This was the first time that, in someone else's eyes, my bloodline was not seen as a "curse" or "omen," but as something connected to the "power of the Moon Goddess."
After that night, Liam became the only light in my life.
On the third night after the hunt, I took the storybook he had given me and snuck down to the abandoned courtyard at the foot of the spiral staircase.
I didn't know if he would come. I just… wanted to see him again.
The night wind was cold. I sat on the chilly stone steps, hugging my knees and watching the stars.
"Still awake so late? Are you waiting for me?"
A gentle voice came from above me. I looked up to see Liam sitting on the edge of a broken step on the next level, his legs dangling, smiling at me. The moonlight bathed him, making him look like a fairy-tale prince.
He jumped down lightly, landing steadily in front of me.
"Liam," I stood up. "Thank you so much… for saving me that day."
"It's alright, you don't have to thank me. I just did what I had to do," he said, his warm black eyes looking at me. "Besides, didn't you save me too?"
"Me?" I was stunned.
"Yes," he pointed to his now-healed shoulder. "If you hadn't drawn most of the griffin's attention, I would have been hurt much worse. So, we're even."
"But… I'm still so grateful," I said, shaking my head, a little dejected. "Kaelen protected Rosalind, and you and Drake fought the griffin. You were all using your strength to protect the pack. And I… I could only watch, unable to do anything. I don't even… know how to say thank you properly."
"Who says you did nothing?" Liam looked at me, his expression turning serious. "On the contrary, your wound… it healed so quickly under the moonlight. I've never seen anything like it. It was incredible."
"I… I don't know how it happened either," I said, a bit lost. "Physician Ilian once mentioned that it might be called 'Moonlight Healing'."
"Physician Ilian," Liam smiled at the name. "He mentioned you often in his letters."
"He… mentioned me?" I froze.
"Yes," Liam's gaze softened. "He started asking me to look out for you in his letters even before you were sent to the North. He said there was a poor child in the South who reminded him of an old friend, and that if I ever met you, I had to take good care of you."
He paused, then continued, "The herbs he had me give you each month to ease the pain of the 'Silver Frost Blood' were also specially prepared for you by him."
My mind went blank. So, all of this had been arranged by Physician Ilian long ago.
"So, you knew about me already?" my voice trembled slightly.
"I knew your name, and I knew you were having a hard time," Liam looked at me, his eyes full of sincerity. "But I didn't know that you, in person, were much stronger and braver than he described in his letters."
His words warmed my heart.
"Then… you and him," I asked tentatively, "how did you two meet?"
"It's a long story," a nostalgic look crossed his face. "I was sickly as a child. Once, on a diplomatic mission to the South with my father, I nearly died. It was Physician Ilian who saved my life. We've been corresponding ever since."
"Then could you…" I gathered my courage, looking at him with pleading eyes. "Could you… help me?"
"Help you?" Liam was confused. "With what?"
"Help me control it," I said, pointing to my still faintly glowing wound. "I can feel a power inside me. It comes and goes, but I don't know how to wield it."
I looked at him and continued, "You are natural-born warriors, taught from a young age how to channel and control the power within you. But I… I know nothing. I don't want to be a fool who can only wait to be rescued anymore. Please, Liam, teach me how to 'control' it, just like you control your shifting."
Liam looked at me without a hint of condescension.
"I understand," he nodded solemnly. "I may not understand the principles of 'Moonlight Healing,' but I can teach you how to meditate, how to feel and guide the flow of energy within you. Starting tonight, I will be your teacher."
From that day on, the abandoned courtyard became our secret garden.
He taught me how to close my eyes, how to focus my mind, and how to guide the energy flowing in my blood as if it were an extension of my own arm.
The first time I successfully released that power from my fingertips, making a wilting snow rose bloom again in my palm, he was even happier than I was.
"Look! Aila! You did it!" he exclaimed like a child, grabbing my hand excitedly.
His hand was warm and strong, and a blush crept up my face.
We also snuck into the forest near the castle together. I began to practice using this newfound power to heal small, injured animals.
Once, I exhausted all my strength healing a small deer and collapsed into his arms. He held me tightly, his own body heat chasing away the cold.
"You're being reckless," he chided, but his tone was full of concern.
"I just… want to try harder," I whispered, leaning against him.
"You're already trying so hard," he replied softly.
When we rested, he would read to me from the Travels of Ancient Heroes. His voice was low and gentle, and I would listen, hugging my knees, to the stories of freedom and faraway lands.
"The hero in the book went to the Endless Sea in the end… that's so wonderful," I said, subconsciously weaving something from the nearby vines.
"You like that ending?" Liam smiled gently. "I thought you would have preferred the part where he defeats the dragon."
"Defeating the dragon was for duty," I said, looking up at the stars, my eyes full of longing. "But going to sea, that was for freedom. That feeling… it must be amazing."
"Yes, freedom…" Liam's expression darkened. "Something that is out of reach for both of us."
His words stirred something in me. I asked tentatively, "Liam, the black wolf you turn into… is there any difference between it and your brother's? I can't tell them apart."
Liam was taken aback, then gave a wry smile. "A difference? Perhaps… the only difference is that I can control myself, and he… cannot."
"This is for you," I said, handing him the vine bracelet I had just finished weaving.
He took it solemnly and carefully put it on his wrist. "This is the best gift I have ever received."
We talked for a long time. About the warm sun of the South, the white snow of the North, and the freedom we both craved but could not have.
I even began to think that being sacrificed to the North… might not have been such a bad thing after all.
The next day, as I was walking down the courtyard corridor with a basin of laundry, a tall figure blocked my path.
It was Kaelen.
This was the first time we had met since the incident at the hunt.
He stood stiffly in front of me, silent, just staring at me with his lightless eyes.
"Your leg… does it still hurt?" he finally asked, his tone like an interrogator questioning a prisoner.
"You don't need to concern yourself, Lord Alpha," I replied coldly. "It's not broken."
"Hmph, what a pity," he sneered. "Perhaps if it were, you would be a little more settled, instead of running around and bothering people you shouldn't!"
He turned and strode away in frustration, leaving me with his cold, retreating back.
Kaelen returned to his empty room, fuming.
He had messed up again.
Just now in the courtyard, he had once again pushed her further away with the most hurtful words.
He looked at his fist, which he had subconsciously clenched, the knuckles still white. He felt like the world's biggest fool.
He had wanted to ask about her injury, but the moment he opened his mouth, it had turned into a jealous accusation.
He hadn't been able to sleep since the night of the hunt.
The blood pact, a traitor to his own will, constantly transmitted Aila's joy and anticipation to him. This unfamiliar, warm emotion was like a feather, constantly tickling his frayed nerves.
He grabbed a wide, black cloak and wrapped himself in it completely, then, like a ghost, he once again slipped towards the abandoned courtyard.
"Spying" had become a habit he couldn't break.
Under the bright moonlight, he saw Aila concentrating, channeling a silver light into a small bird with an injured wing. When the bird took flight again into the night sky, she looked up, her face lit with a smile as innocent as a child's.
Kaelen was mesmerized.
He felt as if he had never seen her like this before. The moonlight seemed to radiate from her. That smile was like a snow lotus blooming in the eternal night, instantly illuminating the barren ice field of his heart.
For the next few nights, he found himself drawn back, unable to stay away.
He saw Aila and Liam sitting side by side under the moon, Liam reading to her while she leaned against him, her expression serene and focused. An unspeakable jealousy, like a venomous snake, bit at his heart.
He saw Aila smiling as she gave Liam an ugly bracelet woven from vines. And Liam, like a fool, treasured it, stroking it gently.
Kaelen turned and left in silence, returning to his room and slamming his fist into the hard stone wall.
He realized he was no longer just paying attention to her because of the "blood pact." He was beginning to crave more of her smiles, beginning to feel jealous of the one who could make her laugh, beginning to find it unbearable when her attention was on someone else.
The next day, he summoned Drake.
"The matter I asked you to handle, how is it progressing?" Kaelen's voice was impatient.
"Alpha," Drake said with his head bowed, "the weavers from the South have been found, but it will take some time to perfectly replicate the special crescent moon marking on that shawl."
"Faster," Kaelen dismissed him with a wave of his hand.
Drake took his leave.
Kaelen looked out the window in the direction of the Moon Shadow Courtyard, his expression a complex mixture of emotions.
A few days later, bad news came from the training grounds.
The young guard named Ulf had been maliciously and severely injured in the leg by Clara's brother during a sparring match. He was one of the guards who had escorted me to the North. The physician diagnosed that his leg was crippled; he would never be able to run and fight as he once had.
In Winterfang, that meant being exiled to fend for himself.
I remembered him. On the long journey north, though he had been gruff, he had also been the one to share half a piece of dry bread with me. Without him and Hakon, I might have died on the way.
I couldn't bear to let it happen.
That night, with Liam's help and cover, I snuck into the simple medical tent in the guards' barracks. Ulf was lying on a straw mat, his face ashen.
When he saw us, his face filled with contempt.
"Well, if it isn't our 'honorable' Luna and Lord Liam," he sneered. "What? Here to announce the date of my banishment?"
"Ulf," Liam frowned. "Aila is here to help you."
"Help me?" Ulf laughed as if he'd heard the world's greatest joke. "With what? A southern half-blood who can't even shift? Don't be ridiculous. I'd rather be thrown out with this broken leg."
I stopped Liam from saying more and looked at Ulf calmly.
"You're right," I said. "I am a half-blood who can't shift. But right now, I'm the only one who can give you two choices."
"One, you can continue to lie here and make snide remarks, and be thrown out of the castle as useless trash first thing tomorrow morning to fend for yourself."
"Or two," I paused, enunciating each word, "you can shut your mouth and let me try. The worst that can happen is the first option."
Ulf was silenced by my words. He looked at me, then at Liam, and finally lay back down reluctantly, his face full of doubt and disdain.
"Don't be afraid," I told him. "Trust me."
I summoned nearly all my strength, focusing all the moonlight power in my hands. A silver light enveloped his mangled leg. The process was a hundred times more difficult than healing a small animal. Sweat soaked my clothes, and I nearly collapsed from exhaustion.
When the light faded, the wound, which had been deep enough to see bone, had miraculously healed for the most part.
Ulf stared at his leg in shock. He tried to stand, to move it. The arrogant man from moments ago was now filled with nothing but incredulous joy.
He dropped to one knee before me with a thud.
"My Luna," his voice trembled. "Ulf will never forget your kindness! From this day on, my life is yours!"
A warmth spread through my chest. For the first time, I felt I was no longer a useless "offering."
However, just as I, exhausted from the healing, was being helped back to the Moon Shadow Courtyard by Liam, a cold figure was already waiting for me at my door.
It was Drake.
Liam's face changed slightly when he saw him. "Drake, what are you doing here?"
"Lord Liam," Drake gave a slight nod in greeting. "I am here under the Alpha's orders to deliver a command."
His gaze shifted to me, as cold as ice.
"Miss Aila," he said in his usual detached tone, "the Alpha has a command."
"What is it?" I asked, forcing myself to stand straight.
Drake looked at me, then glanced at Liam, who was supporting me.
"From tonight onwards, you will 'serve' the Alpha in his chambers every night. Until… he gives a new command."
He then held up a silver bowl filled with a dark black liquid.
"This is the 'Soul-Forgetting Potion.' Drink it."
I felt as if I had been struck by lightning. The blood in my veins seemed to freeze.
Liam's face went deathly pale. He took a step forward, about to say something, but was stopped by a warning look from Drake.
The beautiful moments I had just shared with Liam, the sense of worth I had just gained from saving a life—all of it was shattered by Kaelen's cruel and tyrannical command.
He knew.
He must have known about Liam and me.
This was no coincidence. This was his premeditated, most vicious revenge.