Chapter 2

The night air was cold. I got back to my apartment and put the Moonstone on the windowsill. Its blue light flickered in the dark room, like it was alive.

This stone. This damn responsibility. This ridiculous fate.

I was the only "Luna-to-be" fated to be with Damian, yet he'd publicly rejected me. How ironic.

I opened my drawer and took out the letter Alaric had given me before he died. The paper was yellowed with age, but his strong handwriting was still clear:

"Elara, by the time you read this, I'll probably be gone. I'm entrusting the Moonstone to you because I believe you're the only one who can protect the pack's true values. Please, help my brother. He's not mature enough yet; he needs your wisdom."

I gave a bitter laugh. Help Damian? The man who'd publicly humiliated me tonight?

My phone buzzed. It was a message from the Pack Elders: "Emergency meeting, 9 AM tomorrow. Regarding the northern border dispute."

I sighed. Another disaster. Ever since Alaric died and Damian took over as Alpha, things within the pack had become more and more chaotic, and our relationships with neighboring packs had gotten tenser.

Damian was too young, too impulsive. He had no interest in careful governing. He preferred showing off his strength to seeking common ground.

I closed my eyes, remembering the Elders' meeting from three months ago.

"This resolution is too reckless! " I said loudly, "Charging headfirst into the River Valley Pack's lands like this will only stir up trouble we don't need!"

Damian's golden eyes flashed dangerously. "Are you questioning my decision, Elara?"

"I'm doing my duty as Guardian of the Covenant." I pulled the Moonstone from my pocket. It immediately pulsed with a strong blue light. "The Ancient Covenant says any decision that could lead to a massive tribal war needs a two-thirds vote from the Elder Council."

The elders looked at each other. Grayson, the oldest, stood up. "Elara's right. We need to talk about this more."

Damian slammed his fist on the table. "Damn it!" He turned to me, his eyes full of hate. "Don't think having that stone means you can just walk all over the Alpha."

After the meeting, he pulled me into a corner, his voice low and dangerous. "We're bound by fate, you and I. Everything about you should belong to me, to the pack. And yet you keep going against me in public?"

I pulled my hand away. "My loyalty is to the future of our pack, not to your whims."

Tonight at the feast, when Jackson was mocking me, I could've pulled out the Moonstone. I could've shown everyone who really holds the power in this pack.

But I didn't. That would've just made things worse. Besides, I'm so done with this power game.

My phone buzzed again. Unknown number.

"So I hear our great 'Covenant Keeper' got publicly humiliated by the Alpha tonight? Poor thing."

It was Jackson. How the hell did that asshole get my new number?

"What do you want?" I texted back.

"What's he gonna do? Someone like you, and he still can't ever truly have you. That's gotta hurt, Elara."

I was about to reply when a new message popped up:

"I saw you talking to the Alpha in the courtyard. What did you say? Did you threaten him?"

I was just about to turn off my phone when the doorbell suddenly rang.

Through the peephole, I saw Damian standing outside, looking grim.

Damn it.

I took a deep breath and opened the door.

Damian strode in, shut the door behind him, his eyes locked on me like a predator. "What's this 'big gift' you were talking about?"

"It's two in the morning."

"Answer me." He took a step closer.

"We can talk tomorrow."

"No." He reached out and grabbed my wrist. "You've made enough of a scene tonight. In front of all those guests—"

"A scene?" I let out a bitter laugh. "You announce another woman as your intended mate in front of the whole pack, and I'm the one making a scene?"

"That was—"

"Save it." I cut him off. “You're free to choose whoever you want. And I get to choose my own way.'"

"What way?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

I held up the Moonstone. "You'll see. At the ceremony."

A dangerous look crossed Damian's face. "What are you scheming? Trying to threaten me with the Moonstone?"

"I'm just giving you your freedom back," I said calmly. "And getting mine too."

He suddenly grabbed my shoulders, his eyes flashing gold. "Elara, you're still as stubborn as ever."

I looked straight up at him. "Damian, your Alpha ceremony is just a month away. And when it happens, I'll have a couple of 'big gifts' for you too."

His fingers dug into my shoulders. "You dare defy me?"

"No," I scoffed. "I'm going to shatter this damned bond for good."

Damian's pupils constricted. Suddenly, the air crackled with a dangerous, wolfish energy.