Chapter 3

Kaitlin's POV

Phillip looked up, his brow furrowing.

I read his expression. He hadn't expected me in a place like this.

I shifted my gaze and said flatly, "I'm patrolling the border."

The young wolf guards trailing them burst into laughter.

"Patrolling?"

"Luna, you sure you can cover the whole border?"

"Don't break a leg out here. Healers don't fight."

Their laughter carried raw provocation.

After Phillip publicly rejected my plea to be marked at the feast, everyone knew I was a hollow Luna. They showed me no respect.

Phillip's knuckles tightened. "The border's dangerous. If you get hurt..."

Rosalyn chimed in softly, "Don't scold Kaitlin. She's just trying to help."

Her gentle tone only fueled more snickers.

"Can't blame folks for talking, Rosalyn. Your sister's got no skills."

"Twins, huh? She doesn't look it. Her face is too... plain."

Since my return, Rosalyn claimed credit for the healing potions I developed.

No one believed my explanations. Our parents declared Rosalyn and me twin sisters, but I was raised by a poor couple for ten years, with no formal education.

Rosalyn's expression grew tense.

I gave her a cold glance, choosing not to expose her. I was leaving soon and had no interest in verbal sparring.

I turned and headed deeper into the borderlands.

Rosalyn's soft laughter echoed behind me. "I heard there's a Silver-maned Moon Deer here. Legend says only fated mates can hunt it together. Gift it to your beloved, and you'll never part."

...

Half an hour later, the sky darkened, and heavy rain poured over the border forest.

I quickly recalled the wolf guards to retreat.

Back at the tent, I found Rosalyn and the guards in a frantic huddle-Phillip was missing.

My brow tightened. "What happened?"

Tears streamed down Rosalyn's face. "Phillip... he got separated from us!"

Sobbing, she explained that Nicolas saw a Silver-maned Moon Deer and chased it alone despite the rain. They lost him and couldn't find him.

My heart sank. "Rain brings fog to this forest, and predators come out at night. Is he insane?"

One guard sneered sharply. "What's with the shouting? You gonna sprout wings and fly to him? Other guards are searching. A patrol team arrives in two hours. You're no help."

I unfastened the seal on my wrist, a custom restraint from my foster parents, and shifted into my wolf form-twice as large as they'd seen before.

My claws sank into the wet mud, body low. "I'm going to save him."

In a flash, I became a white streak, vanishing into the fog.

The guards behind me stood stunned. "Damn! How'd her wolf get so big? That speed?"

...

I lived on the border for two years as a child and patrolled it as Phillip's Luna, so I knew the terrain well.

Saving Phillip wasn't just personal. As the tribe's Alpha, he stabilized the rear.

When I was first reclaimed by my family, Rosalyn and I were kidnapped by the Ember Tribe.

In that crisis, my parents chose Rosalyn without hesitation, leaving me to die. As a silver blade descended, Phillip broke through and shielded me.

He was wounded, the silver poison seeping into his flesh, nearly fatal.

I owed him that life.

The rain didn't stop. I raced through the forest, following his scent, and found Phillip in a silver mine pit.

Bloodied and collapsed, he clutched a fainted Silver-maned Moon Deer, murmuring, "Rosalyn... for you..."

An icy spike pierced my heart.

He'd risk his life for a hollow gesture?

I gave a cold laugh but hoisted him onto my back to carry him from the mine.

As I stepped out, dark figures emerged in the forest-patrol soldiers from the Ember Tribe!