Chapter 2: The Full Moon Banquet

Lynne's POV

It was only at that moment that I finally realized — she didn't seem to welcome me at all.

Lady Briar paced slowly, looking at my swollen, helpless eyes, and spoke in the unhurried, haughty tone of a wealthy woman accustomed to getting her way:

"You're vulnerable right now, Lynne, but there are things I need to make clear. I am a member of the Sterling family now. We live in the central territory — this land belongs to the Alpha King, as you know." At that, she suddenly grew agitated, her heavy makeup twisting into something ugly. "The Crimson Howl Pack massacred the Moonshadow Pack. They won't let you go either. The moment they find out the Sterling family has taken you in, that becomes my problem!"

She growled out the words. I swayed on my feet and stood there blankly. Around me, the servants of the Sterling villa watched me with scrutinizing eyes. Lady Briar settled back onto the sofa and fanned herself slowly with an ivory fan. A tear fell from my eye — even though I didn't want to cry anymore — and when I finally spoke, my voice was already choked:

"Lady Briar, you also came from the Moonshadow Pack."

"I know." She cut me off. "But I am the lady of the Sterling family now. The Moonshadow Pack was your father's responsibility. It was your foolish father who failed to recognize the real enemy!"

She snarled, then drew a long breath as if forcing herself to calm down. She waved her hand with irritation:

"Enough. Starting today, you sleep in the maid's quarters."

"Drop that temper of yours, Lynne. You're nothing but a pathetic stray who's lost her Pack. As your aunt, I'll shelter you until you shift — the moment I smell anything from the Moonshadow Pack on you, you get out!"

"Give her whatever work needs doing. She's no Pack princess anymore."

Lady Briar was merciless. She walked away without looking back.

A burning rage roared in my chest. I wanted to tell her I'd leave right now — that I didn't need her charity. Just as I was about to walk out of the Sterling villa's main hall, a tall, cold-faced butler stepped in front of me and said flatly: "If you want an easier time, you'd best follow Lady Briar's arrangements, Miss Lynne."

Well. It seemed I had no choice.

I was assigned to a musty room and told to share it with a heavyset maid.

When I ducked through the low doorway and stepped into that pitiful little maid's room, the maid was in the middle of her afternoon rest. She wore an off-white linen dress that had yellowed with age, her brittle hair twisted into a messy bun — but her amber eyes were striking. She gave me a bright smile:

"Nice to meet you, Miss Lynne. I'm Anne."

After losing everything, Anne was the first person to show me any kindness.

But I couldn't bring myself to smile. I kept my head down and straightened out my sorry excuse for a bed, with its torn sheet.

"You're new?" Her voice came from behind me.

"Yes."

"They actually put you in here. You must have gotten on Lady Briar's bad side."

"What?"

She said it with an easy lightness in her voice. "Don't worry, baby. You'll get used to it soon enough. That's the thing about wolves — no matter how terrible things get, they survive."

I stayed silent. The tears wanted to come again, but I pushed them back down. I was no longer the Pack princess who could cry her way through anything.

I had become a maid in my aunt's villa.

No one at the Sterling villa welcomed me. Aside from Anne, no one was willing to speak to me. The other servants barked orders at me with sharp, cutting words and threw all the dirty work my way.

Once, I was on my knees in the main hall scrubbing the staircase. A burst of loud laughter erupted behind me. The next second, a hard kick slammed into my lower back. I went sprawling face-first into the dirty water. The cold, foul-smelling water soaked through my skirt instantly. Piercing laughter broke out all around me.

"Look at her. The former Pack princess." Naomi mocked me without restraint. Naomi always liked to take the lead when it came to humiliating me. I pulled myself off the ground trembling, nails digging hard into my palms. Naomi lifted her chin and flashed a vicious grin at me. I lunged at her — ready to tear that smug mouth apart.

But the very next second, Lady Briar's voice rang out across the hall:

"Lynne!"

Her eyes were sharp and vicious as she snarled, "You troublemaking lunatic!"

"Lock her up!"

Several servants pinned my shoulders without hesitation and dragged me toward the confinement room. "Let go of me! Naomi should be locked up too!" I shouted, kicking and struggling in their grip.

Naomi and the other maids huddled together, laughing as they watched me.

That day, I was locked up for an entire night. From the day I got out of that confinement room, I never argued with any of them again. I learned to endure it all in silence.

Every day I waited, hoping for my shift to come sooner. Even if the Crimson Howl Pack would kill me on the spot — anything to get out of here.

Finally, a year passed.

On the morning of the full moon ceremony, Anne came rushing in frantically, trying to shake me awake.

"Oh! Miss Lynne, you've overslept!"

"Mmm..."

I let out a drowsy groan — and then suddenly a flash of green light crossed my eyes, followed by a strange growl rising from my throat. It was the sound of a wolf.

Anne froze. My eyes flew wide open in shock. A growing joy slowly lit up Anne's gaze.

"Oh! Moon Goddess! You're about to shift, girl." Then her face fell with immediate worry. "But today is your big day — you should be resting. The kitchen work is so heavy. What are we going to do?"

I finally woke up completely, dashed to the washbasin, splashed water on my face, and poked my head out. "It's fine. I'll be careful."

Then I quickly pulled on my maid's dress and rushed toward the kitchen. "Oh! Eat something, baby."

Anne shoved a buttered bread roll into my hands.

I spent the entire day helping out in the kitchen.

I'd gotten much more efficient, and my strength had grown. I worked and reveled quietly in the subtle changes happening inside me. My body temperature was rising. Even from the kitchen, the conversations of the maids in the main hall came through to my ears with perfect clarity. I had to keep stretching my arms and legs because my joints had a strange itch to them. Sometimes my bones crackled. My footsteps grew lighter. When I leaped in a deserted corner, I cleared heights I never could have reached before — and my strength kept building.

When would I actually shift?

Maybe right here in this kitchen. A sudden howl, then I'd crash clumsily into all those crowded pots and dishes, clamp my jaws around the leg of beef sitting on the counter, and my snarl would scare that clueless butler half to death...

"Hey, Lynne, what do you think you're doing!" A sharp shout came from above me. The maid Naomi was glaring down at me.

"What?" I snapped back to reality.

"Uh — nothing."

"If I catch you slacking off again, I'll make you regret it!" She jabbed a finger in my face and sneered.

But the very next second —

A wolf's howl spilled from my throat.

Even I didn't see it coming.

Naomi went still. "Oh my God." She stared at me in bewilderment. "You're shifting?"

"Shut up, bitch. Stay away from me."

For a moment, the whole room went quiet.

The voice was low and rough, as if it had come from somewhere ancient. It wasn't my voice — yet it had undeniably come from my throat.

My senses slowly came back to me. I glanced at the curious eyes around me, rubbed my nose, and went back to work as if nothing had happened.

What was that just now? A wolf's voice? More precisely — a wolf's voice woven together with my own. My heartbeat started to pick up. I had seen wolves shift before. They would jerk suddenly in fits, like an electric shock, and let out low growls.

Those symptoms could last an entire day, until the wolf inside settled fully.

Usually they'd find somewhere to be alone. I never thought my shift would actually happen in a kitchen — just like in my daydream. They had felt my wolf's fury.

"Hey! Did you see the look on their faces? Like mice who'd just spotted a dinosaur. That was so cool. You showed them!" I said to myself on the inside.

I excitedly tried to reach out to the wolf in my mind. But she had gone completely quiet.

Which left me feeling oddly embarrassed — even if no one else could know about any of this.

By the time work was done, the kitchen had stayed dead quiet — including my wolf.

I dragged myself back to my small bed with no energy to spare. Anne stroked my hair gently. "Don't stay cooped up in this little hole all the time. The moon brings good luck!"

I met her amber eyes, then sighed. Fine. I changed out of my work clothes and put on a veil.

The central street was packed today with wolves from different Packs. I moved carefully through the crowd.

The clear, beautiful moon made me think of the Moonshadow Pack.

My parents...

I was so lost in my own thoughts that I didn't notice —

A steady set of footsteps appeared behind me. More precisely — following me closely.

I went on alert instantly.

A strange and dangerous scent of cedarwood —

was drawing closer, little by little.

I quickened my pace.

The footsteps were getting nearer.