Corinna POV: "Filthy wolfless! Are you going to sign the annulment contract or not?" A barbed leather whip cracked against the stone wall an inch from my bare toes. Sharp rock fragments flew up and sliced my calf. I gasped and forced my eyes open. The sun burned my eyes, and coarse hemp ropes bit into my bleeding wrists as I hung outside the high stone walls of Solis Castle. My wrists were bound in front of me, leaving my fingers free enough. Broken memories surged through my mind along with my rebirth, throbbing at my temples. I swallowed the metallic taste of blood and locked my eyes on the man below me. In this world, pure silver was poison to werewolves with an inner wolf. It burned their flesh and blocked their healing. But I was wolfless. Silver did not burn me. That was why I could hide a silver needle in my sleeve and handle it with bare fingers. Those years spent doing medical research taught me to endure agony and bide my time for the moment to strike. Felix Solis, the young Alpha heir of Solis Castle and my betrothed by family pact, stood there in a gold-threaded robe. He twirled the bloodstained whip in his fingers, his lips curled into a sneer. In our werewolf kingdom, rank was decided at birth by blood and genes, and a wolfless girl like me stood at the very bottom. I pulled my cracked lips into a cold smile. A drop of blood rolled down my chin. I did not even bother to spit a word at him. Green light flared in Felix's eyes at my silence. His legs trembled with rage as he raised the whip high again. Before he could strike, a pale hand pressed gently against his raised arm. A woman in a lace gown stepped forward, her golden-brown curls shining under the sun. "Brother Felix, please stop. Sister Corinna is just being stubborn," Bianca Stewart said, tilting her face up with red-rimmed eyes, her voice sweet. She was my half-sister, born to my father's mistress. While begging for mercy on my behalf, Bianca pressed her chest against Felix's arm. A flash of malice and triumph gleamed in her gray-blue eyes when she looked up at me. Felix immediately wrapped his arm around her waist, his harsh voice turning soft. "Bianca, you are far too kind. That is why this useless piece of trash with nothing but a pretty face has been bullying you for so long." Below the wall, a crowd of low-ranking pack members and castle servants pointed fingers at me, their whispers buzzing. "I heard she does not even have a trace of an inner wolf's scent. No wonder Lord Solis wants to cast her out," a rough-looking warrior said loud enough for the square to hear. "Exactly. Clinging to the position of the rightful Luna while being a barren waste. She brings nothing but shame to the Sears Pack," another servant chimed in with a laugh. I lowered my eyelids to hide the chill in my amber eyes. Twisting my numb wrists against the rough fibers, I felt for the weakest knot in the rope. The hidden shard in my sleeve pressed against my forearm, small and cold. I only needed one moment. "Corinna, as long as you confess to bedding a wild rogue behind my back and willingly break our engagement, I will be merciful and spare your pathetic life," Felix barked, his patience running dry. Bedding a wild rogue? My stomach churned. To clear the way so he could marry my bastard half-sister as his rightful wife, he was willing to pour the dirtiest water over my head. I stopped twisting my wrists and let my body hang limp. Using a weak, breathless voice that could still carry across the square, I spoke. "Fine... I confess." The chatter below cut off instantly. Dozens of heads snapped up in shock. None of them expected me to give in after taking the whip all morning. Felix froze for a second before throwing his head back in a loud laugh. "Did you all hear that? This shameless slut finally admitted it!" Bianca's mouth stretched into a grin she could barely hide behind her hand. Lifting the hem of her lace skirt, she took a step closer to the wall and looked up at me. "Sister, since you know your mistake, hurry and tell Brother Felix the name of the wild bastard you slept with. That way, we can graciously send you off to him." I narrowed my eyes at Bianca's smug face. Inside my torn sleeve, my fingertips brushed against a sharp, jagged piece of stone wedged into a crack in the castle wall. "That man..." I dragged my voice out, making my breath hitch with fake terror. "I... I do not dare speak his name out loud." Felix's face darkened. He shoved Bianca aside and strode right beneath my dangling feet, glaring up at me. "In this entire kingdom, is there anyone I, Felix, dare not offend? Speak! What is that wild dog's name?" he roared, his chest heaving. I let my head droop against my chest, my tangled hair falling forward to hide the curve of my mouth. "Come... come closer. I will only whisper it to you alone." Felix frowned in suspicion, looking me up and down. Yet facing a tied-up wolfless girl who could not even shift, his Alpha pride left him with zero guard. He let out a cold snort, stepped onto the jutting stones at the base of the wall, and climbed two steps up until his face was right beside my ankles. "Speak!" he demanded. Down below, Bianca twisted her lace handkerchief until her knuckles turned white, her voice pitching into a shrill scream. "Brother Felix, watch out! It is a trap!" I snapped my eyes open, a cold light flashing in my amber pupils as my fingers closed tight around the razor-sharp stone.

Corinna POV: Right as Felix tilted his head up to bark at me, I tightened my core and swung my legs out, clamping my thighs around his neck. Felix could not even let out a scream before I used my falling weight to wrench him sideways. He lost his footing on the jutting rocks, tumbled down the wall, and crashed face-first into a puddle of mud at the base. Gasps and panicked screams erupted from the crowd. Several dazed knights finally snapped out of their stupor and scrambled to draw their steel longswords. Only the execution squad carried pure silver, and those blades stayed sealed in thick leather sheaths unless a traitor was to be put down. As my body swung back toward the stone wall from the recoil, I slashed the sharp rock in my hand across the frayed knot of the hemp rope. My bound hands were in front of me, just barely close enough. One cut. Then another. With a dry snap, the thick rope parted. I plummeted straight down from midair like a falling stone. Instead of rolling on the dirt to break my fall, I twisted my waist in the air and aimed my boots directly at Bianca, who was hiking up her skirts and stumbling backward in panic. "Get away from me!" Bianca shrieked, waving her arms wildly in front of her face as my shadow fell over her. I landed hard on both feet right in front of her. Carrying the momentum of my drop, I swept the bloodstained stone shard between my fingers across her soft, powdered cheek. The sharp edge sliced cleanly through her flesh. A deep, gaping cut split her left cheek open from her cheekbone down to her jaw, and bright red blood spurted out onto her white lace collar. Bianca stood frozen for a heartbeat. She raised a trembling hand to touch her face, and when she saw her palm covered in hot blood, she let out an ear-splitting scream. "My face! My face is ruined!" She collapsed to the ground, rolling around in the dirt while clutching her bleeding cheek. I stood up straight, brushed the dust off my torn skirt, and looked down at her without a shred of pity in my chest. "You vicious bitch! I will kill you!" Covered in black mud from head to toe, Felix crawled out of the puddle. His eyes were bloodshot with madness, and his joints popped loudly as his Alpha rage surged. Losing his mind completely, he snatched a steel sword from the nearest knight's hand and lunged at my chest. Pure silver would have burned his bare palm. Even in his rage, Felix did not dare grab a silver blade with a bare hand. The steel sword was still lethal enough. "Did you not want to know that man's name?" I raised my voice, my clear tone cutting through the chaos of the square. The tip of Felix's sword stopped half an inch from my throat. The cold aura radiating off the blade stung my skin, raising goosebumps along my neck. "Talk! I want to see what kind of bastard gave you the guts to go crazy here!" Felix snarled through clenched teeth, the muscles on his mud-streaked face twitching violently. I drew in a slow breath, letting my gaze sweep over the nobles and servants who were holding their breath around us. "The man who spent that night with me under the blood moon, and even swore an oath to me..." I paused on purpose, watching their eyes widen with greed for gossip. "Is the current Regent Alpha, Gavin Chambers." I pronounced each word clearly. The name hit the square like a clap of thunder, sucking every bit of noise out of the air until even the wind seemed to stop blowing. The rage on Felix's face froze, morphing into shock and then sheer disbelief. He involuntarily took half a step back, his boots slipping slightly in the mud. "What... what kind of lunatic nonsense are you spouting?" His hand gripping the sword hilt shook. "The Regent Alpha? That bloodthirsty god of war? A piece of trash like you is not even worthy of wiping his boots!" On the ground, Bianca stopped howling. Peeking through her bloody fingers, she glared at me with venomous hatred and screamed, "Brother Felix, do not listen to her lies! She is just stalling for time!" A second later, an uproar of mocking laughter broke out across the square. Several warriors doubled over, slapping their thighs as they treated me like a cornered clown telling jokes to save her own neck. I kept my eyes fixed on Felix's pale face. "If you do not believe me, go ahead and thrust that blade into my throat right now. However, if the Regent Alpha finds out that his woman died at your hands..." I left the threat hanging in the air, looking at Felix the same way I would look at a dead man. Sweat broke out on Felix's forehead under my steady gaze. His legs trembled for a second before a deeper viciousness took over his features. "Bullshit! The Regent Alpha would never touch a wolfless waste like you! Go to hell!" He roared to cover up his own fear, raised the sword with both hands, and swung it straight down at my neck. Just as the blade whistled through the air above my head, an earth-shattering howl of a dire wolf tore from the far end of the square, followed immediately by the thunderous, synchronized pounding of heavy warhorses.

Corinna POV: That terrifying wolf howl sucked the laughter straight out of every throat in the square. Felix's sword froze mid-swing above my shoulder, and cold sweat poured down his temples into the mud on his cheeks. I turned my head toward the main road. Hundreds of knights clad in blackened steel armor with silver-alloy studs poured into the square like an iron flood, blocking off every single exit within seconds. The lead rider held a massive black banner embroidered with a crimson dire wolf. It was the most feared emblem across the entire kingdom, the personal vanguard of the Regent Alpha. The armored knights parted neatly to both sides, the heavy clanking of their metal plates making the low-ranking werewolves in the square weak in the knees. Down the wide path they cleared, a burly officer pushed a heavy black-iron wheelchair forward. The metal wheels ground against the flagstones with a slow, crushing weight. A man sat in the wheelchair. Even trapped in that seat, his massive, broad-shouldered frame radiated a suffocating Lycan dominance that pressed down on everyone's chests like a mountain. Lycans were the ancient, supreme rulers above all Alphas, and Gavin was the only living terror who carried that bloodline, even though rumors claimed his legs had been ruined by silver poison. A cold iron mask covered the upper half of his face, leaving only a pair of ice-blue eyes exposed. Those eyes swept over the crowd, devoid of any human warmth. As the wheelchair rolled closer, every single werewolf in the square, including Felix, dropped to their knees with a heavy thud. Their heads bowed to the dirt, forced down by the genetic submission etched into their bones before a supreme predator. Only I remained standing. I dug my fingernails deep into my bleeding palms, using the sharp pain to fight off the crushing weight in my chest, and met his murderous gaze head-on. "Who was calling my name?" Gavin spoke, his low, raspy voice scraping against our eardrums like rough gravel. Felix trembled violently on the ground, not daring to lift his mud-caked face. "Y-Your Highness! It is this mad lowly woman! She dared to use your noble name to spread filthy rumors!" Gavin did not even spare Felix a glance. He lifted his right hand, clad in a black leather glove, and the officer behind him immediately pushed the wheelchair right up to my toes. Gavin leaned forward slightly. An overwhelming scent of winter cedar mixed with thick blood wrapped around my nose, making my heart beat faster against my ribs. His ice-blue eyes locked onto my face. "Was it you?" he asked coldly. I looked straight back into his eyes, keeping my breathing steady. "It was me." Without warning, Gavin's gloved hand shot out like lightning. His five fingers clamped around my throat like an iron vise, and with a terrifying surge of arm strength, he lifted me completely off the ground with one hand. The air was wrenched from my lungs. My face burned hot as my blood rushed to my head, and my boots kicked in midair. Even as black spots danced in my vision, I dug my fingers into his hard wrist and refused to let a single begging sound escape my throat. "How do you want to die?" His voice dropped to a deadly whisper. Gasps echoed around us. From the corner of my eye, I saw Felix and Bianca staring up with wide, gleeful eyes, waiting to watch my neck snap. I forced my vocal cords to vibrate, squeezing out broken words between his iron fingers. "I... can cure... your son." At those five words, Gavin's pupils shrank to pinpricks. His tightening fingers froze around my windpipe. The next second, he flung me aside. I crashed onto the stone ground, clutching my bruised neck as I coughed violently and gulped down mouthfuls of air. "Do you have any idea what you are saying?" Gavin looked down at me from his wheelchair, the chill in his voice growing ten times heavier. "If you dare use Jamison to play tricks on me, I will bury the entire Sears Pack alive with you." I braced my hand against the stone wall, pushed myself up onto my feet, and wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand. Looking straight at his iron mask, I spoke clearly. "Your Highness, the poison inside the little prince's body cannot be cured by anyone in this world except me. Even your royal chief physicians can only watch helplessly as he suffers the agony of a thousand insects chewing on his heart every night." Gavin's broad chest rose and fell heavily once. His ice-blue eyes narrowed as he stared at my face, seemingly weighing whether to tear me apart or believe my words. Beside us, Felix could no longer hold back his panic. Seeing that I was still breathing, he shouted from his knees, "Your Highness, do not listen to her lies! She is a wolfless piece of trash who cannot even feel an inner wolf! How could she possibly know anything about healing?" Gavin slowly turned his masked head, his icy gaze slicing across Felix's face like a butcher's cleaver. "When I am speaking, since when is it your turn to bark?" Gavin tapped his index finger once against the black-iron armrest of his wheelchair.