Chapter 2

I stumbled out of the pack clinic. My wolf soul, overwhelmed by grief, dissipated. I became a madwoman. "Toric" was dead. My child was dead. "Silas" rightfully ascended to the Alpha position and moved with Evelyn into the luxurious mansion in the west, living a life envied by all. As for me? I became the laughingstock of the Shadowmoon Pack. "Toric's back! Toric's back!" Day after day, I sat on the weather-worn stone at the crossroads, shrieking at every passing man. Children followed me, laughing and mimicking my madness: "Toric's long dead! Crazy woman!" Their laughter pierced my temples like silver needles. I leaped up: "My child! Give me back my child!" They scattered like frightened rabbits. And so, I drifted between madness and lucidity for three whole years. Until one night, in a hallucination, I saw my child standing at the edge of the woods, beckoning to me. I chased after him into the darkness, only to step into nothingness and plummet into a hunter's trap lined with sharpened spikes. When the Betas found me, my abdomen had been pierced by a silver spike. Blood soaked through the faded fabric of my skirt. Out of respect for my former status as Luna, they probably sent word to Toric. In my final moments, I finally saw him again. Perhaps out of pity for the dying, or confident I posed no threat, Toric knelt by my bed and confessed the truth. "It was Silas who died." His voice trembled. "But Evelyn loved him so much... I couldn't bear to see her heartbroken..." So that was it. Because the three of them had grown up together since childhood, both brothers had fallen for Evelyn. Evelyn had ultimately become Silas's mate, a fact Toric had always resented. This time, while grieving his brother's death, he also saw an unexpected chance to mend that old regret. How laughable! Because he couldn't bear his first love becoming a widow, I had to bear the consequence of losing my husband? What about all the promises he made to me when we formed the mate bond? Were they just empty words to convince himself to let go and accept her choice? What shattered me even more was when Toric told me that the child I had birthed hadn't died back then. Because Evelyn was frail and couldn't bear children, he had taken the baby and given it to her to raise. "I thought he'd have a better life in a complete family," Toric justified himself, completely missing how my knuckles turned white gripping the sheets. Tears of regret fell, not for the approaching death, but for having wasted a lifetime on such a man. I wanted to tear apart his hypocrisy, to curse him with the most venomous words for eternal unrest—but I no longer had the strength to even lift my hand. As darkness swallowed my consciousness, only one thought remained: "Such bitter resentment..."