EP:1
HOPE'S POV.
I smelled fresh blood before I even saw it. Someone had come too close to our territory again.
“Stay alert,” I told my patrol team, raising my hand to slow them down. The forest was dark and foggy, with only a little light breaking through the trees. Every sound, footsteps, rustling leaves, even the wind, seemed louder than usual.
It had been a quiet week so far, but peace never lasted long here. Not when the royal pack had enemies on all sides.
This was the Lunar Dome — the King’s pack, the most powerful in the wolf kingdom. That meant everyone either wanted to destroy us or take what was ours.
Aiden, one of my warriors, came up beside me. “Delta Hope,” he whispered, “you think it’s rogues again?”
“Maybe,” I said, scanning the fog. “Or maybe the witches are testing our defenses again. They’ve been getting bold lately after they joined with Wolvesden Pack.”
He frowned. “They wouldn’t dare. Not after the King’s warning.”
I didn’t answer. The witch coven never cared about warnings, not even from King Gregory himself. And Wolvesden has never feared us. This was probably another test to see if our royal patrols were getting weaker.
We followed the smell of blood deeper into the woods. My wolf, Fawn, grew uneasy. Something felt wrong. The scent was too strong, like too much blood had been spilled.
Then we reached a clearing and saw why.
Rogues — at least six of them — were attacking a smaller group near the creek. At first, I thought it was just rogues fighting each other, until I realized the victims were only teenagers, maybe seventeen or eighteen. They looked terrified and completely untrained.
“Hope,” my co-delta Vera whispered. “They’re outsiders. We can’t interfere without authorization.”
She was right. The law said royal warriors couldn’t act on neutral ground without permission. But Fawn growled in my head.
“They’re dying,” she said. “You need to help them.”
Before I could stop myself, I was already moving.
“Hope!” Vera hissed, but I didn’t stop. My claws came out, and I slashed through the nearest rogue.
Growls and chaos filled the clearing as Vera shouted, “Cover her!” and my patrol charged in.
I fought fast, guided by instinct and anger. Each strike helped drown out the pain that had been eating at me for weeks.
Tonight marked exactly four weeks since I’d walked into Damon’s room and found my twin sister Dawn in his bed.
My own twin.
And my mate.
That night had broken something inside me —something I hadn’t been able to fix since.
I could still see Damon’s cold eyes and Dawn clutching the sheets, whispering my name like she’d done nothing wrong.
His voice echoed in my head even now: “You’re a great warrior, Hope, but you’re not fit to be Luna. The pack needs strength, not a woman who sees and speaks to ghosts. The council will never accept a Luna who walks with the dead.”
Those words had burned like silver through my heart. He hadn’t even looked sorry.
I stabbed another rogue in the shoulder, using that pain as fuel until the remaining enemies finally fled into the darkness, taking their wounded with them. The clearing went silent except for the weak cries of the teenagers.
Aiden came closer, panting. “Delta, are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” I said.
I knelt beside one boy bleeding heavily from his chest. He looked at me weakly. “Why help us?”
“Because I could,” I said simply.
He gave a small, shaky laugh.
“Thank you, miss,” his friend whispered.
Aiden hesitated. “Delta, if Alpha Prince Damon finds out we interfered with outsiders—”
At Damon’s name, my hands faltered, but I kept my voice steady. “We’ll be fine.”
We helped the wounded as best we could and left them by the riverbank, close enough to safety. Then I turned away.
“Let’s go,” I ordered.
Vera walked beside me. “You shouldn’t have done that,” she said softly.
“Maybe not,” I replied. “But I’d rather break a rule to save lives than follow one that lets them die. They were just kids, Vera.”
She didn’t argue.
By the time we reached the pack’s main compound, night had fallen. Dark clouds gathered over the castle walls of Lunar Dome. A storm was coming.
I went straight to the training grounds. The place was empty, just racks of weapons. Being there helped calm me. I grabbed a training sword and started swinging, fast, hard, over and over until my arms hurt.
Each swing dulled the pain of betrayal. The pain of rejection.
“Still at it?” Vera’s voice came from behind me. “You really don’t rest, do you?”
“No reason to,” I muttered.
She sighed. “You don’t have to prove anything, you know. Everyone respects you, Hope, even after—”
“Don’t,” I said coldly.
She fell quiet.
“I’m fine, Vera. Go rest. We’ll head out again soon.”
Vera nodded. “Fine. You’ve said that every day since the rejection. You can’t keep doing this to yourself, Hope. The world doesn’t stop moving just because of the choices of one man. Think about that,” she said sadly before leaving.
Silence filled the field again. I stared at the sword, took a deep breath, and lifted it once more.
“Delta Hope,” a calm voice said behind me.
I turned to see Gamma Lita walking toward me. Her eyes were sharp as always.
“Gamma,” I greeted with a bow.
“You’ve been out all day,” she said. “You’ll burn yourself out.”
“Better that than sitting still,” I replied.
She smiled faintly. “Still chasing peace through exhaustion?”
I swallowed. “Seems to be working so far.”
Lita’s expression softened. “I heard about the rogue attack.”
“They were just kids,” I said quietly. “I did what I had to do.”
“You did the right thing,” she said. “But not everyone will agree_ especially Alpha Prince Damon.”
At his name, my jaw tightened, but I said nothing.
“He doesn’t know yet,” Lita continued. “But when he does, maybe he’ll realize what he lost instead of getting angry.”
Her words hit harder than I wanted to admit. I looked away. “I don’t need him to realize anything, Gamma. I just want the borders safe and innocent lives protected.”
Lita smiled faintly. “That’s what makes you different, Hope. You lead like a queen, even when the throne refused you. Even with a broken heart.”
I didn’t reply. I turned back to the sword. If I let myself feel anything right now, I might fall apart.
“Gamma Lita.”
A deep voice broke the silence.
We both turned.
Alpha Prince Damon was walking toward us, his guard behind him.
“Your Highness,” Lita greeted, bowing.
I straightened. “Your Highness.”
His eyes lingered on me before he spoke. “Did either of you notice the storm forming?”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Lita said. “I warned Delta Vera already. I fear the witches might have something to do with this. They might attack tonight. We must be prepared.”
Damon’s eyes shifted to me. “What about the northern ridge near the old training ground, Delta? What’s your plan if they strike there?”
“We reinforced it after the last attack,” I replied evenly. “If they come, we’ll be ready.”
“And if your line doesn’t hold?”
“Then I’ll hold it myself,” I said, meeting his gaze.
Silence fell between us.
Then Damon turned to Lita. “Gamma, I want to speak to Delta Hope alone.”
Lita hesitated, then bowed. “Of course, Alpha.” She gave me a worried look before walking away.
Now it was just Damon and me, face to face once again.
For a long moment, neither of us said anything. His eyes stayed locked on mine.
Finally, I broke the silence. “Do you need something, Alpha?”
His jaw tightened. “Yes. I’ve heard rumors, Delta Hope. People say you’ve been acting distant lately. And that you've been distracted.”
“Rumors,” I said flatly.
He nodded slightly. “Hope… what happened between us doesn’t have to affect the pack. I don’t want any sort of tension. We are both adults. We can still be civil.”
I didn’t reply. He had to be joking.
He stepped closer. “You know it wasn’t personal. I did what I had to do.”
I looked him straight in the eye. “No, you did what you wanted to do.”
His brows drew together. “You think this was easy for me? My brothers and the council are waiting for me to slip up, Hope. I can’t look weak. You know what your… ability means to them. To my father.”
I stayed quiet as his words grew colder.
“They think your connection to the dead is unnatural — a curse. If I took you as my mate, they’d see it as corrupting the royal bloodline. There’s no telling what kind of heirs you would give me. I can’t risk that, Hope. Not when the throne is already unstable. I’m supposed to bring order, not chaos. The whole pack can't be made to pay just because I made the choice to reject you, surely you're not that selfish, Hope.”
So that was it. No remorse — just more excuses.
I met his gaze evenly. “Don’t start that with me, Prince Damon. You know very well this was never about the rejection. I’m not that desperate for your acceptance. I simply wish you would have at least been man enough to do it to my face instead of going behind my back like a coward to betray me with my sister. That was low, Prince Damon — even for you.”
He stepped closer. “It wasn't personal, Hope. I did what I had to do. Hope… the council, my brothers—they’re waiting for weakness. Your ability makes them question my position and ability to lead. If I took you as my mate—”
“So you betrayed me for politics.” I raised my brow.
His jaw clenched. “You think I wanted to do this?”
“I think you could’ve rejected me without crawling into my sister’s bed.”
His silence said enough.
“Don’t twist this into emotion, Hope. This is politics. Survival. It has nothing to do with personal feelings,” he said after a moment, his jaw tightening.
“I’m not twisting anything,” I replied evenly. “As a matter of fact, I would prefer not to talk about this anymore, Prince Damon. If there’s nothing else, then I’d like to get back to work.”
He hesitated.
“I just need to know that your personal feelings won’t interfere with your duties,” he said finally. “The coven is waiting for weakness. I can’t afford distractions.”
I held his stare. “Then you have nothing to worry about, Alpha. My discipline isn’t as fragile as your assumptions. You want assurance that I’ll stay loyal to the pack? You already have it. My loyalty was never to you or your throne, Prince Damon. It was to the people. That hasn’t changed.”
His jaw clenched.
Without waiting for dismissal, I bowed slightly. “If that’s all, I have real work to do.”
I walked away before he could respond, leaving him standing in the silence he created.
