Complete silence fell over the living room.
Then Chloe let out a contemptuous huff.
Tristan dragged me into a corner and started yelling at me at once.
“Why do you always ruin the mood when we’re supposed to be having fun?”
“Have some sympathy. Chloe grew up without parents. Meanwhile you have a whole family, and the pack’s Alpha is your mate!”
I stared at him, almost amused by how absurd it all was.
“Which one of us is your sister? Have you forgotten everything you used to say?”
Our mother had been a kind woman.
She found Chloe being abused inside an orphanage and offered to take her in as a foster child.
But only a few months after Chloe moved in, our mother passed away from acute wolf-spirit exhaustion.
Rumors spread through the pack that Chloe brought bad luck.
Tristan had hated her at first. After Mom died, he once put bugs in her bed and locked her inside dark rooms.
I was the one who stepped up to protect her.
I even played along with Chloe’s Invisibility Game and welcomed her into our friend group.
Back then, Tristan had snarled at me through gritted teeth.
“Astrid Ashwood, I’m your brother! She isn’t. Why do you always take her side over mine?”
Now Chloe was the one who felt like his real sister.
Tristan went rigid, then looked away with guilt written all over his face.
“You’ve always been so tough. You barely grieved when Mom died. It’s pretty late to start pretending you’re fragile now.”
My fingernails dug hard into my palms.
Jax added fuel on the fire.
“Exactly. Why do you have to be so cruel? Chloe just wanted to get to know all of us sooner.”
Then he threatened me.
“Keep acting like this, and we’ll keep playing the Invisibility Game.”
Those words used to terrify me more than anything.
No matter how unreasonable Chloe’s demands got, I always ended up giving in.
But this time, sharp, searing pain exploded deep in my lower abdomen. I couldn’t focus on anything else.
I pulled my coat on and headed for the front door.
Chloe suddenly put on a soft, conciliatory act.
“If Astrid really doesn’t want this, we can just drop it…”
“No.”
Cassian, who’d barely spoken up until then, cut her off.
“We already said this is the last time. What is she throwing a fit about?”
He paused, then clapped his hands once.
My heart skipped a beat.
That clap was the signal to start the Invisibility Game.
Tristan walked straight past me without a glance, looping his arm with Jax as they moved toward Chloe.
One massaged her shoulders, the other handed her fresh fruit.
Cassian wrapped an arm around Chloe’s waist and fastened my anniversary gift around her neck.
I couldn’t take one more second of it.
I ran out of the estate.
Behind me, I heard Chloe’s surprised voice.
“She actually left? Cassian, there’s a rogue gang lurking around these parts lately. Aren’t you worried something might happen to her?”
“What could possibly happen to her?” Cassian replied. “I told her this was the final time, and she still humiliated me in front of our friends. That’s not how a future Luna should act.”
Tristan and Jax echoed him right away, just like they always did.
I swallowed the lump burning in my throat and headed for the Lycan Royal Enforcement.
A senior female enforcer took my statement right away and handed me a mug of ginger tea to warm me up.
I checked the time. Three hours had already passed since the sexual assault.
That night, for the very first time, someone had shown me kindness.
Once I finished my report and stepped outside the Enforcement precinct, I stood there with no clue where to go.
Then brutal pain tore through my lower abdomen.
Cold sweat beaded across my forehead.
My knees buckled, and I crumpled to the ground.
Blood streamed down the inside of my thighs.
Nearly slipping into unconsciousness, I fumbled for my phone and called Cassian on instinct.
“It hurts… come… come to the Lycan Royal Enforcement…”
There was silence on the other end of the line.
Cassian didn’t answer.
Chloe picked up instead.
“Astrid! Just because I’m borrowing your mate for one week? You actually dragged this to the Lycan Royal Enforcement? Do you think Royal Enforcers care about the sobbing complaints of a no-wolf? You lost the game, so just accept it!”
Tristan and Jax shouted angrily in the background.
“Why are you being so stubborn? All over winning a stupid game?”
Cassian stayed quiet for a long moment, then sighed heavily.
“Astrid, you have none of the grace and dignity expected of a Luna. Frankly, I’m disappointed. Take some time to think about what you’re doing.”
My heart sank deep inside my chest.
Everything around me blurred.
The last thing I registered was the female enforcer sprinting toward me in panic.