Chapter 3

The Blood Moon Ceremony.

The Silverclaw Pack's grand amphitheater was overflowing. Alphas and nobles from a dozen territories had come—not just to see a new Luna crowned, but to witness the humiliation of the half-breed who dared call herself one of them.

Damien stood at the altar in a tailored black suit, radiating authority. Serena stood beside him, her slashed face hidden behind a delicate veil, playing the wounded martyr.

"Let the former mate step forward to complete the rites!" the Elder called out.

The gates opened.

I walked out in the grey robe of submission they'd forced on me—shapeless, rough, designed to strip me of every shred of dignity.

I kept my head down.

Whispers rippled through the crowd like poison.

"Look at her. Pathetic."

"Half-breed trash. She should've been exiled years ago."

"Damien's too kind, letting her live this long."

Every word was a needle. I let them all in. I needed the pain. It fed the cold fire building inside me.

My plan was simple.

I would not submit. I would expose the truth—all of it.

Then I would reject Damien before the Moon Goddess and every wolf in attendance.

And when the Fated Mate curse ripped his power away, Kael would be there to finish what was left.

I could already feel him. A dark, ancient presence at the edge of my senses, drawing closer with every second.

I climbed the altar steps and pulled the Luna Stone from my robe—a moonstone that pulsed with silver light.

Serena's patience broke first. She strode toward me and thrust out her hand through the mind-link. "Give it to me. Now. Kneel."

Then she pulled out a black lacquered box from an attendant and held it in front of my face.

"Recognize this?"

My blood turned to ice.

My mother's urn.

"Damien only threatened," Serena's mental voice dripped with glee. "But I deliver. Hand over the stone, or I drop this right here on the altar."

My plan wavered. My mother. The last piece of her I had left.

"Fine," I forced out. "Take the stone."

I extended the Luna Stone slowly. The moment Serena's fingers closed around it, I reached for the urn.

But Serena tilted her wrist.

The black box slipped.

It hit the stone altar. The lid flew open.

Wind swept the stage.

Grey-white ashes—my mother—lifted into the night air and scattered like snow that would never fall again.

"NO—!"

I dropped to my knees, hands shaking, grasping at nothing.

The ashes dissolved into darkness. Gone.

My mother. The woman who sang me to sleep, who taught me to be brave, who died calling my name.

Gone.

Serena had used a cloaking charm. No one else could sense what just happened.

"Just some ceremonial dust," she told the confused crowd, then raised the Luna Stone high. "My beloved pack—"

"Wait."

My voice rose from the ground like something crawling out of a grave.

I stood.

No tears left. Nothing left but that cold, ancient fire.

Damien's eyes narrowed. "Ivy. The ceremony isn't over."

"You're right," I said. "It's not."

The vampire blood in my veins erupted.

RRRIP—

The grey robe exploded off my body, shredded by an invisible force.

Beneath it: blood-red silk, clinging to my body like armor forged in hellfire.

Serena stumbled backward. "You—what—"

I walked toward her, my eyes burning crimson.

"I told you not to touch her remains."

My foot connected with her knee.

CRACK.

Serena screamed and tumbled down the altar steps. The diamond circlet shattered on the stone.

"Serena!" Damien lunged forward, but my next words stopped him dead.

"Is this your Luna? A murderer who killed my mother and your unborn child for a crown?"

I turned to face the crowd.

"You want the truth? Then open your eyes—"

I raised my hand toward the massive ceremonial screen behind the altar.

"—and watch."