Chapter 1

The day my diagnosis of the "Shadow-Eaten Moonlight" disease was confirmed, a tremor seized my entire body. I desperately forged a mind-link with Lucian, the Alpha who had neglected me for months, threatening to sever our sacred mate bond if he didn’t return to the Stone Creek pack.

He did come back, but not alone. He returned with a stunning young she-wolf at his side.

"Seraphina saved my life during an attack by rogue wolves," he announced, his tone leaving no room for argument. "She’ll be staying in the Alpha’s cabin. As Luna, you ought to show some generosity."

I stood rooted to the ground, every muscle rigid, my voice a raw, hoarse whisper as I confessed, "I'm fading, Lucian."

But he merely scoffed, a chilling sound. Without a single glance, he ground the Moonpetal flower—a gift from Kyle, the very symbol of my vanishing soul—beneath his heel.

"I’ve returned, haven’t I?" he sneered. "Do you find these theatrics amusing?"

Triumph danced in Seraphina’s eyes. A single, delicate pronouncement from her—"The Luna’s negative aura will hinder my recovery"—was all it took for Lucian to expel me from the Alpha's cabin.

Cast out and utterly alone, my life force continued its relentless drain.

As I drew my last breath in the den at Whispering Falls, the sanctuary we had once shared, Lucian was leisurely patrolling the pack lands with Seraphina by his side.

A month slipped by before his Beta, Garrick, finally pierced through his ignorance, the truth delivered via their mind-link:

"Alpha," Garrick’s mind link told him, "the one who saved your life during the Red Creek ambush… it wasn’t Seraphina. It was our Luna, Ilana…"

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1

Three months into my estrangement from Lucian, I was diagnosed with "Shadow-Eaten Moonlight" disease.

Kyle explained that this psionic illness would relentlessly drain my life force and required the support of a partner's spiritual bond. He urged me to contact my pack immediately.

Panicked, I frantically reached out through our spiritual connection, calling for Elder Maeve from my mother's wolf pack.

But before I could even utter a complete sentence, her voice, cold as ice, resounded in my mind:

"I've told you countless times, I can't help you!"

"While I acknowledged your Moon Goddess bloodline, I have new responsibilities now. My branch of the pack already has a new heir!"

"What about your Alpha? Lucian? Let him help you!"

The mind link snapped abruptly. I tried to ignore Kyle’s pitying gaze.

Wiping away the silvery tears that streaked my cheeks, I tremblingly initiated a link with Lucian.

He was at the territorial border; at this hour, he should be on patrol.

It took three attempts before Lucian finally responded.

"What is it?"

Hearing his voice felt like a piece of my soul was being torn away. An uncontrollable sob escaped me.

"Please, come back. I'm sick. I really, truly need you!"

"So now you realize you need me? What exactly were you doing during our 'cool-down' period?"

Lucian sneered through the link.

"Ilana, aren't you supposed to be so strong-willed?""Weren't you always so self-assured? Why not play your part to the very end?"

I was on the verge of shattering, my emotions so agitated, so overwhelming, that even maintaining our link became an immense struggle.

"I'm genuinely sick! It's the advanced stage of Shadow-Eaten Moonlight disease. Kyle said I need my mate's spiritual support… I'm begging you…"

Lucian let out a harsh laugh, devoid of humor and seething with rage.

"And here I thought you were quite the storyteller. But to get me back, you’re actually trotting out something as preposterous as Shadow-Eaten Moonlight disease—an illness so rare it’s almost mythical."

As he continued, his voice frosted over, each word a sliver of ice.

"After three months of us being so distant, did you truly imagine you could just concoct some sob story and I'd come running back?"

I closed my eyes weakly, a crushing wave of helplessness washing over me, my very soul feeling like it was in a freefall into some bottomless chasm.

Kyle’s face was grim, his brow furrowed as he intervened in our strained connection:

"Alpha, it's Kyle. Ilana's disease is already extremely grave. She has a month left to live, tops. You…"

"Impressive. You even managed to rope in actors for your little play."

Lucian was rapidly losing patience.

"So, you intend to 'fade away,' do you? Well, the sooner the better then!"

With that, he abruptly severed our mental connection.

My claws slammed into the hard ground, shattered stone and dirt spraying out.

Covering my face, I wailed, tears streaming, a deep ache in my heart as I struggled to understand how things had devolved into this nightmare.

It felt like another world, another time, when my mother was still the Moon Goddess of Stone Creek, and the pack revered my bloodline above all else.Back when Lucian and I were first bound as true mates, the mere sight of a tiny scratch on my paw would make his eyes well up, red with a fierce, tender pain...

Kyle sighed, offering me a leaf of moonlit grass.

"Getting so worked up will only make your soul fade faster," he murmured, his voice laced with concern. "I truly believe there’s been some terrible misunderstanding between you and Alpha, don't you think?"

"Why not try to make amends? Appeal to him as his destined mate, and ask him to come back to you."

"After all, with this… condition… you have a month at most. That's all the time you have left."

I lifted my gaze, taking a moment to soothe the painful ache constricting my chest, then asked in a hushed tone,

"Can I… borrow your spiritual energy to try and reach him again?"

Kyle gently laid his palm on my forehead, a current of his energy flowing into me, bolstering my own spiritual power.

Perhaps it was the different energy signature he sensed, because this time, Lucian responded almost instantly.

"Who calls?" His voice echoed, distant and unfamiliar.

My voice was laced with frost when I finally spoke.

"Lucian," I began, my tone devoid of warmth, "if you do not return, I will petition the Moon Goddess to sever the sacred bond between us."