Leighton scoffed. He didn't even fully wolf-shift; he simply waved his hand with immense ease. A colossal, brutal, nearly destructive Alpha force struck the flickering shield like a heavy hammer!
"Pfft—!" Mara suddenly spat out a massive mouthful of blood. "Mara—!" Erica let out a heart-wrenching, desperate wail, struggling to rush toward her.
In that moment, all color drained from my world. Leighton's cold, cruel gaze was locked on me again. I bent down quickly, using every ounce of my remaining strength to lift the screaming, struggling Erica, and without hesitation, I leaped out the back window. I landed on the cold, rough ground, stumbled a few steps, and then ran madly toward the distant, pitch-black forest—the forbidden woods rumored to be home to exiles and dark creatures.
The night wind cut my face like a cold knife. Erica's desperate crying and the sound of the pursuers' footsteps and howls grew closer, like the background noise of the deepest nightmare.
I could feel Leighton's powerful, cold presence locking onto me. He wasn't rushing to catch us; he seemed to be enjoying this hopeless cat-and-mouse game, appreciating our final, dying struggles.
The chaotic power I had newly gained barely gave me a slight boost in speed and stamina.
I ran with all my might toward the depths of the forest, which represented a slim chance of survival.
Suddenly, a dark figure darted out from the side, moving incredibly fast! He didn't attack me directly but delivered a brutal kick to the back of my supporting leg!
"Ah!" I grunted, completely losing my balance. I fell heavily with Erica, tumbling several times before stopping, my face, and hair covered in dirt.
A tall, strongly built wolf warrior with a cold, hard face stood in front of us. It was Stone, Leighton's most loyal head guard. Then, one by one, cold-eyed figures quickly emerged from the surrounding shadows. They completely encircled us, cutting off every escape route.
Leighton slowly walked up from behind, his steps calm. He looked down at us, messy and defeated on the ground, his eyes filled with contempt and arrogance. He slowly knelt, pinching my chin with two fingers, forcing me to look up. "Taming the Moon-Eater Stone? Sucking the energy back? That's quite impressive, Sophia. Who gave you the courage to touch what you shouldn't? And who gave you the false idea that you could escape from my hands, Leighton Silvermane's hands?"
His fingers squeezed hard, making my jawbone crackle with bone-aching pain.
"Pah!" I spat a mouthful of saliva towards Leighton's face. "I am not afraid of you, Leighton! Your evil plot will fail!"
"SLAP!" Leighton backhanded me with a loud smack, wiping away my spit.
"Still talking tough! Take them back." He shoved me away hard and stood up. "The full moon ceremony today will be the perfect chance for all the Pack members to see with their own eyes just how crazy, dangerous, and… pathetically worthless their former Luna is now."
I was roughly dragged up from the ground, cold shackles locking my wrists. Erica was also pulled up, her hands bound behind her back by another guard.
"Move!" A rough voice urged. I took one last look at the pitch-black forest, so close yet so impossibly far.
The Sacred Altar Square of the Silver Moon Pack had never held such a vast and silent crowd.
Almost every member of the Pack had gathered here, standing in a dense, dark mass under the cold, sad moonlight. The air was thick with a fear that had been forcibly suppressed by a powerful Alpha's pressure.
The massive bonfire in the center of the square crackled and danced at night.
I stood before the altar, my hands, and feet bound with heavy silver shackles that suppressed a wolf's power. I was dressed in a rough, plain grey sackcloth prison dress. Erica had been forcibly taken away, and I didn't know where she was being held.
Leighton stood high up on the Sacred Altar, dressed in the silver ceremonial robe that symbolized the Alpha's supreme power. His hair was perfectly neat, and his handsome face looked utterly majestic and cold in the flickering firelight. Julia stood slightly behind him, wearing a rich Luna gown that was clearly made quickly but still extremely lavish, its fabric smooth and jewels sparkling. Her face showed barely contained triumph.
"My pack members!" Leighton's voice was amplified by magic, echoing clearly over the silent square. "Today, we gather here not to celebrate harvest and unity, but to judge! To reveal a pitiful truth and to cleanse the poisonous growth that has crept beneath our pack's glory and corrupted our foundations!"
All eyes, whether showing pity, doubt, coldness, or curiosity, focused on me. I had once protected them, fought and bled for them, and now I was displayed like a sideshow monster, enduring silent torture.
"Our former Luna, Sophia," Leington raised his hand and pointed directly at me, his voice full of disappointment. "She lost the Moon Goddess's favor, and she failed to live up to all your trust! Years of power and comfort have poisoned her mind, making her obsessed, insane, and even… causing her to fall into darkness!"
He paused dramatically. "Out of jealousy and baseless fear—fear of her failing power, fear of the rightful challenge brought by a younger, stronger bloodline—she secretly practiced the forbidden ancient black magic! She tried to use the most wicked means to harm me, your Alpha, and the kind, selfless future Luna, Julia! She even attempted to kidnap her daughter, betray the Pack, and run away to join our dark enemies!"
A controlled, sharp gasp rippled through the crowd. Fear and suspicion began to spread. Several highly respected elders stood behind Leighton with serious faces, nodding slightly, agreeing with all his accusations. They truly had all been bought or threatened by him, joining forces to create this cage for me.
"The evidence is here!" Leighton slammed his hand down, his voice final. A guard immediately brought forward a silver tray covered with black velvet, holding the black rune stones taken from our rooms! "These evil Moon-Eater Stones are the clearest proof of her wickedness and betrayal! She didn't just use this forbidden thing herself; she used it to poison her daughter, Erica! This is why the child is still unconscious today!"
He was twisting the truth! How utterly shameless! Boundless rage burned away my last shred of sanity. I snapped my head up. "You liar! It's all slander! It's all lies! Leighton! This is all your plot! You used these stones to poison us! You want to steal Erica's right to be the heir!"
My voice was rough from pain and anger, but it carried clearly across the entire square.
A slight disturbance stirred the crowd. A vicious look crossed Leighton's face, but it was quickly masked by a performance of deep "sorrow": "Look! Even now, she is stubborn, still trying to blame her Alpha with ridiculous lies! Trying to confuse the facts! This proves how completely insane and hopeless she is!"
He walked step by step down from the altar, stopping directly in front of me. He looked down on me as if a god judging an insect, his voice icy: "Sophia Silvermane, based on your unforgivable crimes—betraying the Pack, practicing black magic, attempting to harm the future Luna, and kidnapping the heir—I, Leighton Silvermane, Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack, hereby announce: I permanently take away your Luna title and all your honors! And I sentence you to eternal imprisonment in the lightless Black Stone Dungeon until the end of your days!"
Julia stepped forward gracefully, wearing that false look of pity: "Oh, poor Sophia… even though you hurt me so cruelly, I promise, as the new Luna, I will be merciful. I will 'care for' Erica well. After all, that child still carries Leighton's noble blood…"
"You tramp! You won't touch her! Stay away from my daughter!" I let out the most agonizing howl of a mother wolf, struggling desperately forward, but the two strong guards behind me held my shoulders tight. I could only strain uselessly.
Leighton scoffed. "As for Erica, she will undergo a full 'purification' and 're-education' by the Elder Council, hoping to wash away the… taint of wickedness and weak bloodline she inherited from her mother."
No! What did they want to do to my daughter?! What was this "purification" and "re-education"?! In the Pack's history, that often meant brainwashing, psychological torment, or even darker, more horrible things!
Anger and despair made my entire body shake violently, and the strong taste of blood filled my mouth. The metallic, rusty flavor was the only truth I could sense.
Leighton seemed to think I hadn't been humiliated enough. He spoke coldly to the guard standing nearby: "Following the Pack's most ancient tradition, remove the last Luna Mark from her. Make her fade into nothing."
A guard with a blank expression walked up, holding a brazier with glowing charcoal. In it was an iron rod, burned red hot, with a special wolf-head symbol on the tip—this was no ordinary tool for pain. It was a magical tool specifically designed to erase the magic marks representing a wolf's special status and bond! In front of all the Pack members, he was going to use the most shameful, cruel method to wipe out the last symbol of my existence, crushing me completely into the dust.
The crowd was deathly silent. A chilling stillness spread. Some people couldn't bear to watch and looked down or away.
That red-hot iron came closer and closer. The intense heat felt like it was already burning my skin. My breath was stuck; only the fire's crackle and the terrified pounding of my heart filled the awful silence.
Just as the guard was about to press the scorching metal against my neck, I snapped my head back and shouted a single word that everyone could hear:
"Stop!"
The word wasn't a desperate plea; it was a fierce command. The guard froze instantly, the red iron hanging just inches from my face.
Leighton, who had been watching, jerked his head toward me, his eyes blazing with shock and rage. He had only expected me to beg.
"What did you say, pathetic woman?" His voice was a low, dangerous snarl.
"I said stop, Leighton! You are not allowed to do this!" I lifted my chin, staring him down. My voice was weak from pain but filled with a sudden, strange strength. "You can lie and take my title, but you cannot burn away the Luna Mark! Not like this, not today!"
Leighton's face turned instantly dark. He unleashed a massive burst of pure Alpha dominance, a force so strong it felt like a physical wall hitting the square.
The force threw the surrounding pack members to the ground, and even the guards holding me cried out and stumbled. But I stood my ground. The weird, dark power from the Moon-Eater Stones deep inside me flared up, acting as a shield against his pressure.
I held his furious gaze. "You cannot finish me with this cruelty! Not when you signed the marriage contract yourself, Alpha!"
My words caught him off guard, stopping his rage cold. I pushed on, speaking with desperate, quick certainty.
"The old marriage deal, witnessed by the Elders, is clear! To completely wipe out the Luna Mark, you need more than just the Council's word! You require a formal okay from my original pack, the Black River Clan! And you need a public agreement from the Lycan King's authority!"
I knew the old Pack rule was real. I took a chance, gambling that Leighton, in his rush to hurt me, had skipped the full process.
"My Mark still holds a legal tie to the Black River Clan! If you burn it now, without their consent, you will break the Ancient Law! You will start a war with the Black River Alpha!"
A wave of nervous whispers spread through the crowd. The Black River Pack was known to be huge and aggressive. The threat of a Pack War was a fear that even Leighton could not ignore.
Leighton's face became tight, the rage quickly replaced by a cold, dangerous calculation. He knew I was right; the ancient law stood in his way. He couldn't risk a war just to destroy me right now.
The oldest wolf on the Council, Elder Rhen, coughed nervously.
"Alpha," Rhen said, his voice quiet but serious. "She is correct. The final breaking of the Black River bond is still in the works. Doing this now would be… dangerous for our stability. The Council says you must pause this part of the sentence."
Leighton stared hard at the Elder, his eyes promising revenge later. But he was smart enough to back down. He snatched the hot iron rod from the trembling guard and threw it into the bonfire. It vanished with a low thud.
"Fine," Leighton spat out, locking eyes with me. "You use a silly, old law to save yourself, Sophia. I will respect your contract."
He turned back to the crowd, his voice booming with authority. "The sentence is changed! Sophia Silvermane loses all titles, but the final Mark removal is delayed until the legal paperwork is done. Until then, she will be locked away in the Black Stone Dungeon."
Leighton's gaze was ice as he looked at the guards. "Take her away! Now!"