Chapter 18
Winter’s face matched her mother’s pallor. Lyra advanced on her, making Winter stumble back against the wall. “I knew nothing.” she whimpered. “I swear I knew nothing.”
Still playing innocent, even now. Lyra wanted to tear that mask from her face, but that would be too merciful.
“You think you’ve won?” Each word fell like ice. “Ravenna died by your scheme. Your parents, your child, everyone will remember this truth. You’ll forever be marked by this sin, never able to face Ravenna’s memory. No one will blindly favor you again.”
Real fear finally cracked Winter’s facade. She crumpled to the ground.
Lyra turned to the wagon bearing Ravenna’s body, then faced the hollow–eyed Valdrin: “I’ve chosen her resting place where you’ll never find it. Don’t dare defile her grave with your presence!”
Valdrin stood like a man gutted, agony etched in every line. “She must return…”
His composure shattered. “You had the Moon Goddess’s Trial! You couldn’t leave until it was
complete!”
“Why? Answer me! Why hasn’t she returned?”
Passersby stared at his madness.
Winter reached for him tentatively. “Alpha…”
He recolled violently. His blood–red gaze fixed on her chest, where Ravenna’s heart beat. Everything.
was Winter’s fault. Without this ritual, Ravenna would still be here.
Never had regret cut so deep.
Winter stumbled back, terrified. His eyes held the look of a man who would tear out his own heart.
Back in the healing chamber, Winter lay pale as death.
Her mother had awakened but remained distant, staring at her daughter with hollow eyes. Suddenly, she whispered: “Ravenna…”
*Winter flinched at the name. After a trembling, she broke. “It’s my fault. I killed my sister.”
momen
The Alaba’s Substitute Luna: A Heart Caimed. Soul Reborn
Tll return her heart. I’ll pay with my life.”
She grabbed a ritual blade from beside her bed, turning it toward her chest.
Their father lunged to stop her.
But their mother, who once doted on Winter endlessly, merely watched with cold eyes. “Ravenna is
already dead. Who are you performing for now?”
Winter trembled. Never had her mother spoken to her with such ice. So this was how the sharp edge of rejection felt.
Their father’s eyes glistened. “That’s Ravenna’s heart. You can’t harm it – it’s all we have left of her!”
Winter stared at them, disbelieving. Her fiercest protectors had turned against her. She’d taken
Ravenna’s place as the outcast.
Panicked, she spotted Valdrin in the doorway. Tears spilled down her cheeks: “Alpha, do you blame me too? Do you think I killed my sister?”
“I knew nothing! Why do you all condemn me?”
Her sobs, once capable of moving mountains, now met silence. No one rushed to comfort her tears.
Valdrin just watched her, his voice hollow: “Did you really know nothing?”
