Chapter 5

The moment Derek heard the voice, his face went pale and his eyes shrank to tiny dots. He stood there like he had seen a ghost.

"This voice... No. This can't be happening. That monster was supposed to be locked away forever," he muttered.

He was trembling so hard that the wine glass slipped from his hand and shattered on the floor without him noticing.

As the figure stepped into the light, the whole hall went dead silent.

The man in front wore a black custom coat, radiating power with every breath.

His dark gold eyes held a cold, deadly calm, the look of someone who decided who lived or died.

A faint smile played on his lips as his eyes swept over Derek on the platform, looking at him like he was already a corpse.

It was Alexander, the tyrant who had vanished ten years ago, the man whose name once made the whole world tremble.

But what really shocked everyone, especially Derek and Lilith, was seeing Alexander standing half a step behind a woman. His hand was resting gently on her waist. The same hand that had destroyed so many lives was holding her like she was something precious.

The woman wore a silver gown that flowed like moonlight. Her skin seemed to glow, and her hair spilled down her back like silk.

Her face, already beautiful, now looked almost unreal, made even more stunning by the awakening of her bloodline.

Her eyes held a cold, proud grace, the kind that only came from crawling out of death and rising back up.

And that woman was none other than Selene. She was the worthless reject Derek had humiliated in front of everyone and thrown away three months ago, and the one everyone said would be torn apart by wild animals until there was nothing left.

"Se-Selene?" Lilith shrieked, pointing at me like she had seen a ghost. "Weren't you supposed to be dead? How are you still alive, and why are you standing with that monster?"

I tilted my chin up and shot Lilith a cold, dismissive look. There was nothing in my eyes except pure contempt.

Alexander's gaze turned ice cold in an instant. He didn't move a muscle or furrow his brow. He simply let out a sliver of killing intent.

Suddenly, a sharp crack split the air.

Then, Lilith let out a scream, and it looked like an invisible hand had slapped her across the face. She tumbled off the platform and crashed to the ground at my feet, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

"Watch your mouth, you piece of trash," Alexander said, his voice cold and merciless. His dark golden eyes swept over Lilith like she was nothing more than an ant.

The hall was dead silent. The only thing anyone could hear was the heavy, shaky breathing of the crowd.

Derek finally snapped out of his shock and fear.

He stared at me, unable to believe that the worthless girl he had thrown away like garbage could transform so completely in only three months.

Now, I radiated a kind of noble grace that Lilith could never dream of matching.

Lilith's face had gone completely pale. She felt a threat she had never experienced before, and she screamed to break the tension. "Derek, look at her.

"She must have used some kind of dark magic to mess with the former Alpha King's head. That monster has been crazy for years. She's probably trying to use him to destroy us."

Her words snapped Derek out of his daze, and he clung to that idea like a lifeline as he looked up at Alexander.

"Father..." He swallowed hard, trying to play the family card to hide how panicked he was. "Why didn't you tell us you were coming back? And why is Selene with you? She's someone I banished.

"Father, please, don't let this shameless woman fool you. She's only getting close to you to get back at me."

Hearing Derek twist the truth so shamelessly, I didn't feel angry anymore. I just felt disgusted.

"Fool me?" Alexander let out a deep, amused laugh.

He lowered his head, and right in front of every pack Alpha from across Siastonland, he placed a reverent kiss on my forehead.

Then Alexander slowly lifted his head, his dark golden eyes with their slit pupils locking onto Derek. He unleashed the full force of his royal bloodline, and the weight of it crushed down on everyone in the hall until they could barely breathe.

Derek's knees slammed onto the marble floor under that overwhelming pressure, and the impact sent cracks spiderwebbing across the tiles beneath him.

"Derek," Alexander called out as he took my hand and led me up the steps. "Watch your filthy mouth. This woman is my one and only fated mate, the rightful Luna of the entire werewolf kingdom."

We stopped at the top, and his voice turned colder as he commanded, "Now kneel and pay your respects to your new mother."