Chapter 2

I stared at the betrothal rejection letter for ten agonizing seconds.

[Unfit to Pair.]

The screenshot was being forwarded everywhere in the Northern Coalition's chat groups.

"Damian made the right call by dumping her."

"Seriously. Shaking off a broken Alpha heir is a total win."

"I heard Kira is so fat now she can’t even shift. Her power level is literally zero."

Right after that, a photo was leaked.

It was taken six months after I was poisoned.

Back then, I weighed 180 pounds. My hospital gown was stretched to its limits as I sat on the clinic bed, staring blankly down at a half-eaten sandwich.

The person who leaked the photo was Jax, Damian’s personal guard.

Three years ago, that same guard had stood respectfully in my family's living room when Damian came to propose.

"Kira, as soon as you come of age, we will officially merge our packs," Damian had said back then. "An alliance between the Frostmane Pack and the Blackwood Pack will secure the entire North."

I hadn't replied at the time.

But now, the gossip in the Blackwood Pack was vicious.

"Oh my god, look at her. She’ll never shift again with that body."

"An Alpha heir? She’s weaker than an omega right now."

"We should strip the Blackwood Pack of their invitation. She’s going to embarrass the entire North."

Damian even released a public statement on his Instagram story, sighing.

"I was put in a very difficult position. But everyone can see the current state of the Blackwood Pack."

It sounded like a helpless sigh, but it was a calculated move to stamp my dignity into the dirt.

My fingers turned ice-cold.

We had been engaged for two years.

When he was injured during training, I climbed dangerous, snow-covered peaks overnight to harvest medicinal herbs for him.

When his pack faced an internal rebellion, I begged my dad to use the Blackwood Pack's influence to stabilize his position.

When his father was on his deathbed, I stayed by the old Alpha’s side, nursing him for an entire week.

Even when my wolf fell into a deep coma, I didn't resent him.

Because he had held my hand and promised:

"Kira, no matter what happens, I will always stand by you."

"When the Lunar Gala comes, we will announce our wedding date to the world."

Yet, before the Lunar Gala even began, he delivered a rejection letter.

A betting pool quickly went live in the Coalition's Snapchat group.

[Will Kira Blackwood attend this year's Lunar Gala?]

The odds against me kept climbing.

The amount of money betting on me cowardly staying home exceeded one hundred thousand dollars.

Damian directly placed a fifty-thousand-dollar bet on "No."

"There's no way she’ll show up," he commented. "In her current state, coming would only mean public humiliation."

I finally let out a cold laugh.

So, he knew I would be humiliated.

Yet, he was still eager to watch me suffer in front of the entire werewolf high society.

Just then, Serena Winslow chimed in on the group chat.

"Guys, please don't talk about Kira like that. It’s not her fault her body changed."

She was the daughter of the Alpha of the Winslow Pack, the second-largest pack in the North.

Just two days ago, she had posted photos of herself horseback riding on Instagram—blonde hair, a flowing red dress, with a comment section full of worshipers calling her the "Goddess of the North."

She publicly tagged my dad in the group chat.

"Will Kira be attending this year? I’m just asking because I care."

It looked like genuine concern.

But she immediately followed it up with another message.

"Actually, maybe it’s better if she stays home. It would save everyone from a very awkward situation."

The group chat flooded with praise. "Serena is always so thoughtful and sweet."

I didn't bother replying. Instead, I opened my laptop and booked a flight.

Seattle to Anchorage.

I was going to be there. On time.

When the news reached the Blackwood Pack, everyone was stunned.

Damian sent a furious message to my dad.

"Is she insane?"

"The people at the Lunar Gala won’t show her any mercy."

I stood up and looked at myself in the full-length mirror.

My long dark hair fell over my shoulders, and my waist was now so small that a man could easily wrap his hands around it.

The facial features that had been bloated by the venom had fully sharpened as the poison left my system. My face was now strikingly gorgeous, almost dangerously beautiful.

More importantly, my inner wolf had awakened, and my power had restored to its peak Alpha level.

Over the past two months, as the last traces of the venom cleared, I had been stopped on the streets of Seattle by random guys trying to get my Snapchat more times than I could count.

Someone had even taken a candid photo of me in a coffee shop and posted it on TikTok with the caption: "Who is this literal goddess?"

Damian knew none of this.

Because I had wanted to save the surprise of my recovery for the night of the Lunar Gala.

But now?

He didn't deserve that surprise.

I wiped away the single stray tear from the corner of my eye and texted my dad.

"I’m coming home."