Chapter 5

Shadowmoon Woods served as the court's most remote and risky shadowy zone.

The trees here blocked out sunlight year-round, and the air was saturated with a devilish aura.

Even the most elite wolf warriors wouldn't dare venture deep here without the elders' protective wards.

I was labeled a dreg-blood with no inner wolf, still beaten raw from the mating imprint's backlash, yet I trudged into this deadly place despite my bad condition.

There was no other way for me.

There was no place left for me within the court's territory. Those who used to butter me up now stared at me like I was some decaying corpse.

Only this cursed forest could truly free me from Alex's grip.

As darkness settled over the woods, the devilish aura began to roil and swirl.

I slumped against the trunk of a dead ancient tree, panting heavily.

The wound from the severed mating bond started to fester under the corruption of the devilish aura. Fever wracked my body, cold sweat soaked me, and my vision grew hazy.

Suddenly, a chilling growl rumbled from the thickets all around.

Several pairs of blood-red eyes pierced the darkness.

There were three demonic wolves, twisted into madness by the devilish aura.

They stood twice as big as regular werewolves, corrosive drool dripping from their jaws as they locked onto my frail self like easy prey.

I squeezed tight onto my rusted pocket dagger and tried to get to my feet, but my legs felt weighed down.

As the demonic wolves were about to leap at me, torchlight suddenly lit up the distant cliff.

Alex stood there with a squad of his elite guards, Selena at his side, watching me from above.

He had obviously tracked me all the way here.

"My lord, she's about to be torn apart by those demonic wolves. Aren't we going to save her?" Selena faked a worried gasp behind her hand, speaking loud enough for every word to reach my ears.

Alex folded his arms and watched me trapped in mortal danger with icy indifference, not about to call for help at all.

"Save her? She insisted on acting tough and running off to get herself killed." His voice sounded especially cold in the stillness of the night. "Let her learn the hard way.

"When those wolves crush her bones, and she understands what despair means, she'll crawl to me, begging me to save her. Only then will she learn who her true master is."

He loomed overhead like a god holding power over life and death, waiting coldly for me to cave in.

One of the demonic wolves launched itself at me, jaws gaping, lunging straight for my throat.

Rotten, bloody wind washed over my face.

I didn't scream or plead.

I locked eyes with the demonic wolf barreling toward me, and out of nowhere, my mother's dying words flashed through my mind. "Evelyn, you are not a dreg-blood.

"You're the vessel chosen by the Moon Goddess. Once your soul is freed from all earthly bonds, you'll become the embodiment of moonlight."

My earthly bond, namely the mating imprint that once chained my soul, had been completely broken.

As the demonic wolf's jaws were about to sink into my throat, from deep within my heart, an overwhelming, pure force exploded outward.

With a loud boom, a blinding pillar of silvery light erupted from me, shooting straight into the sky and ripping apart the heavy, devilish clouds above Shadowmoon Woods.

This wasn't ordinary moonlight. It was a divine radiance, filled with the power to destroy and purify.

The demonic wolf lunging at me didn't have time to let out a scream before it instantly turned to ash by the silvery light.

A powerful shock wave of energy blasted out in all directions, ripping the dead trees from the ground.

I slowly opened my eyes.

My dark eyes had shifted into glowing, silvery eyes of a wolf.

I hung suspended mid-air, visible Moon Goddess runes swirling all around my frame.

This was a divine phenomenon said to appear only for the legendary Avatar of the Moon Goddess.

But unleashing that strength drained what little stamina I'd had left.

The silvery light faded, and I drifted down like a dry leaf before slamming hard into a puddle of blood.

Up on the cliff, every trace of Alex's cold arrogance crumbled away in an instant.

The second his inner wolf caught whiff of that holy bloodline, it let out a frantic, hopeless howl.

"Evelyn!" His eyes bulged with panic as he threw caution to the wind and leaped off the cliff, sprinting toward me like a lunatic.

He reached out, desperate to scoop me up from the pool of blood.

But as his fingers were about to reach me, a cold, silvery barrier suddenly erupted from deep within my body.

With a loud bang, the barrier walloped Alex hard. He went flying like a broken kite and crashed brutally against a distant boulder.