The next day, I sneaked into the kennel, carrying a hard bread. I had to see her.
But when I pushed open the dilapidated wooden door, the inside was empty.
The kennel was a mess. Several iron cages had been violently torn open, and a thick smell of blood assailed me.
Willow was gone!
I searched frantically in the dim light and suddenly stepped on a large fingernail fragment, carved with a roaring wolf head. The wolf's eyes were inlaid with two sapphires.
This was not from our south.
I flipped it over. The inside of the nail was engraved with a single word in an ancient script:
K.
Not far from the fingernail fragment, a teardrop-shaped, watery blue gem emitted a faint glow.
I recognized it immediately. This was a "Moon Tear Stone," a sacred artifact in the legends of our southern wolf tribe.
The northern werewolves stole our sacred artifact. And then… they took Willow?
I had to tell my father!
I ran quickly towards the council hall. However, a heated argument drifted through the gap in the door.
"...We can't go on like this! Ian, we lose excellent warriors every day!" an aged voice said.
"Then what do you want me to do, Eldred?" My father Ian's voice rang out. "Lead our remaining warriors to their deaths?"
"We… we can reach an agreement!"
"An agreement? You mean that humiliating agreement to offer a sacrifice every three years?"
"That's better than extinction! You know the northern leader is a tyrant who wouldn't hesitate to slaughter cities!"
A heavy silence followed.
"... 'Sacrifice'… According to the ancient covenant, the defeated side must offer a pure-blooded virgin werewolf every three years…"
"But we have people with the 'Silver Frost Blood'," another elder said. "Her bloodline is more precious than any offering. We can negotiate with them."
"Silver Frost Blood"… In the entire clan, only my deceased mother and I possessed this bloodline.
"But, Ian, Lina already…" It was my stepmother Lillian's voice.
"We have another one," that cold, ruthless voice was my father's. "Aila. Her bloodline is most suitable as a sacrifice. It can be considered her final contribution to the clan."
"Ian! How can you bear it?" Lillian's voice immediately rose. "She is your own daughter after all! How can you bear to let her serve that beast!"
She's acting so well. She's the one who destroyed Willow's tongue with a branding iron!
"Enough, Lillian," Ian interrupted her. "If it weren't for her, Lina wouldn't have died. For the greater good, a half-blood who can't even shapeshift making a sacrifice, that is her honor."
"But…" Lillian still wanted to say something.
"This matter is settled," Ian said coldly. "Lina's incident back then was a mistake. If I hadn't been so stubborn, disaster wouldn't have befallen our clan. This matter is settled. I will announce to all clan members that to protect their safety, I willingly make this painful decision."
I leaned against the cold door, tightly clutching the fingernail fragment in my hand, feeling the whole world spin.
I thought my father's coldness was merely a facade of his authority, but it turned out abandoning me was his true intention. This was a win-win situation, allowing him to deal with me reasonably while showcasing his selflessness and greatness to the clan!
This hypocritical and cowardly man!
I silently turned around, put away the fingernail fragment, and left.
On the full moon night of early spring, the northern wind howled like ice-laced knives through the castle of Winterfang.
"Roar—!"
A painful roar, unlike any human sound, erupted from the ground. Kaelen knelt on the marble floor, his body contorting uncontrollably, muscles swelling, bones dislocating. His usually deep black eyes were now completely consumed by a wild, crimson red.
Several personal guards strained to wrap thick, iron chains around him.
"Kill me… Drake…" Kaelen roared with the last vestiges of his will. "Before I completely turn into a monster… kill me!"
"We cannot, Alpha!" Deputy Drake said with tears in his eyes.
Just then, an aged voice echoed from the shadows of the hall.
"Lock him in the dungeon."
It was High Priestess Morgana. She walked out slowly, leaning on a birch staff. Behind her followed Regent Barton.
The guards dragged the still frantically struggling Kaelen towards the dark dungeon passage.
"Morgana… please… give me a quick end…" Kaelen's desperate plea faded into the distance, finally cut off by the heavy sound of the iron door.
Barton looked in the direction of the dungeon, his face filled with pain and reluctance.
"Morgana, are you just going to watch him suffer like this?" Barton's voice was hoarse and heavy. "Last full moon, he bit off Ivan's arm. The month before that, he almost tore apart an entire patrol team! If this continues, he will eventually be completely consumed by that beast."
"Respected Lord Barton," Morgana's voice was as calm as a still well. "As long as he can still transform back into human form, he remains our most powerful weapon. He is still useful until we completely conquer the south."
"Useful?" Barton's tone held a hint of anger. "He's about to lose control completely!"
"So an antidote is needed," Morgana slid a parchment scroll from her sleeve, its surface stained with silver-blue blood. "The Silver Frost Blood is in the Southern Wolf Tribe."
"Silver Frost Blood?" Barton frowned. "The legendary bloodline… vanished centuries ago."
"No, it has not vanished," Morgana's tone was irrefutable. "It is in the place we just conquered."
A glint flashed in Barton's eyes. "You mean… the Southern Wolf Tribe?"
"Her name is Aila," Morgana traced the bloodstains on the scroll, and an image of the girl picking herbs by the Moon Lake appeared on the parchment. "Using her as a 'peace offering' can both heal Kaelen and control the South."
"I will personally negotiate with the envoys from the South. I will tell them that to show their sincerity, we do not want their gold, nor their land."
"What we want is that girl who possesses the 'Silver Frost Blood'."
The beast-like roars pierced the stone walls and echoed over the castle all night.
I didn't want my father's hypocritical plan to succeed, nor did I want to fulfill Lillian's wish.
I decided to escape all of this. Since the fingernail fragment came from the north, Willow was likely there. I had to find her.
That night, just as I was sneaking towards the clan border and about to escape, I bumped into a wall of flesh.
"Good evening, Miss Aila," Jorik's distinctive voice sounded from above me. "Luna is already waiting for you."
I was dragged and thrown into the deepest dungeon of the territory. Before I was taken back, I tucked the fingernail fragment and the Moon Tear Stone into an old tree hollow near the Moon Lake.
The following days were endless torture. They never asked questions, only used whips and fists as language. But Lillian had instructed that my face must not be harmed.
After an unknown number of days, just as I was about to die, Lillian entered with two maids.
"My poor little thing," she crouched down and stroked my hair. "Look at you. The northern envoys are arriving soon, and you can't meet them like this, can you? Someone, take her to bathe."
I was escorted by the maids to a luxurious bathroom. The bathtub was already filled with steaming hot water.
"Examine her whole body," Lillian ordered.
The maids quickly stripped me naked. They checked me from my neck to my toes, even meticulously examining my nether regions to ensure I was "intact."
Lillian's gaze constantly roamed over me like a viper. After the maids whispered a few words in her ear, she nodded with satisfaction.
I was led to the large bathtub. Lillian personally picked up a sponge and began to scrub the wounds on my body. The warm water touching the bruises and abrasions all over me brought a sharp sting.
"Does it hurt?" she whispered gently in my ear. "That's right. Pain will teach you a lesson."
I gritted my teeth and remained silent.
"Do you know what kind of monster you are going to marry?" she said softly. "The Alpha of the North, Kaelen. Legend has it he is a strange man with a blue beard."
"On the top floor of his castle, there is a room forbidden to anyone. Legend has it that inside… hang all his past wives."
My breathing almost stopped.
"His… wives?"
"They, like you, are all 'offerings' from various defeated countries. Every three years, he takes a new one. And the last one… happened three years ago. Coincidence, wouldn't you say?"