Chapter 1 First Day Out

• "Don't let me catch sight of you again. Women aren't cut out for prison."
• The guard sized me up, smoking.
• I ignored him, leaving behind Moon Fang Keep, the place that had held me captive for three years.
• The long-lost sunlight fell on my skin. Under my sleeves, my clenched fists betrayed my true feelings. I walked away trembling.
• “Julie. I’m here to take you home.”
• I lifted my head. My gaze landed on that pair of familiar yet strange father and son.
• The man was my mate, the Alpha of the Ember Hide Pack, William Jones.
• The boy was my own flesh and blood, my son, Rocco Jones.
• Three years apart, and they were still powerful; their scent thick with dominance, the pressure of people who’d spent too long at the top.
• Yet because of them, I was no longer the gentle and obedient person I used to be, wasting away day by day.
• Our eyes met, and William’s expression faltered.
• “Get in the car.”
• There wasn’t a shred of guilt in his voice. “Three years in Moon Fang Keep should’ve taught you how to behave well. Don’t challenge Pack law again.”
• Rocco frowned too, his voice young but hard.
• “Dad’s right. Aunt Ann has already forgiven you. But Mom, if you hurt her again, Dad and I will never forgive you.”
• “Forgive?” I let out a short laugh,
• "Shouldn't it be you two begging for my forgiveness?"
• Watching their expressions visibly stiffen, I continued:
• “But then again, an Alpha who personally sent his own Luna to Moon Fang Keep has the nerve to talk about forgiveness?”
• This father and son used to be my entire world.
• And three years ago, they were the ones who shoved me into hell with their own hands.
• At that banquet, Ann suddenly coughed up blood and collapsed in front of everyone.
• Clutching her mouth, pale as a sheet, she pointed a trembling finger at me
• "It was her... she poisoned my drink."
• I fell to my knees, desperately begging William to look into the waiters and the glasses.
• But he just frowned, staring at me for what felt like an eternity.
• Rocco shoved me away in disgust.
• At that moment, I laughed.
• I laughed at how stupid I’d been.
• They turned me over to the Silver Moon Tribunal on the charge of “harming the Pack member.”
• For three years, I was tortured in that prison, silver chains biting into my bones, venom wolves tearing at me.
• If my Luna blood hadn’t been stubborn, I would’ve been dead long ago.
• And now they said, as if it were nothing:
• “Rocco and I don’t mind you’ve been in jail. We’re willing to take you home and you should be grateful. Lucy is waiting. Don’t waste time.”
• “Yeah, Mom, stop making a scene.” Rocco urged.
• When I looked up again, my voice was calm. “I’m not going back with you.”
• Love and family were a joke to me now.
• A person shouldn’t fall in the same place twice.
• William narrowed his eyes, Alpha pressure pouring off him. “A Luna with a crime record, where do you think you can go without me?”
• “That’s my business.”
• I said flatly, “I’m done being a woman you keep stepping on.”
• He froze for a beat. He hadn’t expected the Julie who used to obey without question to talk back.
• Three years in prison, people can teach you countless times but you won’t learn. Life teaches you once, and it’s enough.
• I stared at that father and son, my heart cold as iron.
• “William,” I said, “let’s get a divorce.”
• “Mom, you went to prison and you still want a divorce? What will people think of you?”
• Rocco blurted it out.
• Even William went still.
• He’d assumed I’d do what I always used to do, crying, begging him to change his mind, or demanding compensation. He didn’t expect me to ask for a divorce. I used to care obsessively about how others saw me. My reputation and my family’s dignity mattered more than anything.
• Three years ago, I’d lowered myself into the dust just to stay beside them.
• Now, fresh out of Moon Fang Keep, the first thing I said was divorce.
• This transformation was a lesson I learned at the cost of blood.
• To him, though, it was just another one of my usual tricks.
• Play pitiful, fish for sympathy, and force him to soften.
• Just as the air was about to freeze solid, the butler suddenly came over, holding a little blonde girl in his arms.
• “Alpha, the pup insisted on seeing you and the madam.”
• It was my younger daughter, Lucy.
• She was only five, but she’d inherited my eyes, light brown irises, clear as spring water under moonlight.
• William’s brows drew together. “Who told you to bring her here?”
• “I came on my own.” Lucy lifted her chin, her voice baby-soft but serious.
• She wriggled free of the butler’s arms and walked toward me carefully, reaching up to tug at the edge of my clothes.
• “Mom,” she looked up, eyes wet but stubborn, “you went to prison and you want a divorce. Will people laugh at you?”
• I froze.
• In that instant, something stabbed hard into my chest.
• Her words—they were actually identical to Rocco’s.
• But her voice trembled, clean and pure.
• I crouched down, my fingers brushing gently through her hair.
• She was too little. She’d only been taught by them —a woman who’d been in Moon Fang Keep was shameful.
• I gave a hoarse little smile. “That’s Mom’s business. It has nothing to do with what other people think.”
• Lucy blinked, half understanding, then added in a whisper, “But… I’m worried you’ll be sad.”
• I almost couldn’t hold back my tears.
• William’s voice cut cold. “Rocco’s right. Where exactly are you going to go without the Jones family? Julie, if you keep this up, you’ll turn yourself into the entire Pack’s joke!”