Chapter 4: The Price of Being Chosen

And what finally killed the last of my hope was what Elena said.

“The elders of the Silver Moon Pack will never accept a werewolf who can’t even shift as their Luna.”

The Mate Bond might be sacred, but the pack’s power struggles were far more practical than the will of the Moon Goddess.

Elena’s family had deep roots in the Silver Moon Pack.

If Sebastian wanted to reclaim the Alpha position, if he wanted to crush the factions that defied him, he needed the support of the elders and the other powerful families.

And what they wanted was a pureblood she-wolf who could lead the pack to greatness.

“They gave Sebastian a choice,” Elena had told me, a slow, triumphant smile curving her lips.

“In exchange for their full support of his and Leo’s return to the pack…”

“He had to publicly choose an official mate worthy of an Alpha.”

Her gaze scraped over my face like a blade.

“And you… working at a fast-food restaurant and unable to even shift… you were the obstacle that had to be removed.”

The color drained from my face, scraped away by the mockery in her eyes.

Elena’s voice was relentless.

“Why do you think he left you in the human world?”

“He was protecting you.”

“With your bloodline, the first day you set foot in Shadowmoon Territory, you’d be a laughingstock. You wouldn’t survive three months.”

“Sebastian chose his position.”

“And he chose for you, too.”

“You’re more useful to him alive than dead. That’s probably what he figured.”

Of course I wanted to confront Sebastian.

To ask him if it was true, if he had really listed me as an acceptable loss in his deal for power.

To ask if his five-year courtship, if the way his eyes had reddened when he lifted my veil in the church, had all been an elaborate lie.

But that night, they left while I was sleeping.

The last breath I held before I died was a desperate attempt to stay alive long enough to see him one last time and ask him if it was true.

But I never saw him again.

From the moment I woke up in this life, I understood.

I couldn’t waste another lifetime waiting for an answer that would never come.

In a way, Sebastian had traded me for his power.

And I had just bought myself back.

It was time to live my own life.

That was why, when Sebastian told me he was taking Elena and Leo, I accepted it with a calm he couldn’t understand.

And over the next few days, I carefully planned the rest of my life.