Elara POV
Ever since my fiancé, Ryland Ashford, the Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack, reconnected with his first love, Selene Hawthorne, he forbade me from keeping flowers. His hatred for them seemed to grow stronger each day as if the very sight of a bloom disgusted him.
One stormy night, I was bound and gagged and taken into a dilapidated cabin at the edge of Darkwood Forest, a known hideout for rogue wolves. The rogue wolves that captured me forced me to call Ryland.
“Ryland, the flowers in the garden are dying. Please, can you hurry to the woods near the East River and bring back some fresh seeds?”
But Ryland didn’t sense anything unusual instead he yelled at me. "How many times have I told you not to grow flowers? Selene’s allergic to pollen! Do you even care why she ended up in the pack hospital? How can you be so selfish?”
I heard a soft feminine voice in the background but before I could say anything else, he ended the call.
The next day, sacks marked with a silver paw print were scattered all over Crescent Moon Pack. One sack was left at the front gate of the packhouse, where our Alpha held his daily meetings.
Ryland was urgently called back to investigate.
It took him three agonizing days and nights to piece together the contents of those sacks. When he finally did, he realized it was me—his fiancée, the woman he had been bonded to since childhood.
When Ryland arrived at the packhouse, he still had the colourful ribbons used to celebrate Selene’s recent recovery around him.
“When was the first sack discovered?” he asked with a sour expression.
“It was a member of the patrol team,” responded Ethan, the Beta of our pack. “He found the first one outside the eastern gate. At first, he thought it was a sack of deer meat, maybe a rogue wolf’s kill, and was going to take it home. Later, he caught the scent of werewolf blood and brought it here."
"This is a direct challenge to our pack!" Ryland snarled, his fists clenching beside him. “Whoever did this wants war.”
In addition to the sack found at the Packhouse entrance, a dozen more of varying sizes were discovered and brought in. Ryland's brow furrowed, this was an unusual case. Whoever had done this was ruthless.
"The damage is severe," Ryland muttered, "Piecing it together will be a challenge.”
News of the incident spread like wildfire through Crescent Moon, setting the entire pack on the edge. The Pack council and elders were demanding that the culprits be found swiftly. The attack wasn’t just a mere attack, it was an open challenge to the authority of our pack, and an attempt to break the unity Ryland and his Beta Ethan had worked so hard to maintain.
Beta Ethan was the one who relayed the message of the council with a deep sigh. “Alpha Ryland, the entire pack knows your autopsy skills are the best in the regions. The Elders and the council have given you 72 hours to find the culprits and deliver justice. Everyone is hoping for a quick resolution…”Beta Ethan trailed off, giving Ryland another sympathetic look.
"Your Joining ceremony with Elara is just around the corner, and we're interrupting your preparation time. I'm sorry for the inconvenience."
At the mention of the ceremony and my name, Ryland’s eyes darkened with disdain as disgust and contempt flashed in them. “There's no way I’m going through with the Joining Ceremony with Elara. Don’t ever mention that name to me again!”
My spirit hovered nearby, feeling the weight of his words sink into the very core of me. Even after death, I could still feel the ache of his rejection.
Ryland had changed the moment Selene returned to the pack. Once, he had been kind, and loyal, the man I thought I would spend the rest of my life with. But Selene’s reappearance poisoned his heart, turning him against me.
When Selene was first admitted to the pack hospital due to her pollen allergy, his disgust for me grew. He lost interest in our Joining Ceremony preparations. He took time off from his duties as Alpha, not for me, but for Selene. He spent every waking moment by her bedside, tending to her needs while our bond slowly fizzled out.
The night I was kidnapped, I received a breakup text from him and he had rejected me through our mind link. When my body was discovered, he was celebrating Selene’s discharge from the pack hospital. He didn’t even have the decency to reject me in my face and break up our bond. Throwing away years of friendship since childhood along with our relationship as if they had meant nothing to him.
If he knew the body he was about to piece together was mine, that I was the reason his Joy over Selene’s recovery was interrupted, he would despise me even more.
Beta Ethan was stunned for a moment, then let out a chuckle. “We’ve all been there. Any misunderstanding can be cleared up if you talk to her. You should do that, you’ll see it’ll help.”
“There’s no misunderstanding, Ethan,” Ryland snapped. “Elara has always been manipulative and scheming. Always making herself the victim. She fooled everyone, but not me. Now, I can see her for what she is.”
His words cut through me like the cold wind, leaving a hollow in my chest. Even after death, I couldn’t escape being bad-mouthed by him or escape the pain he caused me.
I had once dreamed of a future where Ryland and I would rule the Crescent Moon Pack together, side by side, as Alpha and Luna, but now, that dream was buried—along with the pieces of my body that had been strewn across the pack territory.
To Ryland, I was nothing but a forgotten memory from his past that he wished to erase from his life. And yet, as I watched him, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was still a part of him that would mourn me—if he knew the truth.
Chapter 2 The case from twenty years ago...Elara POV
When Ryland mentioned me, the anger and disgust in his eyes were unmistakable. Before Beta Ethan could say anything else, Ryland had already turned on his heel and started towards the pack hospital.
Seventy-two hours might not seem like a challenge for Ryland, given his reputation as an Intelligent Alpha with enhanced senses and skills but as Ryland pieced together the clue, his frown deepened.
Both canine teeth were missing from the victim's mouth, and the remaining teeth had been filed down, making dental identification impossible. Ryland sighed deeply at the corpse.
“The victim was a she-wolf, probably between twenty-three and twenty-eight years old,” Ryland said, his voice filled with exhaustion. “There are multiple claw marks throughout the body, about one hundred and eight minor wounds. But what killed her were two severe blows directly to the heart.”
He paused…
Ryland's eyes flickered all over my body as he continued, "Of all the body parts collected, two canine teeth are missing. The remaining teeth have residual traces of wolfsbane, making identification difficult."
Beta Ethan frowned as the gravity of the situation dawned on him. “This is unbelievable, Ryland. How can anyone in the pack – anyone with our blood – be capable of such cruelty? I swear by the moon, I’ll hunt them down and bring them to justice myself.”
Ryland straightened; his face filled with exhaustion as he added. “It’s not just the killing, Beta, the method of killing is similar to ancient werewolf torture techniques. Based on the condition of the wounds, whoever did this act, did it while the victim was still conscious. It's equivalent to being skinned alive during a forced transformation to your wolf."
“What?” Beta Ethan’s eyes widened with shock.
“Yes!” Ryland sighed “Whoever did this wanted to delay our investigation, and they knew exactly how to do it.”
Upon hearing this, Beta Ethan immediately rushed out of the Pack Lab, ordering the pack warriors to intensify the search and not let any suspect escape. Such a dehumanizing method, coupled with the knowledge of how to delay the investigation, suggested that whoever had done it had likely committed this same act before.
Not just that, the perpetrator knew the territory, knew the pack’s routines and had taken their time to carry out the murder. It felt personal.
Ryland also remembered that this method of killing was similar to a case in Crescent Moon Pack twenty years ago, during the Great Pack War. Was it the same person? He wondered.
I watched from the corner of the room, my ghost body floating in the air as I remembered how I had died.
From the moment I was taken, my body had been chained in silver chains that burned my skin, restricting my wolf’s ability to heal me. Not just that, a silver-laced gag was stuffed in my mouth as they carved out my skin with a silver blade as if they were trying to make a sculpted figure of me.
It was a woman – yes, I remember that much. With each cut she would spray wolfsbane-infused water on it, making me cry out in agony.
To delay the investigations, she had submerged my hands in a smoking liquid laced with silver particles. The intense burning sensation caused me to faint. But she wasn't satisfied. She had someone splash me with ice-cold mountain spring water to wake me up and continue to torture me in different ways, but I still stared at her intently, refusing to give her the satisfaction of seeing me broken.
She had ordered someone to strike my chest with a silver-tipped hammer and had laughed with satisfaction – a sound that would haunt me even in death. Only when she saw I was no longer moving or breathing that she stop. She then placed me on a rolling operating table made of cold iron, further suppressing any lingering werewolf healing abilities.
I had been in so much pain… so much that my body finally gave up the ghost.
Back to the Pack Lab, Ryland suddenly frowned as he picked up my hand to examine it closely. His eyes flickered with something close to recognition as he lifted my lifeless hand. My heart skipped a beat. Did he recognize it? Did he know it was me?
On my eighteenth birthday, he had given me a moonstone bracelet. It had both of our initials engraved on it, along with tiny paw prints. He had put it on my wrist, a symbol of the bond we shared. He had placed it on my wrist with such care, such affection, back when things were different—before Selene returned to our lives and tore us apart.
But that bracelet was gone. Ripped away by the woman who had taken my life. She had sneered when she yanked it from my wrist, telling me I didn’t deserve it, that Ryland was never mine to begin with and I was unworthy of being part of the pack.
Now, all that was left were the deep, jagged, silver cuts on my wrists. There was no trace of the bracelet, no sign of the love that had once existed between Ryland and me.
With a thoughtful look on his face, Ryland left the pack Lab, heading to the pack’s archives. It didn’t take him long to find the file he was looking for.
He pulled out a worn folder, marked with a date from twenty years ago [The Crescent Pack Full Moon Massacre].
The similarities were too much to ignore. The method of torture, the missing canine teeth, the wolfsbane-laced wounds, the silver-induced injuries – The exact way it had happened twenty years ago.
The previous group of Rogues responsible for that murder were caught one month after the incident and in the process, our pack had lost two of its finest warriors – my parents.
My parents had both been respected members of the Crescent Moon pack and had sacrificed their lives to hunt down those rogues responsible for the murders. But by the time other warriors from the pack arrived on the scene. My parents were already lying in a pool of blood, their bodies covered in countless minor cuts and fatal wounds.
Just like me.
But would Ryland ever realize that? Would he ever piece together the truth, that the woman he was investigating was the very one he had pushed aside, the one he had cast away for someone else?
I doubted it.
Chapter 3 Rejected by my mateElara POV
After my parents' death, I was taken in by Ryland's family.
Back then, Ryland had been more than just a friend to me. He was like an older brother to me, always there when I needed him comforting me when I had nightmares and caring for me. As pups, he even gave me his most prized possession—a hand-carved wolf figurine his father had made for him. I cherished it, the way he cherished me.
Later, when Ryland’s father, the former Alpha – Gregory Ashford was killed in an inter-pack rival dispute, the two of us were left to rely on each other. While Ryland was thrust into the leadership of the Crescent Moon Pack far too soon.
When I had first gotten my wolf and had struggled with my first transformation during a full moon, feverish and calling out for my parents in my delirium, Liam stayed by my side day and night, helping me through the painful process never leaving until I finally transformed. He was my rock, my protector. But things were different now.
It all changed when Selene, his first love, entered our lives. She was breathtaking, a high-ranking she-wolf from another pack, and suddenly, I became invisible to Ryland. The bond we’d shared for twenty years was severed in an instant.
As soon as Selene moved into the packhouse, she fell ill. She couldn’t breathe, gasping for air as her wolf fought to heal her. The healers had said she was suffering from a severe reaction to the flowers and herbs I kept and nurtured in the packhouse garden.
Ryland immediately blamed me and my obsession with flowers. He said I’d been reckless, that I’d endangered Selene’s life on purpose. No matter how many times I explained that it was a mistake and that I hadn’t meant any harm, he wouldn’t listen. He was convinced I had caused Selene to fall sick.
I couldn't understand how twenty years of pack loyalty and trust could shatter instantly because of someone he had just reunited with.
Twenty years of affection and trust—gone. All because of her.
We had been planning to have our Joining Ceremony at the end of the year. We’d already started preparing. I’d even begun looking for a dress, thinking of the day Ryland would claim me as his mate. But after that incident with Selene, he never mentioned it again. The plans were forgotten as easily as I had been.
The last time I saw Ryland in person was when I went to the seamstress to try on my ceremonial gown. He didn’t come, saying he was too busy with pack business. I should have known then that things would never be the same.
Now, here he was, standing over my body in the pack’s lab. His expression was cold, and distant, as though I were a stranger to him.
"Check under her fingernails for DNA," Ryland said, placing my hands in a silver-lined bag and sending them to the lab. I wanted to scream at him. "There is! There is! I left evidence behind!" But no matter how many times I appeared in front of him, he passed right through me.
I floated there helplessly, tears sliding down my ghostly cheeks. I had always believed death would bring peace, but I was wrong. Even in death, I could still feel pain, sadness, and heartbreak.
“Keep an eye on any reports of missing wolves, especially females,” Ryland instructed Beta Ethan “We need to figure out who she was.”
“Alpha, the blood samples are already on their way to the neighbouring pack lab,” Ethan replied. “They’ve got better and more advanced machines than we do. Results should be back in two days.”
Ryland nodded, running a hand through his dishevelled hair. “Let me know when the results come in. I have other matters to attend to. I have to go now.”
With that, he removed his uniform jacket and stormed out of the pack lab, rushing into the pouring rain as he headed toward the healer’s quarters where Selene was recovering.
I followed him, my ethereal form drifting behind like a shadow.
“Alpha Ryland,” A voice called out from across the field. It was Rose, the pack’s head healer, she was walking towards him, holding an umbrella. “Have you heard from Elara? Most of our herb supply in the pack hospital is running low and she usually brings some over. I even called her some hours ago and she promised to come.”
Ever since Ryland won’t let me grow herbs and flowers at the packhouse, I’ve been keeping a small garden at Rose’s place to help the sick patients. Every week, I make sure to deliver fresh herbs and flowers to the Pack Hospital.
Ryland’s face darkened at the mention of my name. “I don’t know. She hasn’t come to see me.”
Rose frowned, her wrinkled face filled with concern. “Alpha, is everything all right between you two? Did you fight with her? Elara usually answers her calls and I know how much she worries about these patients at the Pack Hospital. Maybe you should give her a call – send her a mindlink or something and just ask.”
Rose was one of the oldest healers in the pack and had watched me and Ryland grow up. She was like a grandmother to both of us.
I had prepared a large batch of Healing flowers and Herbs but I couldn’t deliver it anymore. I could tell Rose could sense something was wrong, not just between me and Ryland but with me even if she didn’t understand what.
Ryland’s expression grew more displeased, but he restrained himself because it was Rose he was speaking to.
“Elara and I have rejected each other,” he said, his voice strained with forced patience. “We’re not together anymore and I don’t want to hear or talk about her.”
“Is this because of Selene?” Rose asked her voice gentle but firm. “Elara told me about her. You know, Ryland, you two…”
“Forget it, Rose!” Ryland interrupted, with a sharp tone. “It doesn’t matter anymore what she said. I have pack business to attend to, goodbye.”
With that, he ran past Rose to a nearby clearing where rare moon flowers grew, the only blooms Selene wasn't allergic to.
I watched him from the corner of the clearing, my heart aching in ways I didn’t know were still possible. He used to bring flowers to me too. But now, all that was left between us was silence and regret.