The night the almost full moon stood against the backdrop of Silver pack, the city lights were purposely dimmed to honor the moon as it had been done every month. No matter how bright and advanced Silver was, the moon was respected enough for the night lights to be turned down so their pack could be blessed with the milky light of the goddess. However, many didn’t feel the blessing this time around as they were consumed by fear, some by excitement, and others by grief. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Laila had heard the news of the Alpha’s death and still could not bring herself to believe it, it sat like a thorn lodged in her throat, she walked into their quarter’s garden like a ghost to meet her uncle who had summoned her amidst her hurt and grief about Sebastian’s death. How could he be dead? He had been strong and untouchable for so long.

She looked up and found the elder standing with his back to the garden entrance, his head tilted as he gazed up at the almost full moon in the sky. Sensing Laila’s presence, he spoke without looking away from it.

"What took you so long to answer my call, girl?" Came the elder’s displeased words. He despised waiting on anyone or having his time wasted, especially now when he was preoccupied following the report of the supreme Alpha’s death, which he still wasn’t certain was true or a sham.

"I was trying to come to terms with the Alpha’s loss, uncle. What about his body, has it been found?" She asked in a quiet, low-spirited voice. Though Sebastian wasn’t her fated mate as their bond had been one-sided, Laila had genuinely wanted to settle for him, he was better than any man she had ever known in all her life.

It was the first time in her life she had wanted to be someone’s marked mate, and now he had been killed just like that. How could she accept this? Though there wasn’t much information about what had happened, she was certain her uncle had some, and that was why she had hurried here to hear what he had to say.

"His remains were not brought back. The head Beta said they couldn’t bring him back because he was too damaged by the gunshots, they melted his flesh. He said he was melting like a puddle along with his bones, and that bringing him back was no longer an option." Elder Halvrek said it with a tone like he was discussing the weather.

He had seen this coming. The bullet that man had used was designed to melt a werewolf from the inside out, Alpha or not, and the report the head Beta had given completely matched the expected outcome once the Alpha was hit, he would melt into a puddle of flesh and bones in a matter of time.

The elder shuddered at the cruelty of the man he had decided to serve, knowing he never wanted to find himself on the wrong side of him. He was twisted and sadistic in a way that made his enemies suffer long before death came for them. He cared nothing for blood relatives or even siblings.

Laila’s hand flew up to cover her mouth, horrified by the description of what had happened to her Seb, and she felt her eyes burn with tears. "Is it true that he was with that wolfless woman?" She questioned, angry that assassins had attacked Sebastian while that wolfless woman stood right there and couldn’t do a single thing to protect him.

"Didn’t the news say they were together? Don’t bother me with unnecessary questions about the dead, that is not the reason I called you here to meet me in private." The elder finally looked away from the moon and turned to face her. His expression was strict as always, a permanent line carved around his mouth from years of wearing a grim look.

"But uncle, Sebastian was killed unjustifiably and—" Laila swallowed her words as his hard eyes narrowed at her and she quickly bowed her head.

"For once in your life, can you think without letting your bitchy jealousy get the better of you?" Elder Halvrek remarked coldly. "I call you here and the first thing out of your mouth is about the wolfless, a woman who, in my opinion, you couldn’t even defeat. What a useless niece the moon goddess decided to saddle me with. You have failed me time and again."

Elder Halvrek had lost a great deal because of this useless niece of his, and if he didn’t find a way to recover everything she had cost him, just as her mother had cost him before her, he would have cut them both from his family entirely. This girl had failed to win the position of Luna once, but he would give her another chance, and if she failed him again, Elder Halvrek thought grimly, he would put that special bullet in her and her useless mother both and watch them melt to puddles.

"I am sorry, uncle..." Laila muttered, her fingers fisting at her sides.

"You had better be." He said, and then he walked up to her. "Now that the supreme Alpha is dead, Laila, it is time for you to prove your worth to your family. It is time we stop serving the Alpha family and start being served."

Laila’s brows drew together in confusion as she lifted her head to look at the elder. "What do you mean?"

Elder Halvrek gritted his teeth and slapped her hard across the face, causing her to gasp and stumble back, she hadn’t seen it coming.

"Uncle..." Laila said in shock, her hand flying to her stinging cheek.

"I have always wanted to do that. You are becoming more of a fool than I remember raising. Always asking questions without seeing the full picture. Get yourself ready, there is someone I have in mind for the next supreme Alpha candidate and this time you will marry him and take the crown you let slip through your fingers." He instructed strictly, watching her teary eyes and narrowing his own in warning until she quickly wiped them dry.

"Is it Javier?" She asked, fighting to keep the disgust from showing on her face. She would rather remain a bitter, unmarried she-wolf for the rest of her life than marry that short-tempered loser who she had heard was already campaigning to be crowned.

"Who it is does not concern you right now. Just get yourself ready to take that seat. You will be a Luna and give Silver its first heir for this generation. And do not disappoint me this time, because there will be no mercy with the next Alpha, he will not hesitate to have you killed if you make a mess of things."

Laila wanted to ask about the investigation into what had happened to Sebastian, but she swallowed those words and gave a stiff nod. "I won’t disappoint you, sir."

Elder Halvrek gave her a long, assessing look before brushing past her and making his way out of the garden. Laila, left alone, sank to the ground, burying her cries of rage into her fists. Did this worthless old man think she wanted to be married off like property?

She had chosen Sebastian for a reason, had made her peace with settling for him, and now he was matching her up with some unknown candidate all over again? And whose fault was all of this if not that wolfless bitch?

"Laila?" Came her mother’s voice from behind her. "What did he say to you?"

"It’s none of your business, Mom. You never stopped him from controlling your own life even after you were married, and now he is taking control of mine and destroying it because he thinks he has the right." Laila muttered in quiet rage. "Nobody cares about what I want or what I feel. Only Sebastian ever considered me, and now that wolfless woman let him die..." Her fingers clenched against the grass as her tears dropped and soaked silently into the ground.

To her all the gifts Sebastian had ever given her and all the times he gave her things when she asked for, counted as him being affectionate than anyone else. Though he had been distance to her lately, he had once cared enough to get her things and think about her feelings.

"If I ever see her again, she is going to pay for this." Laila promised quietly into the dark.