Chapter 1
In my previous life, I was the heir adored by the entire Golden Moon Pack. My sister, Delphine, was cast out with our disgraced father, left to struggle for survival in the frozen wastelands of the North.
Ten years later, on the eve of my coronation as Luna, Delphine, driven mad by jealousy, infiltrated the temple and set it ablaze with black fire.
She clutched my throat and dragged me into death with her, all because she believed I had stolen the life that should have been hers.
She thought I had received all the Moon Goddess's favor.
She never knew that remaining in the wealthy Golden Moon territory had been nothing but a living nightmare.
Our mother, desperate to replenish the family treasury she had squandered, locked me in a dungeon and drained my blood for ten years—
She treated me like a living blood bank, planning to hand me over to a six-hundred-year-old vampire lord as payment for her debts.
So when the black fire consumed us, all I felt as I looked into Delphine's face twisted by jealousy was absolute relief.
When I opened my eyes again, we had both returned to the Blood Moon Choosing Ceremony at the age of eighteen.
This time, before the Elders' Council could even announce the contracts, Delphine lunged madly toward our mother on the throne.
Seeing the greed and ecstasy she could barely contain in her eyes, I said nothing. I simply turned and walked toward my father, who stood in the corner of the hall, leaning on an iron crutch.
She thought she had finally seized a crown.
She had no idea that she had willingly thrown herself into a bottomless abyss filled with her own daughter's blood.
"I swear my loyalty to the Luna! I will never leave the Golden Moon territory!"
The sharp cry echoed through the council hall.
Delphine clutched the silk robe of her mother, Morgana, so tightly that her nails nearly dug through the fabric. Her chest heaved violently as she glared at me with bloodshot eyes, her face filled with the smug delight of someone certain of victory.
Spread across the black obsidian table lay the newly signed Bloodline Severance Scroll.
Morgana watched it all with cold indifference. The lofty Luna sat upon her throne, absentmindedly turning the Moonstone around her neck as though she were inspecting a commodity that had arrived at just the right moment.
"Since Delphine has sworn her loyalty of her own accord," Morgana said without a trace of warmth, "grant her the Golden Moon Wolf Mark."
"As for Thessaly…"
Without even lifting her eyelids, Morgana casually tossed the silver dagger onto the cold stone floor.
The blade scraped out a shrill metallic shriek before coming to rest at a man's feet.
"Halvard, she's yours."
The verdict was delivered with the casualness of someone taking out the trash.
"The Golden Moon Pack's silver mines, territory, and army all belong to me. You, disgraced Alpha, don't even think about taking a single coin with you."
In the corner of the hall, the man leaning on his crutch suddenly trembled.
Halvard wore tattered animal hide and nervously rubbed his heavily callused palms together. The immense humiliation made the eyes of the legless man instantly redden.
"Morgana…" He struggled to suppress the tremor in his voice. "Thessaly will undergo her full-moon awakening next month. There is no Moon Temple in the frozen wasteland. She's an unshifted pup. If she follows me there… she'll die in a blizzard."
"That is your problem."
Morgana cut him off coldly, naked disgust flashing in her eyes.
"If I hadn't been blind back then, why would I have chosen a worthless man like you who can't even shift into his wolf form when enemies attack? The contract is severed. Take your burden and get out of my territory."
The surrounding noble elders snickered.
Delphine walked toward me like a victor. She leaned close to my ear, her voice soft and venomous.
"Thessaly, in our last life, you became Luna and enjoyed all the glory and luxury. This time, it's your turn to wait for death in that miserable shack. The Luna's throne of the North is mine."
Looking at the greed twisting her face, I could only sneer inwardly.
So she had been reborn too.
She thought I had lived a dazzling life in my previous life.
She didn't know that beneath those magnificent robes were countless needle marks left from having my blood drained.
She also didn't know that the useless father everyone had trampled beneath their feet carried the blood of an ancient Wolf King within him—
And that the girl trapped in the dungeon in our previous life had carved every ancient vampire potion formula into her mind simply to stay alive.
I ignored Delphine.
I walked straight past her to Halvard and took his trembling, rough hand in mine.
"Father, I'm going with you."
I looked at him, my voice steady.
Halvard's entire body shook. He stared at me in disbelief.
"Thessaly… If you follow me, you'll starve to death."
His voice was broken.
"I'm not afraid."
I gave him a small smile.
Then, amid the deathly silence of the hall, I bent down, picked up the silver dagger, and decisively sliced open my palm.
Hot blood dripped onto the parchment.
The Blood Oath roared to life.
"I, Thessaly, willingly renounce the Golden Moon Wolf Mark."
I looked directly at my cold-hearted mother on the throne and drove the dagger deep into the obsidian table.
"From this moment forward, the Golden Moon Clan and I are dead to each other."
