She then gestured to a servant, who rushed forward with a scroll in hand.
"This is what she begged for, even as the life - blood drained from her body. She had herself carried, in excruciating pain, all the way to the palace to plead with me. She wanted nothing more than to be free of this torment,"
"Alpha Daniel, these past few years, you have been more than cruel to her."
In elegant script, clearly stated that Isabelle was no longer his Luna.
On a nearby tray lay a small, exquisitely woven piece of fabric.
It was a token of love, a gift Isabelle had painstakingly crafted for him when they first married.
Back then, Isabelle had been so in love, so eager to please.
She had endured countless hours of pain and humiliation, learning the intricate and often - harsh palace etiquette.
She had spent nights poring over ancient tomes, her eyes red - rimmed from exhaustion, trying to master the complex rules of courtly behavior.
She had been scolded and berated by the strict palace tutors, but she had never given up.
Alpha Daniel had transformed into a shadow of his former self, drowning his sorrows in bottle after bottle of potent mead.
Day in and day out, he sat in the dimly lit hall of his castle, the stench of alcohol clinging to him like a second skin.
"Alpha Daniel. Stop dwelling on that woman. She was never truly yours. Let her go. You have me," Snow cooed, her voice sickeningly sweet as she sidled up to him, attempting to drape her arm around his shoulders.
Alpha Daniel, jolted from his brooding reverie, his eyes bloodshot and filled with a seething rage, whipped around.
With a snarl, he backhanded Snow across the face with all the force of a furious werewolf.
The sound of the impact echoed through the hall like a thunderclap.
"You venomous witch! Get out of my sight! If I see you again, it'll be my claws in your throat!"
Without a second glance, Alpha Daniel stormed out of the hall.
He made a beeline for the barracks of the elite werewolf guard.
"All of you, every last one of my warriors! Fan out and find my Luna. Search every nook and cranny of our lands. If she's not found, consider your heads forfeit!"
A month passed in a blur of desperate searching.
Isabelle had vanished without a trace, as if she had been swallowed by the very earth. The carriage driver who had taken her away was interrogated over and over again, locked in a dark cell, facing the wrath of Alpha Daniel's inquisition. But the answer remained the same.
Isabelle and her mother had alighted from the carriage just outside the pack's territory and had simply walked away.
The area around that crossroads, for miles in every direction, was combed through by the werewolf guards.
They searched every cave, every abandoned hut.
But not a single sign of Isabelle could be found.
One by one, his subordinates approached him
"Alpha Daniel, it's likely that Lady Isabelle has met with a tragic end. A woman traveling with an elderly mother, alone and unprotected, could not have disappeared without a trace otherwise,"
Finally, after yet another cautious attempt by a subordinate to broach the subject, Alpha Daniel snapped.
"If she's dead, then bring me her body! She has to come back to me! Do you hear me?"
After his outburst, Alpha Daniel felt the last of his strength drain from his body.
He staggered over to the small, empty cradle in the corner of the room, his eyes fixed on the tiny box nestled within.
"My child, just hold on a little longer. Your mother will be back soon. We'll be a family again, I promise,"
Exhausted from days of sleepless searching, Alpha Daniel leaned against the cradle, his eyes closing involuntarily.
In an instant, he was fast asleep, his dreams haunted by images of Isabelle.
"Alpha!" A shout jolted him awake.
He shot up, his eyes wild with hope.
"Have you found my Luna?" he demanded.
The subordinate shook his head.
"No, Alpha. Sherry has fled."
"Don't come to me with anything but news of my Luna," he growled.
The subordinate, his face ashen, held out a stack of letters.
"We found these on her. We arrested some of Sherry's maids. They reveal that Snow paid Sherry a fortune to get rid of Lady Isabelle's child. And Snow orders Sherry to keep you occupied during Lady Isabelle's labor. " he stammered.
Alpha Daniel's eyes widened in horror.
"Find Snow! Bring her to me, now! She will pay for what she's done!"
My mother and I trudged back to the Silvermoon Pack.
As we made our way through the bustling market, whispers and rumors swirled around us like a menacing storm.
I heard that Alpha Daniel had stormed the palace and snatched the precious remains of our child.
He carried those sacred bones with him day and night.
And Snow... he had exacted a brutal, savage revenge upon her, leaving her broken and lifeless as payment for her heinous deeds.
Just as we crossed the threshold of our humble home, a voice called out.
"Isabelle, I've come to take you home,"
Alpha Daniel said.
I turned slowly, and the sight that greeted me nearly stole my breath away.
He was a shadow of the powerful alpha I once knew.
His once - muscular frame was now gaunt and emaciated, his cheeks sunken, and his skin a sickly, deathly pale.
But when his eyes met mine, something within him seemed to stir, a spark igniting in the darkness of his soul.
"Isabelle, I know the truth now. You were never the villain. It was all Snow's doing, her cruel manipulation that tore us apart. I'll spend every waking moment making amends. Please, come back to me. Come home," he pleaded, his voice cracking with emotion.
He stared at me, as if he were afraid I would shatter like a delicate porcelain doll.
I had never seen such depth of emotion in him, not even in the height of his infatuation with Snow.
But instead of melting my heart, it repulsed me.
"Alpha Daniel, I'm no longer your Luna. I've shed that title, along with the chains that bound me to you. I will never go back,"
In an instant, the light in his eyes was extinguished, snuffed out like a candle in a fierce wind.
He flinched as if I had struck him, and his hand, which had been reaching out to me, dropped limply to his side.
He regarded me with a look of such profound pain that for a moment, I almost felt a twinge of pity.
"Are you still angry? I know I've been a monster. I've made unforgivable mistakes over these ten long years. You left because I drove you to it, didn't I? Isabelle, please, tell me how I can earn your forgiveness. I'll do anything," he begged, his voice rising to a desperate wail.
"Our bond was a sham, a forced connection through a cold, heartless contract. But our child... our beautiful child is waiting for you at home. He needs his mother," he added, his voice breaking on the word "child," his eyes filling with tears.
I let out a bitter, scornful laugh.
"A child who was killed because of his own father's negligence and cruelty. If you truly cared, if you had an ounce of remorse, you'd leave me alone."
I spun on my heel and walked away.
Three days passed, and Alpha Daniel remained outside my house.
He stood there, rain or shine, his eyes fixed on the door, as if willing me to emerge. Eventually, his body, weakened by grief and exhaustion, gave out.
He collapsed in a heap, and was carried away by his subordinates.
Sara, his mother, came to me then, her eyes red - rimmed and filled with sorrow.
She fell to her knees before me, her hands clasped in supplication.
"Isabelle, please. For the love of my son, for the family you once had, come back. He's lost without you," she begged, her voice a broken whisper.
I looked up at the spot where Alpha Daniel had stood, my heart as cold and empty as the vast, endless void.
I felt nothing but a numb resignation.
Alpha Daniel, in his final act of desperation, buried the child's remains in front of my house.
A few days later, he took his own life, choosing to lie beside the grave of our child.
In his hand, he clutched a letter.
"We're finally together "