Chapter 3
The surrounding Pack elders and merchants had already sensed something was wrong. They all paused, exchanging uncertain glances.
Luna’s brow tightened.
“Cora, is this what I’ve taught you? I told you to reflect on your behavior, and instead, you run here to cause a scene like some stray pup. Have you no shame?”
I lifted my head to meet their cold, disgusted gazes and slowly nodded.
“Yes.”
“I am a stray dog.”
I used to beg for a Pack. Beg for them to stop fighting, beg them not to abandon me.
Now, I begged for nothing but the strength to stay alive.
I raised a hand, wiping away the trace of blood seeping from the corner of my mouth, and bowed my head even lower.
My legs gave out, and I crumpled to my knees.
“Please,” I begged. “Just give me some scraps.”
A wave of murmurs rippled through the crowd.
“How can they be so cruel to their own flesh and blood?”
“Treating the Alpha’s daughter worse than a stray…”
The Luna was so furious she snapped at the guards.
“Drag her away!”
Amid the struggle, my stomach violently churned, and I spat out a mouthful of dark, stagnant blood laced with the black magic curse’s foul scent.
The Luna froze. It took her a long moment to recover, her voice trembling.
“Cora, what’s wrong?”
The ever-proud Luna actually reached out, moving to wipe the blood from my mouth.
How many times had I yearned for this maternal touch.
But now that I finally had it, I only found it nauseating.
I flinched away. “Don’t bother. Your concern is as fake as everything else.”
The Luna stood there frowning, the metallic scent of blood in the air making her eyes flicker with uncertainty.
“We’ve been so worried about you these past few days we haven’t been able to sleep. How could you lie to us?”
“Stop this nonsense and come back to the Pack healer.”
She reached for me again, but I recoiled, forcefully shaking her hand off.
“Because you are not my Alpha and Luna!”
A tremor ran through the Luna’s eyes, and the Alpha immediately chided me, his face a mask of deep disappointment.
“How can you be so ungrateful! When you were a pup, our family was fighting for dominance, so we had you live in the Omega den to build your character. After everything we’ve done for you, this is how you repay us!”
I looked at him and laughed out loud.
“Build my character?”
“Living at the mercy of high-ranking wolves, scrubbing floors—you call that character-building?”
“Being shoved around and beaten by other pups, forced to eat their scraps when I was starving—you call that character-building?”
I stared at them, asking word by word:
“If it was so great, why didn’t you send your precious bastard son, Kian, there?”
The Luna’s face turned ugly, a flash of shame in her eyes quickly smothered by anger.
“You’re truly hopeless! What more do I have to say for you to understand?”
“I am your Luna, not your enemy! I have never wronged you!”
“If you weren’t such a burden, all my plans wouldn’t have been ruined! You are the one who destroyed our lives!”
I stared at her, stunned.
So, in her heart, I was never a true member of the Pack.
I was a burden, an obstacle, a nuisance she had to endure.
Blood trickled down my chin. I wiped it away, the mix of blood and tears sticky and cold against my skin.
“It’s not too late now.”
I looked at her and spoke slowly, deliberately:
“I formally sever my ties. I declare myself a Rogue.”
