Chapter 1
1299 Words
Prologue :
A heavily pregnant woman ran through the dark forest, her breathing ragged as branches tore at her dress.
Fear burned in her eyes.
She stumbled, clutching her swollen belly as another sharp pain shot through her body.
"No... not now," she whispered.
She reached out through the mind link.
"Lucien...!"
"Run..."
"They..."
Before she could finish, an overwhelming force crashed into her mind.
Everything went black.
Eighteen Years Later
Lyra's POV
Everyone was celebrating the shifting ceremony.
Everyone except me.
My name is Lyra Everhart, the eldest daughter of Alpha Lucien Everhart of the Shadow Moon Pack.
But no one knows me by that.
To them, I'm the wolfless girl.
The daughter who killed her own mother the day she was born.
At least, that's what everyone believes.
I'm almost nineteen years old, yet I still haven't shifted.
No wolf.
No mate.
Nothing.
When I was younger, I thought life was being unfair to me.
Now...
I think fate itself has forgotten I exist.
I never wanted to come to today's celebration.
But refusing wasn't an option.
Balancing a tray of fruit juice in my hands, I walked through the crowd.
Yes...
The Alpha's eldest daughter was serving drinks like a waitress.
It wasn't anything new.
As I passed by, the whispers began.
"That's her."
"The girl who killed Luna Aria."
"If she had never been born, our Luna would still be alive."
I lowered my head.
Not because their words surprised me.
They never did.
But even after eighteen years...
They still hurt.
Sometimes...
I found myself wishing the same thing.
Maybe...
It would have been better if I had never been born.
The thought settled heavily in my chest.
Sometimes I wondered what my life would have been like if my mother had survived. Would Father have smiled at me? Would the pack have treated me like one of their own?
Or...
Would they still have found another reason to hate me?
Before I could lose myself in those thoughts any longer, someone crashed into me.
The tray slipped from my hands.
Glasses shattered against the marble floor with a loud crash.
Cold juice splashed over my hands, soaking the front of my dress as tiny pieces of glass scattered in every direction.
I stumbled backwards, barely keeping my balance.
"I'm... I'm sorry," I whispered, my voice trembling.
The man didn't even stop.
He glanced at the stain on his expensive clothes before looking at me with open disgust.
Then a cruel smile spread across his face.
"The Fates cursed you too, didn't they?" he sneered.
"Anyone who gets close to you ends up unlucky."
Without waiting for a response, he walked away.
A few nearby guests laughed.
Others watched with expressions somewhere between pity and contempt.
No one offered to help.
No one ever did.
I lowered my eyes to the broken glass.
It wasn't the first time strangers had treated me this way.
Ever since the day I was born...
I had been the girl blamed for taking her mother's life.
The cursed daughter.
The child the Moon Goddess had abandoned.
Taking a shaky breath, I bent down to clean the mess.
Before I could touch the broken glass, another hand reached for the tray.
"Leave her alone."
The calm but firm voice cut through the whispers.
I looked up.
"Aunt..."
Aunt Aveline gently took the tray from my hands before placing one comforting hand on my shoulder.
Her touch was warm.
Steady.
The complete opposite of the cold stares surrounding us.
"Go and wash yourself, Lyra," she said softly. "I'll take care of everything here."
"But—"
"No arguments."
She smiled, the kind of smile that always reminded me that kindness still existed somewhere in this world.
"You're soaked."
I looked down at my dress and gave a small nod.
"Thank you, Aunt."
She brushed a damp strand of hair away from my face.
"You never have to thank me for something so small."
My Aunt Aveline was one of the very few people who had ever shown me genuine kindness.
She never looked at me with disgust.
Never blamed me for my mother's death.
Never treated me like a burden.
Whenever we found a quiet moment together, she would tell me stories about my mother.
How they used to sneak out of the house to watch meteor showers.
How they competed to climb the tallest trees.
How Mother always laughed the loudest whenever they got caught.
For those few moments...
My mother didn't feel like a stranger.
She became real.
Someone who had laughed.
Dreamed.
Loved.
Every story ended the same way.
Aunt Aveline would smile...
But sadness always lingered in her eyes.
She missed her sister every single day.
Yet unlike everyone else...
She had never once blamed me for losing her.
After changing into a clean uniform, I returned to the banquet hall.
The celebration was even louder than before.
Music echoed through the grand room while nobles laughed over expensive wine.
Servants hurried from table to table carrying trays filled with food.
As I lifted another tray, someone suddenly leaned close enough for me to hear a familiar whisper.
"Did you hear?"
A smile tugged at my lips.
I didn't even need to turn around.
"What now, Mia?"
She grinned.
"I knew you'd recognise me."
Mia had been my best friend for as long as I could remember.
When the other children mocked me...
She stood beside me.
When they refused to play with me...
She sat beside me anyway.
When they called me cursed...
She told them they were idiots.
She had always been the brave one between us.
"What did you hear?" I asked quietly.
Mia glanced around before lowering her voice.
"I overheard some nobles talking."
"About what?"
"The King."
I frowned.
"Our King?"
She shook her head immediately.
"No."
"The Lycan King."
The smile disappeared from my face.
"You mean..."
"The beast everyone is terrified of."
I had heard stories about him since I was little.
Stories whispered late at night.
Stories mothers used to frighten their children.
Some claimed he had slaughtered hundreds of rogues with his bare hands.
Others insisted no one had ever seen his true face because he never removed the dark mask he wore.
Some even believed the Moon Goddess herself had cursed him.
"I heard people talking about him months ago," I said. "What's different now?"
Mia leaned closer.
"They say the Moon Goddess has given him only one month."
I blinked.
"One month?"
She nodded.
"To find his true mate."
"And if he doesn't?"
Her playful smile faded.
"They say..."
She swallowed nervously before finishing in almost a whisper.
"...the curse will kill him."
A chill ran through me.
Even though I had never met the Lycan King...
The thought felt strangely unsettling.
Before I could ask another question, a sharp voice echoed through the hall.
"If you're done gossiping," our supervisor snapped, "the guests are still waiting for their food!"
"Yes, ma'am," Mia answered immediately.
The moment the supervisor walked away, Mia exaggerated a dramatic bow before pulling the funniest face she could manage.
I couldn't stop myself.
A quiet laugh escaped my lips.
"For someone who's terrified of being caught," I whispered, "you certainly enjoy testing your luck."
"Life is boring without a little danger," Mia replied with a wink.
Still smiling, we picked up our trays and continued serving the guests.
As we moved through the crowded hall, I couldn't help noticing the hushed conversations happening at nearly every table.
The same name surfaced again and again.
Whispered with fear.
With curiosity.
With uncertainty.
Kaizer Nightfall.
The cursed Lycan King.
The man everyone feared.
The man whose true mate had only one month to appear...
...or the entire kingdom would lose its king.
- Writer
