SERENITY KELLER
After moving out of the Vernal mansion, I started looking for a place to live.
Although Alfred had agreed to my deal and allowed me to move freely within Vernal territory, he certainly wasn't kind enough to provide me with housing. I didn't want to live under the pack's surveillance anyway, so I eventually found a suitable apartment far from the werewolf district.
"Rent's due on the fifth of every month. Fifteen hundred a month, plus one month's deposit," the landlord said as he showed me around. "If you want to move out, give me advance notice. By the way, do you have any pets?"
I shook my head. "No."
"Then no pet deposit needed. What do you think of the place? If you're satisfied, we can sign the lease right now."
I looked around the apartment. It was small—a one-bedroom with a living room. You could see the entire layout the moment you stepped through the door. It was a completely different world from the sprawling Vernal mansion.
But unlike that unwelcoming mansion, this place would be entirely mine. It would never reject me. The furniture was old but spotlessly clean. The décor was simple yet cozy. The couch even had a cream-colored knitted throw on it. It felt like home.
"I'll take it." I nodded at the landlord and pulled out my card. "You can swipe this."
The landlord's smile widened. He took my card and ran it through the machine. A few seconds later, it beeped sharply.
He shook his head and handed the card back. "Sorry, ma'am. This card is frozen. Transaction declined. Do you have another card?"
Frozen?
I froze for a few seconds, unable to process it. Not that I was slow—that card had been issued specifically by the Vernal pack. For over a year of marriage, all my expenses and living costs had come from it. There was no way it could be frozen. Unless… One name surfaced instantly—Elias.
I hadn't expected him to freeze even my bank card. He was taking action to sever every connection between us, including my income.
"Ma'am?" The landlord's voice snapped me out of my daze. "Are you listening?"
I bit my lip, caught in an awkward situation. The landlord gradually noticed my predicament. His expression soured.
"Ma'am, if you can't afford it, just say so. Don't waste both our time with this kind of joke." His tone was cold. He looked ready to throw me out any second. In desperation, I suddenly remembered something.
"Wait—I have another card!" I frantically dug through my suitcase and finally found it in a rarely used wallet. It was a credit card I'd almost forgotten about. Before I got married, a bank teller had talked me into opening it during some promotional event. At the time, I'd been annoyed at myself for not refusing. Now it was my lifeline.
"Try this one."
I handed it over nervously. The landlord swiped it skeptically. This time, the machine printed a receipt.
Warmth and enthusiasm returned to his face. "Excellent! Lease signed. I'll come by next month. Enjoy your new place."
I nodded and saw him out.
The moment he left, I grabbed my phone and logged into my bank account.
Just as I'd feared, every card the Vernals had given me was frozen. All the savings I'd accumulated over the past year were gone in a moment.
My personal account now held less than two thousand dollars. That was everything I'd scraped together from odd jobs since childhood.
At my current rent and living expenses, this money would last one or two months at most.
I turned off my phone. It seemed the first challenge of escaping Elias's control and becoming Serenity Keller again was finding a job.
The next morning, I started sending out résumés online.
I'd met Elias right after coming of age and had lived as his fated mate and fiancée ever since. I'd barely stepped into human society like other wolves had, and I'd never learned any professional skills. Meeting my fated mate so young was supposed to be lucky. Now it was my misfortune.
The only jobs I could apply for were ones that required no special skills— server, cashier, that sort of thing. Even then, most applications got no response. Only a handful invited me to interview.
The first interview was at a mall. The manager took one look at me and frowned. "You don't look like someone who needs to work."
She looked me up and down. "Your clothes, your bag, your shoes—none of that's cheap. Why would someone like you want to work here?"
I looked down at myself. She was right. Everything I wore was designer.
Not top-of-the-line, but still expensive by normal standards.
"I'm going through some financial difficulties," I tried to explain.
The manager shook her head. "We only need employees who can commit long-term. You don't have any relevant work experience… I'm sorry, but I don't think you're a good fit."
The first interview failed.
The next few went about the same way.
Everyone looked at me with suspicion, silently asking why some rich housewife wanted to play at working. I realized that to find a job, I had to change my image.
I went to a hair salon and cut off the long hair I'd grown to imitate Liv. I tied it back in a clean, practical ponytail. Then I listed all the clothes I'd brought from the Vernals on secondhand sites. The money I made bought me affordable jeans and T-shirts.
The image of the Luna of the Vernal pack vanished completely. In her place stood an independent woman surviving on her own.
When I sent out résumés again, my luck improved. A small supermarket hired me as a cashier. The hours were long, and the pay wasn't great, but it was a fresh start. I was content.
Days slipped by. Three months passed.
My pregnancy symptoms grew stronger as time went on. Sometimes I couldn't eat at all. My back ached constantly, and I was always exhausted.
My lack of energy drew curious and concerned looks from my coworkers.
But I didn't dare tell them I was pregnant. I was afraid of losing my job.
Still, in the quiet of night, I worried about my future. Right now, when I wasn't showing much, I could still hide the truth. But once my belly grew and I couldn't work anymore, my boss would definitely let me go.
What would I do then? How would I maintain my life?
Carrying that persistent anxiety, I fell into a heavy sleep. The next morning, just as dawn broke, my phone's shrill ring jolted me awake.
My head was splitting. I'd worked the night shift yesterday and hadn't gone to bed until four in the morning. It was only seven now—I'd slept three hours at most. Sleep deprivation left my brain foggy and my stomach queasy. I didn't even look at the caller ID before answering.
"Hello? Who is this?"
The person on the other end didn't respond immediately. I could only hear quiet breathing. Then came a low voice. "Serenity, you don't even remember my number anymore?"
Elias!
My mind snapped awake as if I'd been dunked in ice water.
I pressed my lips together. "Why are you calling me?"
"I'm still your Alpha. Do I need a reason to call my Luna?"
For some reason, he sounded unhappy. I had no idea who had upset him. It confused me. His beloved woman had returned to his side. I'd stepped aside voluntarily. Shouldn't he be living happily? Why did he sound so irritated?
"If you don't have anything important, I'm hanging up." My tone was cold from exhaustion and discomfort. He seemed to notice. I thought I heard him grind his teeth, but it might have been my imagination. "Wait. I'm calling about something important."
"What is it?" I didn't want to analyze his moods anymore. I was just tired.
"The Moon Ceremony is next month," Elias said.
I paused. His reminder finally jogged my memory. It was the Vernal pack's most significant annual celebration, always held in autumn. Every pack member attended to pray to the Moon Goddess for prosperity. As Alpha and Luna, Elias and I were required to lead the sacred ceremony together.
"Is it that time already…," I murmured.
My busy but fulfilling work life had made me lose track. Before, I never would have forgotten. It was one of the few events that got me out of the mansion while I was under house arrest, and one of the rare occasions I could be with Elias.
"So your memory isn't completely shot after all." Elias's voice came through again. "We need to confirm the ceremony procedures in advance.
Where are you? Come back to the mansion immediately."
"Do I really need to come back?" I frowned. All I wanted now was to cut ties with Elias and the Vernal pack. I didn't want to return there. "No one wants to see me at the ceremony. To them, I'm the Luna who betrayed the pack."
"You don't want to come back?" Elias asked. I stayed silent. He gave a cold laugh. "Serenity, don't think leaving the mansion means you're free. You're still a member of the Vernal pack. No matter where you go, you can't escape that identity. Come back. Don't make me order you."
His words made me bite my lip.
No wolf could refuse an Alpha's command. The word yes was already rising in my throat. But my gaze happened to fall on my work uniform hanging by the bed.
The plain blue supermarket vest had no style or shape. It looked utterly ordinary. But it burned into my eyes and filled my limbs with courage.
I wasn't that helpless Luna anymore—the one who couldn't do anything, couldn't support herself, and could only be locked away in a mansion.
Now I earned my own money through my own labor. I could decide my own future. I didn't have to obey Elias anymore.
"I'm not coming back." My voice trembled, but it was firm.
"What?" Elias sounded more shocked than I'd ever heard him. "Serenity, do you understand what you're saying? This is the pack's most important Moon Ceremony!"
Of course I understood. The Moon Ceremony's procedures were always elaborate. It lasted all day and required advance preparation of the altar and offerings. The Alpha and Luna had to collect sacred wine from the forest lake together, cut their palms to mix their blood into it, then drink it together. After that, they led the pack members in howling at the moon when it reached its peak, completing the final prayer.
Any mistake would make the ceremony imperfect. A flawed ceremony honoring the Moon Goddess would make pack members fear misfortune in the coming year. That kind of blow to pack unity could be devastating.
But so what?
They had never accepted me.
"That's not my problem anymore." This time, my refusal came fast and steady. "Elias, I've left the pack. Don't contact me again. Handle those things however you want, but don't expect me to go along with your plans."
His surprise turned to anger. "Serenity!"
But I hung up before he could explode.
I stared at the phone's screensaver, dazed. Then it hit me. I had just refused an Alpha's command.
Me. An Omega.
I'd never dared to even imagine such a thing. But now I felt no regret. Only the exhilarating relief of breaking free from years of chains.
The consequences weren't as severe as I'd feared.
I'd worried he might send people to drag me back. But days passed, and my life remained peaceful. No one disturbed me. I figured my position really wasn't that important—whether I showed up or not didn't matter.
See, Serenity? You don't have to sacrifice everything for the pack. Even without you, they won't notice any difference. I told myself.
What I didn't expect was that, about a month later, I received a desperate call from Lizzie.
"Luna," Lizzie said softly, her voice exhausted and cautious. Her first words were an apology. "Please forgive me for getting your number from the Beta… I know I shouldn't disturb your new life, but I had no choice. I need your help. Can you tell me the exact placement requirements for the Moon Ceremony items?"
I was stunned.
Not just because it was Lizzie calling, but because of her question.
"Why are you handling this? Didn't your supervisor tell you?" I checked the date. Today was the day of the Moon Ceremony.
"No…" Lizzie said. "The Alpha decided to have Miss Liv lead the ceremony instead of you this year. But for the past month, she's been at the Alpha's side the whole time and has never helped with any preparations!
We've had to do everything ourselves, but without help from the Alpha and Luna, we have no idea how to handle the details…" So Elias had chosen Liv to replace me after all.
I wasn't surprised by that outcome. What I couldn't understand was why Elias tolerated Liv's careless and irresponsible behavior.
My brow furrowed tightly. "Haven't you told the Alpha about this?"
"How could we?" Lizzie's voice grew hesitant. "She even lies to the Alpha, taking credit for our work… Even so, there's nothing we can do about her."
I understood. As an Omega, I knew exactly how hierarchy worked.
Sometimes a higher-ranking wolf could end a lower-ranking wolf's life with a single word. They were just ordinary members. How could they dare challenge Liv?
"But if this keeps up, we won't make it in time for the ceremony. If something goes wrong, we'll be punished…" Lizzie sounded close to tears.
My heart softened.
If there was anyone in the Vernal pack I still cared about, it was Lizzie.
And she wasn't the type to ask for help lightly. I didn't know how long she'd held out before finally making this call on the day of the Moon Ceremony.
I could refuse Elias's orders, but I couldn't ignore Lizzie.
I sighed. Instead of answering her question, I said, "Wait for me. Everyone follow my instructions."
"I'm coming back to the mansion. Right now."