<b>Chapter 1 A Tragic Death</b>


    <span><b>Aubrey Mary’s POV</b>


    I was going to die, and the killer would be my own sister.


    The moment she appeared in the sealed intensive care unit of the Shadowmoon Pack’s Level-Four Virology Research Center, where I was staying, I knew she hade to take my life.


    She had no reason to be here. Unless… she was here to make sure I would never leave this room alive.


    “Other werewolves infected with the Lupine Virus die screaming in pools of their own blood under the first full moon. But you?” Bailey Mary stood beside my bed, towering over me, a mocking smirk tugging at her lips. “You not only survived; you didn’t even be contagious. A perfect test subject. These past three years—has the life of ab rat treated you well?”


    I stared at her, my throat too dry to form words.


    For three years, the virus had eaten away at my body. Now I was a skeletal shell covered in tubes and needles. Pain had distorted my face beyond recognition; I couldn’t even shift into my wolf form anymore.


    My ws, once sharp as des, were now too fragile to slice through paper. My keen sense of smell, once able to pick out the scent of blood from miles away, now burned painfully from the sharp tang of disinfectant in this very room.


    And Bailey, she was still beautiful, still powerful. If anything, she had be even more beloved by the pack.


    She twirled a syringe in her hand, filled with a pale yellow liquid that glistened in the light.


    “Oh, this? It’s the anti-viral serum they finally developed just yesterday. You’ve clung to life this long, all for this, haven’t you? They took pity on your suffering, so the moment it was ready, they prepared a dose just for you. All you have to do is take the shot—you’ll be cured! Aubrey, don’t you want it?”


    I did. I wanted it desperately.


    I shut my eyes, burying the despair welling up inside me.


    Of course, I wanted it. But now that the serum was in my dear sister’s hands, I knew today would likely be myst. After all, I had only contracted the Lupine Virus because of Bailey.


    Five years ago, the Alpha King who ruled over all werewolf packs had died unexpectedly, leaving no heir behind. The once-unified werewolf ns fractured immediately. After a bloody struggle, thend had split between North and South.


    The southern werewolves, working with evil sorcerers, engineered a virus targeting the unique physiology of northern werewolves.


    They called it the Lupine Virus. Once infected, northern werewolves would lose their bond with their wolf, their organs would rapidly fail, and they would die in agony and despair.


    The virus soon reached the Shadowmoon Pack. Bailey tricked me into drinking contaminated water.


    But to her disappointment, I hadn’t died. My condition progressed slowly, and something in my blood seemed to resist the virus.


    She reported this, and I became the wolves’ prime research subject. They drained my blood, cut my flesh, hoping to extract whatever was fighting the virus—to create a vine that could save the northern werewolves and turn the tide against the South.


    And me? I had naively believed that if I endured long enough, salvation woulde.


    Looking back, it wasn’t just the virus. My entire life, Bailey had used me.


    She was an idiot when it came to medicine; her fame as a brilliant medical prodigy was stolen from me. She had taken everything that was mine.


    And the reason I had never awakened my wolf was because Bailey had secretly been drugging me with suppressants.


    Every time I thought about how I had be Bailey’s stepping stone, the hatred nearly drove me mad. But I couldn’t die, not yet. I hadn’t had my revenge.


    The wolf doctors praised my will to live, saying I was noble to sacrifice myself for the northern werewolf cause.


    To hell with their so-called nobility.


    I had only endured three years of torment so they would hurry up and make that serum—so I could survive long enough to exact my revenge.


    And now, finally, yesterday—the serum had beenpleted. But the thing that could save my life was now dangling in Bailey’s hand like a toy.


    “Aubrey, I know you don’t want to die. And honestly, I’m not afraid of you anymore; no one would believe anything you say. So here’s the deal—give me thebination to yourb’s safe, and I’ll inject you with the serum. I’ll even send you abroad after that. How about it?”


    Bailey finally revealed why she hade.


    I red at her, my teeth clenched. “This is the first time I’ve ever known… a person could be so shameless.”


    Stealing my entire life wasn’t enough for her. Now, before killing me, she wanted to wring out thest bit of value I had left. Dream on.


    “You won’t tell me?”


    Her eyes gleamed with malice. She weighed the syringe in her hand threateningly. “Is anything more important than your life? You’re not even a wolf anymore. You’ve held on this long just for this, haven’t you?”


    I let out a coldugh and ignored her.


    Seeing me unmoved, Bailey grew spiteful and yed her trump card.


    “Did you know? Mr. Miguel is getting engaged today—to his childhood sweetheart, Mariana. That wench! She helped me ruin you; she’s the one who poisoned you behind your back. Don’t you want to live, to get your revenge?”


    Henry Miguel was the strongest Alpha in the northern packs… Shadowmoon Pack’s finest.


    I hadn’t heard that name in so long. Hearing it now was like a de twisting in an old, unhealed wound.


    I could hear the regret in Bailey’s voice; marrying Henry had been her dream. But Mariana had stolen that chance from her.


    I regretted it too. I regretted it every day and night.


    If only I’d seen Bailey’s true face sooner, if only I hadn’t been so blind. If only I hadn’t fallen in love with that man—if I hadn’t clung so desperately to our engagement—I wouldn’t have been driven to ruin, body and soul.


    I wouldn’t have been drugged, vited… almost gang-raped.


    The nightmare surged back again. Regret, hatred—they boiled into hopeless despair.


    Was it wrong to love someone? Was it wrong to be kind? Why had I ended up like this?


    “Do it already… you liar. I know that syringe… is filled with wolfsbane!” My bloodshot eyes burned as I shouted, half-crazed.


    From the moment Bailey walked into this room, I had abandoned any foolish hope. She would only deceive me, wring me dry, then kill me.


    Seeing me refuse to give up the code, Bailey’s face twisted with rage. Her eyes zed.


    “Fine! If you want to die, then die! You think I can’t live without you?”


    She lunged forward in two quick steps, aiming the syringe at me.


    Her eyes burned with vicious intent.


    In that split second, a strange and powerful force surged through my body!


    “Kill her!”


    A foreign voice suddenly echoed in my mind.


    As if given one final burst of life, I tore out the needles tethering me to this bed, grabbed Bailey’s hand with all my strength, and drove the syringe deep into her shoulder!


    “No!”


    Bailey’s eyes widened in terror! But in that instant, the pale yellow serum was already gone.


    “This can’t be… you were barely alive…”


    She copsed to the floor. Her terrified eyes reflected her own blood-soaked hands. That was karma.


    An indescribable joy coursed through my frail body. Iughedughed until my face hurt.


    Thank you, my wolf, for this final burst of strength. Thank you, Grandpa, for forcing me to train as a warrior when I was young. Even in this wretched state, I had found the power to kill my enemy!


    So it wasn’t that hard to fight back after all. I couldn’t believe it had taken me this long to learn that.


    My head spun. I copsed back onto the bed…


    Moon Goddess, please—save me.


    I wanted to live. I wanted to start over. No more cowardice. No more shame. I wanted to live boldly, on my own terms.


    If I survived, I would never again be chained by the illusion of family. I would never love that man again. I would only love myself.


    If I survived… that would be enough.