The Eleventh Luna Rose Trial Chapter 01

The Eleventh Luna Rose Trial Chapter 01

In the Werewolf Realm, only the she-wolf who can cultivate a Sacred Rose and win the Luna Trials is eligible to become the Alpha King’s Luna.

Ten years ago, Nathan promised that if I won the Luna Trials, he would marry me.

So I entered the trials ten times.

But every year, just before the final, the Rose I had grown with my own hands would mysteriously wither and die.

Until the eleventh year, when I planted another rose.

As I bend down to water it, rows of unfamiliar silver words suddenly appear before my eyes.

[Helena is seriously crazy. She thinks growing a few stupid roses will make King Nathan marry her?]

[This is hilarious. She has no idea that King Nathan loves someone else.]

[Good thing the people around her are so helpful. Every year, someone finds a way to destroy her roses.]

My heart sinks, but the strange words continue.

[The first few years, it was her mother. She waited until Helena was burning with a high fever and unconscious, then broke her roses one by one.]

[Later, it was her brother. He actually buried land mines throughout her garden.]

[But the cruelest one is King Nathan. He has always known. Last year, afraid that her brother hadn’t destroyed enough, he even sent his Beta to burn down the entire rose garden.]

[And this year… it’s her best friend’s turn. I bet she’ll be even more ruthless.]

I can’t believe it. How could Nathan possibly do something like this?

I stumble all the way to the pack’s rose garden, only to see Phoebe crouching beside my Crimson Gold Rose.

Her expression is calm as she twists open a bottle of black liquid and slowly pours it onto the roots.

Wolfsbane.

At that moment, the blood in my veins seems to freeze.

For eleven years, I endure bitter winters and keep watch beneath countless moonlit nights. I water and fertilize this rose again and again, doing everything I can just to see it bloom at the Luna Trials one day.

Because Nathan once told me that as long as my rose bloomed, he would make me his Luna.

Yet only today do I finally realize that for all these eleven years, I was never losing to the other candidates.

Every single one of my roses was destroyed by Nathan and the people I trusted most, with their own hands.

Sensing my gaze, Phoebe’s face changes. Her hand trembles, and the bottle slips from her fingers, smashing onto the ground.

“Helena…?”

I stare at her, suddenly remembering a night ten years ago.

After being rejected by her mate, Phoebe left the Lycan realm and came to our pack territory. She got lost along the way and was ambushed by a group of rogues led by Nathan’s enemy, the Rogue King.

I set fire to all the dead leaves nearby, forcing them back and giving us a chance to escape.

That night, after we made it out through the flames, she threw her arms around me and cried, “Helena, thank goodness I have you. From now on, my life belongs to you.”

But now, Phoebe avoids my eyes and grits out, “I know this is wrong, but I don’t regret it. My brother doesn’t love you anymore. Olivia is the only one I consider my sister-in-law, and she’s going to be the future Luna Queen.”

She looks up at me, each word deliberate.

“The Luna Trial is almost here. This rose has to die.”

I stare at her. “Was it you people who did this for the past ten years, too?”

Phoebe is silent for a moment before slowly nodding.

“Yes. Olivia said that if you really became the Luna Trial Champion but still couldn’t become my brother’s Luna, it would only hurt you more. She was doing it for your own good.”

I force a bitter smile and turn away.

I’ve barely taken a few steps when someone comes running toward us.

Olivia sees the burn on Phoebe’s ankle where the Wolfsbane splashed her, and her eyes immediately turn red. She glares at me angrily.

“Helena, you can be mad at me, but how could you hurt Phoebe?”

Nathan follows close behind her. My eyes fall on their intertwined fingers.

He notices my gaze, his fingers stiffening as he instinctively tries to pull away.

But Olivia suddenly drops to her knees.

“Helena, Phoebe has always treated you as her best friend. Please don’t let me ruin your friendship. If it will make you forgive me, I’ll do anything.”

Her voice breaks as she bends down, but Nathan immediately pulls her into his arms.

“No one gets to make you kneel. I’m your king, and I forbid you from doing this.”

He crouches down and brushes the dirt from her knees. After making sure she isn’t hurt, he stands and looks at her face, his brows drawing together.

“Why do you look so pale?”

As if realizing who is responsible, he turns toward me and shields Olivia behind him.

“Helena, go home first. I’ll explain everything to you later.”

I give him one long look before turning away.

The moment I push open the front door, my mother points at me, trembling with anger.

“I heard you forced Olivia to kneel to you? Helena, is this how I raised you? How could I have given birth to a daughter like you?!”

Calvin rushes forward and raises his hand to hit me, “I’ll make you pay for what you did to Olivia!”

I catch his wrist and stare at the two people who are supposed to be my closest family.

I still can’t stop myself from asking, “Why? What have I ever done to hurt you?”

Calvin yanks his hand away.

“You have the nerve to ask? You think growing roses is easy, so you forced me to learn, too. Everyone thinks I’m inferior to you. I’m your brother! But Olivia never made me feel that way. She said it didn’t matter if I couldn’t learn.”

His eyes fill with disgust.

“It’s not just King Nathan who likes her. Our entire family, even the whole pack, likes her more than you!”

I stare at him, unable to say a word. Then I slowly turn to my mother.

“Mom, do you feel the same way?”

My mother lets out a cold laugh.

“Is your brother wrong? Olivia can’t grow roses, but she talks to me, comforts me, and keeps me company. Sometimes, I wish she were my daughter instead.”

She looks straight at me and says every word clearly.

“If you hadn’t clung to King Nathan all these years, Olivia wouldn’t have had to suffer for you!”

The room falls completely silent.

I open my hands. My palms are covered in tiny cracks and cuts from tending to roses.

From the moment I awakened my wolf, these hands have been able to sense the life force of roses. They have saved countless roses from the brink of death and, after my father’s death, carried the responsibility of keeping our family afloat.

Yet after everything I’ve done, I still can’t make a human heart stay loyal.