Chapter 1My Alpha mate's first love - Vanessa - suddenly fell into a moon-mad.
Then she threw herself off the Silver Ridge tower.
In a blind rage, my Alpha dragged me - eight moons heavy with his pup - to the Moon Drop and ordered his wolves to strap me in.
"If you hadn't provoked Vanessa, why would her wolf go dark and push her to jump?"
Heights terrified me. I wept, begged him to release me, swore I'd never cross Vanessa again.
But he only shook his head, cold as a winter moon.
"Daphne Caldwell, for the sake of the pup, I won't sever our mating bond.
But for what you did to Vanessa, you'll pay a thousand times over."
He ordered the Moon Drop to run a full hour, then turned and left without a single glance back.
As the seat climbed higher, I thrashed and howled, my wolf clawing at my skin.
The moment the drop hit, warm fluid gushed down my legs.
Three days passed before he remembered I was still hanging up there on the Moon Drop.
"Daphne, Vanessa's wolf is calm now. Kneel, apologize to her, and I'll bring you down."
He didn't know the seat was already soaked in blood.
The pup he'd waited for had been torn from my body and smashed to pulp below.
...
"Healer Davis called this morning. That woman missed her prenatal check. What game is she playing now to pull me back to her?"
Alpha Zyon Marlowe frowned, disgust flashing in his eyes.
The old pack steward paled and stammered.
"Alpha, the Luna... she still hasn't been brought down. She's terrified of heights. And she's eight moons pregnant. What if something happened?"
Zyon paused, confused.
"Daphne? Afraid of heights?"
Before the steward could go on, he waved him off.
"It's just the Moon Drop, not a real death jump. Let her taste fear. Maybe next time she won't bully Vanessa."
The old steward didn't dare speak again.
But the Moonhowl Park keeper couldn't stay quiet.
"Alpha, three days ago the Luna screamed until her voice broke. Then... nothing. She carries your pup. Shouldn't you check on her?"
Zyon smiled.
"There it is.
Even her fear is an act. If she were really scared, she'd still be screaming.
Daphne is still playing her games.
Let her hang another day.
Tomorrow, drag her down to kneel before Vanessa. Then we're done."
He cut the keeper off with a wave and headed to the bedroom.
On our mating bed, Vanessa lay half-naked.
Zyon moved quietly to her side, his throat tight.
A second later, he pressed a kiss to her swollen red lips.
The she-wolf whimpered, opened her eyes, and tried weakly to push him away.
"Zyon, this is your mating bed with Daphne.
If Daphne finds out, it'll destroy her.
And what happened before... I just love you too much.
I thought if I died, Daphne wouldn't fight you over me.
I never wanted you to punish her for me.
Maybe I should apologize to Daphne?"
Vanessa bit her lip, face full of sorrow and guilt.
And just like that, Zyon lost control.
His big hand roughly palmed her breast as he rolled on top, pinning her down.
"Vanessa, you're too good.
If not for you, I'd have died years ago.
You even got your fear of heights saving me.
When I think how gentle you are, and how Daphne pushed you to jump... it tears my wolf apart.
If she does it again, even with my pup in her belly, I'll make her pay with her life..."
Zyon kissed the small scratches Vanessa got from the jump, eyes burning with pain.
They tangled wildly on my mating bed.
The mating portrait above the headboard rocked with them.
I stared at the picture - at me, gazing at him with so much love, and at Zyon, cold and indifferent.
Only then did I learn that even a spirit can cry.
But Zyon, there was no next time to wait for.
Because...
I was already dead.
Chapter 2
That day, I ran.
Or tried to.
My wolf was weak, my belly too heavy, but I still bolted. I cradled eight moons of pup and stumbled through the trees like prey.
Zyon watched me with ice in his eyes. Then he snapped his fingers.
His enforcers dragged me back by my hair.
He was done waiting. Done with me.
He forced me into the Moon Drop seat and snapped the silver restraints over my wrists himself.
No pity. Not even a flicker.
The machine lifted me into the sky, and my scream tore through the clouds.
My water broke mid-air. Warm. Wet. Wrong.
I screamed down at him that the pup was coming, begged him to save our child.
For half a heartbeat, he hesitated.
Then Vanessa curled into his chest and murmured, soft as poison.
"Her whelping moon isn't for another week, is it?
She's just scared. She already wet herself before the ride started.
Maybe we should let it go...
I'll be fine..."
Zyon's face twisted.
"Daphne! You disgust me.
You'd use our pup as bait for attention?
Stay up there and think about what you've done!"
A hundred meters up, the wind cut like fangs. My teeth chattered. Pain ripped through my belly.
The pup was coming. Now.
I fought the restraints, claws breaking through my nails, scraping skin raw until I got one hand loose. Barely.
On the third rise, I pushed with everything. A tiny cry broke the air - weak as a newborn wolf's whimper.
I didn't even see if it was a boy or a girl.
The Moon Drop hit its peak again.
It fell.
I lunged for my pup. But my right hand - the one I'd wrecked saving him years ago - gave out.
I couldn't hold her.
My howl split the sky as that small body hit the ground and burst into red pulp.
My blood sprayed after her, bright as snow in the moonlight.
Then my heart stopped.
And where was Zyon?
He was summoning Silver Ridge's best healers - for a scratch on Vanessa's arm.
He wanted no scar.
He bought nine thousand moon roses and won a one-of-a-kind moonstone at auction. All for Vanessa. So his precious first love would never have to feel afraid again.
When his wolves tried to tell him about me, he cut them off.
"If she's dead, she did it to herself.
Enough.
Her whelping moon is in two days. Bring Daphne to apologize to Vanessa.
She pissed herself from fear. She's filthy.
Make sure she washes before she comes."
He worked with Vanessa in his lap.
Her fingers traced circles on his chest.
"Maybe let it go.
I don't think Daphne meant it.
I shouldn't have come back... I just wanted to be near you.
I never meant to cause trouble between you two."
Zyon caught her hand, doting.
"Vanessa, you saved my life. I'll protect you until the moon dies.
She's my Luna. She should accept you, like I do.
Instead, she hunts you at every turn.
If the moon guard hadn't pulled you off that ledge, I'd never forgive myself."
At that, Vanessa's face flickered. Unease. Fear.
She shrank back and said nothing more.
A bitter smile pulled at my lips.
Chapter 3
Six moons ago, Vanessa came back.
She'd been across the seas, drifting from pack to pack. Zyon said she had no one. No mate. No den. So he brought her into ours without even asking me.
At first, I didn't fight it.
I even pitied her. A lone she-wolf with nowhere to run - I knew that ache. I gave her a room, clothes, a place at our table.
Then she turned on me.
One night, she poured blood-red wine over her own head, dropped to her knees, and bowed her throat to the floor. Begged me to let her go.
That was the night Zyon's wolf stopped seeing me as his Luna.
He wouldn't hear a word. Not one.
He dragged me to the attic and left me there three days without food. His eyes burned gold. Fangs bared.
"Daphne, you've disappointed me.
You have no idea what Vanessa is to me.
If you hunt her again, even if you're my Luna, I'll make you pay."
After that, it happened again and again. Each time, his gaze got colder. His wolf pulled further from mine.
I'd already decided. Once the pup came, I'd sever our bond and leave.
Then Vanessa jumped.
And somehow, I was the one who pushed her.
They said I sent her cruel messages. Vicious howls. Voice notes full of threats.
The words were ugly. Poison. But they didn't come from me.
Zyon didn't believe me.
His heart bled for Vanessa. His eyes went red. His wolf howled for her.
He didn't care about our unborn pup. He only wanted to avenge the she-wolf he loved.
......
"Alpha... the Luna, she seems... she... You need to see for yourself."
Zyon froze.
Then irritation crawled over his face.
"It's been this long and she's still throwing a tantrum?"
The Moonhowl Park keeper swallowed hard, torn.
"Alpha, it's the Luna... she doesn't seem to be breathing."
Zyon's hand - the one holding Vanessa - went still.
A few seconds passed. Then he laughed. Cold. Empty.
"Faking death now? That's a new trick.
Just to avoid baring her throat to Vanessa?
Tell her - even dead, she'll apologize first.
Or I'll show no mercy."
Sweat slid down the keeper's brow. He opened his mouth, then shut it. One look at Zyon's glowing eyes, and he backed away.
Vanessa lifted her innocent face.
"Zyon, maybe let it go. Daphne doesn't like me. She makes everything hard. But she's your Luna. As long as I'm by your side, I can take it."
Zyon pulled her closer.
"Vanessa, you don't need to fear a she-wolf like Daphne. She's not worth a strand of your fur. This time, she learns her place."
"But - "
"Enough. I know what's best."
A tear hit the back of my hand.
Only then did I realize I'd been crying. Even as a spirit. Even without a body. My wolf still grieved.
Zyon said nothing else, but his wolf was restless.
In one hour, he glanced at the door at least ten times.
Finally, he slammed his laptop shut and raked a hand through his hair.
His patience snapped. He turned to Vanessa, voice soft.
"Vanessa. I don't know what game Daphne is playing, but I'll drag her here by the scruff to apologize. Now."
He reached Moonhowl Park.
Long strides. Claws half-unsheathed.
Before he got close, he saw it.
The Moon Drop. Painted red. Fresh blood.
The stench of blood and birth hung thick in the air.
He covered his nose.
"Why does it reek? What the hell did Daphne do?!"
The keeper's face went pale.
"Alpha... maybe you should see for yourself..."
He stepped aside.
There I was. Under a white sheet.
And beside me - a tiny bundle wrapped in white cloth.
Zyon's hand hovered between the two.
His brows pulled tight. A flicker of hesitation crossed his eyes.
My chest ached. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't look away.
Finally, he reached for the tiny bundle.
