Chapter 4

"Take the Luna throne? I swear, the first thing I do when I wake up is exile this woman!" Caleb's soul roared.

But he suddenly stopped.

His tall translucent frame froze. A rare flash of pure panic crossed his dark gold eyes.

"Wait... Silver poison causes memory loss." He whipped his head around, his long fingers curling into tight fists. "What if I wake up... and lose my soul's memories?"

I stood there frozen, holding my burning cheek.

"Maya, listen to me!" He lunged closer, his phantom hands gripping my shoulders. His tone was almost frantic. "If I don't remember, you are not allowed to back down! You have to prove to me at all costs that you were the one I held every night! Do you hear me?!"

I lowered my eyes and didn't speak.

Prove it? With what?

I didn't care who he pinned down, nor did I care who got to be the glorious Luna.

I only cared about my five million dollars.

I thought Diana, as the Luna of the territory, would step up and seek justice.

But I vastly underestimated Stella's shamelessness.

The next day, Stella fell straight to her knees in front of Diana, crying her eyes out.

"Luna Diana, Caleb is the future King of the North!" Stella clung to Diana's dress, sobbing. "If outsiders find out a cursed she-wolf crawled naked into his bed every night, where is the territory's pride? To protect the reputation of the engaged couple, we must tell the public that I was the one fulfilling my mate duties all along!"

Diana went silent.

In this massive pack, politics and pride always overpowered the truth.

That afternoon, Diana called me to her study.

She couldn't look me in the eye.

"Maya, I'm sorry for doing you wrong." She handed me a check. Her tone was awkward but left no room for argument. "This is a generous compensation. But what happened these past six months stays buried."

I looked down at the number on the check.

One hundred thousand dollars.

Compared to my private island estate and five million dollars, it was a massive joke.

But I was used to swallowing my pride.

In this family, I had zero leverage to fight back.

Faced with the power of the entire territory, I could only accept my fate.

I stuffed the check into my pocket and nodded numbly.

"Are you crazy?!"

Caleb's soul glared at me furiously.

"You're just going to hand me over to someone else? You greedy, stupid woman! Even if it's just for the five million, couldn't you fight for me?!"

I answered coldly in my heart: No. I can't beat them.

Before the six months were up, Caleb's body fully recovered.

One early morning, I woke up with a start on that big bed.

It was empty next to me.

The translucent soul that hovered by the bed every night, chattering at me and staring at my body with aggressive eyes, was gone.

And beside me, the heartbeat of that hot body was beating stronger than ever.

He was waking up!

I immediately pressed the emergency call button by the bed.

In just minutes, the once-quiet bedroom was packed.

The doctor, Diana, pack elders, my impatient sister Stella, and my sycophantic parents all rushed in.

In the incredibly tense silence, the top Alpha on the bed twitched his fingers.

Then, he slowly opened his eyes.

Those dark gold eyes radiated a chilling light.

Stella couldn't wait another second.

She roughly shoved me out of the way and threw herself at the bed.

"Caleb! You're finally awake!"

She grabbed Caleb's hand, acting like she was the victim of some great injustice.

"Do you know how scared I was these past six months? Every night, I risked everything, took off my clothes, held you tight, and risked getting bitten to cool you down and cure your poison... Thank the Moon Goddess, my sacrifice finally paid off!"

Everyone was moved. The elders nodded in approval.

My parents proudly straightened their backs, as if they already saw endless wealth and glory.

I stood at the outer edge of the crowd, staring hard at Caleb's face.

Please, deny it.

Tell everyone she's a liar, and give me back my five million.

However, Caleb only frowned slightly.

He looked at Stella throwing herself at him.

In those commanding eyes, there was only confusion.

My heart sank to the bottom.

It's over. It's all over.

He really lost his memory.

"You cursed freak, what are you still standing here for?"

My mother turned around, shoved me hard, and warned me fiercely in a low voice.

"Are you trying to ruin your sister's happiness? Stop embarrassing us and get out!"

"Stop making a scene, get out." My father looked disgusted too, pushing and pulling me toward the door.

I bit my lower lip so hard I tasted copper.

This was my fate.

I lowered my head and turned around in resignation.

Just as my hand was about to touch the doorknob.

The Alpha on the bed suddenly spoke.