since Adrian was nominated as the future Alpha King, he had spent all his days messing around with Eve.

To rush the construction of a luxurious winter fortress for her, he didn't hesitate to drain all winter supplies and manpower.

The low-ranking wolf warriors were subjected to endless hard labor in the freezing snow and ice.

If they slowed down even slightly, they faced severe punishments—breaking their claws or stripping their meat rations became a daily occurrence.

Previously, the entire wolf territory had only secured this brief moment of peace because the Four Great Packs fought bloody battles united as one.

Yet now, before Adrian had even officially worn the crown, he was personally destroying that hard-earned trust for his own selfish desires.

Adrian growled, "Sarah! I'm giving you three days! You better obediently hand over the heartblood, or don't blame me when I bring my pack to take it by force!"

It was ridiculous.

This was the "fated mate" I had exhausted my entire pack's strength to support in my past life.

It was truly a real eye-opener.

I declared to the door, "If you have the guts, try bringing your pack to take it."

On the third day, I didn't see Adrian's pack.

Instead, I received the horrific news of his slaughter of innocents.

The sound of hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor. Kael, the Alpha of the Eastridge Pack, shoved the door open.

"He's gone mad," Kael's voice was as cold as ice.

I handed him a towel. "What happened?"

Kael's jaw was clenched in fury. "Eve cried and begged him to stop, saying she would rather die than take your blood."

This was entirely within my expectations.

"Let me guess. Did she say if she takes my heartblood now, she'll be cursed by the Moon Goddess? Did she tell Adrian to find another way?" I sneered.

Kael's head snapped up. A flash of shock crossed his eyes. "Exactly. And to save her, Adrian actually went and found 'another way'."

No one could have imagined that the alternative method Adrian found—fed to him by a corrupted dark healer secretly planted by Eve—was to harvest the heartblood of unborn, pureblood wolf pups!

Just last night, Adrian led his elite enforcers and raided several small border villages.

He ruthlessly sliced open the bellies of three pregnant she-wolves just to find one pup of pure bloodline.

Disgusted that it wasn't enough to purge the toxin, he went on to butcher dozens more she-wolves who were nearing their due dates.

He didn't stop until he had collected the heartblood of seven pureblood pups.

Fresh blood dyed the rivers red.

Such an atrocity instantly ignited the outrage of all Four Great Packs.

"The Alpha of the Southbrook pack has brought dozens of corpses to the Council Hall. He shifted into his wolf form and is kneeling outside, howling in grief, demanding the Moon Goddess deliver retribution." Kael stared at me intently. "At tomorrow's ceremony, the other packs will definitely rebel."

I walked to the window, gazing at the sky, heavily laden with dark clouds.

All Eve wanted was for Adrian to spark a pack civil war through the blood of those seven innocent pups.

Originally, I had planned to simply lock my doors and boycott the ceremony, letting his lack of my royal bloodline invalidate his claim to the throne. Let him become a laughingstock.

But now, with the blood of innocent pups staining his hands, simply withdrawing was no longer an option. Hiding behind my pack's defenses wouldn't avenge those slaughtered mothers. I needed to step into the spotlight, take control of the narrative, and turn his grand stage into an execution ground.

"Kael." I turned around, a flash of golden light crossing my eyes, devoid of any warmth. "Notify your pack to lock down all exits of the estate. Tomorrow's ceremony will proceed as planned."

Since he wanted to be the Alpha King so badly.

Then, beneath the Blood Moon, I would shatter his crown with my own hands.