Chapter 175 Chapter 175

Chapter 175 Chapter 175

Author’s POV

Back within the walls of Crescent Moon, Noelle busied herself with the pack’s strategy scrolls. It saddened her to know her time in the pack neared its end. Diane would have loved the crescent moon pack. She would have been safe as well. Was she truly going to betray the pack that had been nothing but good to her?

Suddenly, the door burst open. A wall formed around Noelle. Ophelia stood at the center of a tightening circle: Damien at her right hand, Thalia and Xavier at her left, Kayden and Vasilios flanking them both, and Noelle held motionless between them all.

Ophelia struck out a hand at Noelle, and a ball of light hit the child in the chest. She had once again invoked the moonless night. 

Over the past five years, through relentless study alongside Salem, and Alana, Ophelia had completely mastered this ancient, formidable magic. No longer was it a crude instrument; she could now precisely target and choose exactly which part of a wolf's or hybrid's magical nature she wished to sever or block. This time, she used it to cut the mental link binding Noelle to the hybrid pack.

“What... what have you just done to me?!” Noelle shrieked, baring her small, hybrid fangs at Ophelia as she struggled to breathe. “What is this magic?!”

“Exactly what it appears,” Ophelia said, her voice level and cold in a way that made even Kayden's jaw tighten beside her. “It was a good plan, sending a child into our pack. Everyone knows I care deeply for children, for the innocent.”

Everyone within these lands knows that I care deeply for children, that I would never turn away an innocent, helpless soul. It was exceptionally clever of your handlers to think of using my own mercy as a weapon against me.”

Ophelia leaned down slightly, her hazel eyes locking onto Noelle’s with a fire so fierce, so predatory, the girl held her breath, and her wolf whimpered. 

“But what those hybrids did not realize,” Ophelia continued, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper, “is that by placing you here, they threatened my family and my pack. And hear me clearly, girl: I care very little because you are merely a child yourself. If you prove to be a threat to my people... if you harm a single hair on the head of my loved ones, I will show you a ruthlessness the likes of which you have never envisioned in your worst nightmares.”

Noelle looked up into Ophelia’s eyes, and for the first time, true, bone-deep terror flashed across the young hybrid’s face. She saw no hesitation in the Luna’s gaze. She saw an executioner. The sheer, suffocating pressure of Ophelia’s Luna aura filled the room, backed by the rumbling, low growls of Damien and Kayden behind her.

Then Ophelia's expression shifted, the ice in it softening by the barest degree. “However. I have just been informed that the hybrids took your sister, Diane, hostage to compel your obedience.” She stepped closer until she stood directly before the trembling girl. “Knowing that, I am willing to extend you mercy.” She dropped the crushing pressure just enough to allow Noelle to speak. 

Noelle’s heart stopped. Her breath caught in her throat as her eyes widened to the size of saucers. “Diane...” she whispered, her voice cracking with raw agony. “You... you know?”

“Aye,” Ophelia said softly, her expression softening further into a look of sympathy. “Which is why I offer you a choice now. Tell me, Noelle... if your sister were saved from those monsters... what would you do?”

Without missing a single beat, Noelle threw herself forward, pressing her hands against the cold floor at Ophelia’s feet, tears streaming down her pale face.

“I would rip their throats out!” she sobbed, her voice ringing with desperation and sincerity. “I would turn on them in a heartbeat! I would tear Loid limb from limb! I only obeyed because they promised to feed her... promised not to hurt her! Please... please, Luna!”

“Then tell me the truth,” Ophelia said calmly. 

Noelle lifted her head. “I…” she hesitated. “I lied about our origin. We were all humans once, with terminal diseases. Raye saved us, promises us immortality. We did not care for it, but we wished to save Diane, so we agreed. In exchange, we offered ourselves to her. We are products of her experiments.” Her expression turned mournful. “But not everything I said was a lie. When my mother and father discovered the truth, we ran. Everything I told you after that was the truth. The only thing I failed to add was that…”

“... The hybrids killed your father and mother, and took your sister hostage,” Kayden completed.

Noelle nodded. Silence fell between them. 

Ophelia broke it first. “Alright. I have heard enough. Raise your head, little one.” Noelle’s confusion was apparent. “While we stood here in this room, my son Casimir breached their camp. Diane is safe. She is in the care of a dear friend, and they are already on their way home.”

Noelle’s shoulders sagged in relief. Then she tensed up, as though she could not dare to hope. “Truly?”

It was Ophelia’s turn to nod. “Aye.” The child buried her face into her hands and sobbed. 

Thalia turned to Kayden. “What should we do, Alpha? We should make a move now that we know their location.”

“If I may,” Ophelia began, stepping into the center of the chamber. She had a solution to their situation, a decisive one that could not only bring an end to the hybrids, but would cause any other threat to think twice before going after their pack again.

“No.” Damien cut in without hesitation. He knew what she was going to say. “Moonlight, I am not in support of this.”

Ophelia sighed exasperatedly. “This will work, dear heart. You know I speak the truth.”

Thalia’s head snapped between the two, her brow furrowing in deep confusion. “What is this about?” she asked, looking between the Alpha couple.

“Send me alone.” Ophelia stepped forward, addressing everyone now, meeting each set of eyes in turn. “Salem can teleport me directly to the heart of the dead forest, and I will take care of them myself. If I achieve this singlehandedly, no one will threaten us again.”

There was a beat of silence, and then a chorus of voices spoke up in affront. 

“Absolutely not,” Xavier growled.

“It is too dangerous, Luna.”

“These are hybrids, not vampires.”

Ophelia lifted her hands to silence them, her posture radiating absolute authority as a Luna. “I realise this is a lot to ask, but I ask that you trust me as you have always done. I shall be victorious.” Then she turned. “Damien,” she called softly. “I can do this.”

His eyes glowed with barely suppressed rage. “I cannot,” he said. The words came out rough. “Ophelia. I cannot.”

She went to him then, leaning her forehead against his. The chamber emptied quietly. “We have come a long way, have we not?”

“Aye, we have,” he replied with a sigh. “So much has happened in six years.” They said nothing else, simply remained in that position for several seconds. 

“I do not intend to let you go, little starling,” Damien added. “At least, not alone.” Ophelia began to protest. “Nay, I have decided. If you go, then I shall go with you and ensure that you return safely.”

That was that. They would both go into the hybrid’s den.



“Are you certain about this?” Salem asked, her expression was one of concern.

Ophelia smiled. “Aye, we are.”

“Alright, then.” Salem acquiesced. Light enveloped them and suddenly they were in the dead forest Casimir had spoken of. Standing before them was Larissa. She gasped when she saw them, but Salem gripped her arm before she could do anything. “You do not need to sully your hands with her blood, Ophelia,” Salem said, eyes flashing in anger as she stared at the woman who had made Ophelia’s life miserable all those years past. “Xavier has offered to deal with her himself.”

Ophelia exhaled slowly. “He does not need to…” But Salem was gone. There was no time to dwell on that. The hybrids, drawn to their voices, were starting to reveal themselves.

“What is the meaning of this?” Loid asked, visibly annoyed.

Ophelia studied him. “You must be Loid.” Her hands glowed as she sauntered toward them. “I am most glad I do not need to seek you out. I fear I shall enjoy this greatly.”

“Surrender!” Loid yelled. “We have your son. Bring the pups! And kill the sister of that traitorous wench!”

Ophelia waited patiently, thoroughly entertained and unwilling to miss the shock on their face when they realised they were gone. A minute later, Marcell spoke into his ear. “L-Loid! They are gone.”

Loid paled. “What?” With a loud snarl, he struck out both hands. One sliced off Marcel’s head in one clean movement, while the other ripped out his heart. The body fell, dead.

Ophelia tilted her head, unfazed. “Was he not your Beta?” She spoke again before he could respond. “No matter, you shall join him soon enough.”



Decades after that, tales would be told of how Ophelia and her mate took down an entire hybrid clan with no support, save for a witch who provided transport. In reality, Damien only had to watch because as she had previously stated, her magic and claws had been enough. She robbed the hybrids of their senses with magic and finished them off with her claws.

Larissa disappeared forever, killed by Xavier. It was his way of apologizing to Ophelia for his past actions. He would later join the pack fully and live on as a member of the Crescent Moon Pack.

Years passed, and in that time, Noelle and Casimir grew to become the best of friends. Everyone had assumed their friendship would bloom into something more romantic, but it never did. They dedicated their lives to the pack instead, taking solace in their friendship. However, their siblings, Neo and Diane, would marry. But their story would begin many years after that.

The peace lasted far longer than the five years that came after Raye’s death. The pack grew in great strength, and as Ophelia had predicted, no one dared to raise their might against them. And each time a threat rose, they dealt with it as they had always done, together.