The Forgotten Necklace of the Moon Goddess Chapter 1

It had been five years since I was banished from the Blackwood Pack.

I ran into my brother at an underground bar in the Neutral Zone.

He was the night's VIP, throwing around thousands of dollars to celebrate the birthday of his adopted sister, Sienna.

I, on the other hand, was a waitress—a rogue struggling to survive in this gritty underworld of humans and stray wolves.

We didn't exchange a single word the entire night.

That is, until I downed two bottles of high-proof tequila back-to-back for a five-hundred-dollar tip.

For someone like me—stripped of the pack's protection and physically withering away—that alcohol was essentially poison.

Watching the blood drain from my face, Killian, the Alpha of the Blackwood Pack, pursed his thin lips.

The eyes that used to look at me with warmth were now filled with ice.

"Nora, is this your idea of dignity? You'd rather serve rogues in a dump like this than crawl back to the pack and admit your mistakes?"

He sneered. "You’re a damn disgrace to the Blackwood name."

I just smiled numbly. The alcohol burned my throat like acid.

I held out my hand toward him.

"Five hundred dollars. Cash or transfer, Alpha?"

Too much time had passed. I didn't have the energy to rehash old grudges.

But that five hundred dollars... it was exactly enough to pay off the balance for my cremation and the cheapest urn available.

The private booth fell into a deathly silence.

Every wolf in the room stared at me with mixed expressions.

I was once the Princess of the Blackwood family, and now, here I was.

Someone let out a snicker.

Killian, sitting on the leather sofa, instantly darkened.

He felt humiliated. As the leader of the strongest pack, having his biological sister wagging her tail for scraps in front of him was an insult.

Five hundred dollars. To wolves of their status, that wasn't even enough to fill a tank of gas in their sports cars.

But for me, it was worth destroying my stomach with cheap liquor.

Sienna, snuggled up beside him—the adopted girl who had stolen my life—looked at me with a mocking smirk.

"Killian has been waiting for you to come home, and this is what you're doing? You smell like low-born rogue filth. Don't you feel dirty?"

I glanced at her, my eyes empty. "There's nothing dirty about earning an honest living. It's not like I'm selling my body."

She laughed contemptuously, malice flashing in her eyes. "You're that desperate for money? Fine. Drink two more bottles, and I'll add another five hundred."

As soon as she spoke, the entourage of sycophants around them started jeering.

"Drink it! The future Luna is offering extra cash. I'll add five hundred too!"

"I'm in for a thousand! Let's see the former Princess's tolerance!"

I didn't hesitate. My pride had been ground to dust by five years of starvation and sickness.

I reached out and grabbed another bottle.

Suddenly, the booth door swung open. Mick, the bar manager, rushed in with a fawning smile.

He was a low-tier wolf, terrified of a powerful Alpha like Killian. He immediately shoved me aside.

"Alpha Killian, did this idiot offend you?"

He bowed scraping the floor. "Please don't be angry. She's a useless waste with no pack link. She's mute half the time. If she—"

"Are you going to drink for her?"

Killian cut him off coldly, his wolf-like eyes narrowing as he released a wave of oppressive Alpha aura.

Mick broke into a cold sweat, his legs shaking.

He didn't want to stand up for me, but he was terrified I'd die in his bar and cause trouble.

He gave a nervous, apologetic laugh. "Alpha, that much liquor... even a warrior couldn't handle it, let alone a frail girl. Her inner wolf is already fading. She... she might die."

"If she doesn't drink, get out!"

Killian frowned impatiently. He pulled a stack of cash from his bag—ten thousand dollars easily—and smashed it against the manager's chest.

"Nora isn't leaving today. If you try to stop this, your shitty bar will be rubble by tomorrow morning!"

Mick scrambled to catch the money, his face blossoming into a greedy grin.

He forgot all about my safety, thanked the Alpha profusely, and bolted out the door.

Everyone's eyes fell back on me.

Killian sneered. "What? Don't want the money anymore?"

I walked over, expressionless, grabbed a bottle, and started chugging.

My stomach felt like it was being shredded by knives. That was the pain of a body decaying without a pack bond.

I drank slowly, drawing waves of ridicule from the crowd.

Killian’s face grew darker and darker. The air pressure in the room was suffocating.

When I finished that bottle and swayed dizzily to grab the next one, he suddenly grabbed my wrist.

His grip was strong enough to crush bone.

"Do you have a death wish, Nora?!"

"I want the money."

I wrenched my hand free, lifted the bottle, and poured it into my mouth.

I had a plan.

The lighting in the booth was dim. I feigned weakness, letting my hand tremble.

I figured if I spilled some, no one would notice.

But I had barely taken a sip when a hard slap sent me reeling.

Slap!

My head spun. The bottle slipped from my hand and shattered on the floor, glass shards scattering everywhere.

Killian roared, his Alpha voice vibrating against my eardrums.

"Have you no shame?! Is money that important to you?"

"Stop drinking! Even if you drink yourself to death, I won't give you a single cent!"

The alcohol hit my brain. My vision blurred, doubling and twisting the faces around me.

A memory I had buried deep for five years suddenly exploded in my ears like a bomb.

"You sold Mom's Moon Goddess necklace for money? Did I starve you? Did I let you freeze? Why didn't you just sell yourself to the vampires while you were at it!"

"Get out of my territory! From this day on, you are no longer a Blackwood. You are a Rogue!"