My Rib Is Her Guitar Pick Chapter 01

My Rib Is Her Guitar Pick Chapter 01

The day before the bonding ceremony, the Beta’s daughter, Seraphina Moonshadow, shoved me down a flight of stairs.

Several of my ribs snapped on impact, and one nearly tore through my chest.

Malak Ashwood went pale. He rushed me to the pack hospital that night and summoned a team of the finest surgical Healers available.

I thought he was terrified of losing me.

But inside the operating room, I heard him issue his orders in a calm, even voice.

“Keep her alive at all costs. The Moon Goddess Festival is only a few days away, and Sera is about to take the stage as the Moonlight Performer. Her reputation must remain spotless.”

“And remove Ironcrest’s fifth rib for me. Sera still needs a set of bone picks for her new guitar.”

The Healer’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“But that’s the rib closest to her heart. Removing it will leave her with lifelong complications, and Ms. Ironcrest may never be able to fight as a warrior again. She fought hard to earn the title of Golden Warrior. Are you certain, Mr. Ashwood?”

Malak gave a quiet, mocking laugh.

“What makes you think her career could ever compare to Sera’s dream? Sera said a pick carved from that rib would have more soul precisely because it was closest to the heart, and that it would make her music sound better.”

“I promised her that her first concert at the Moon Goddess Festival would be flawless. Stop arguing. Worst case, I’ll support Sunniva for the rest of her life.”

I closed my eyes as tears slipped from their corners.

So this was the truth. In Malak’s heart, I would never matter as much as Seraphina.

Then I had no reason to become his Luna.

…

Malak was the notoriously ruthless Alpha of Ironmoon Pack, and no one dared challenge his decisions.

But stripping a warrior of an entire rib was so cruel that the Healer still tried to reason with him.

“Mr. Ashwood, if we replace it with a titanium-alloy rib implant, it will never fully integrate with Ms. Ironcrest’s body. Whenever the weather turns overcast or rainy, her wolf will reject it, leaving her in unbearable pain. If she’s struck and the implant shifts, it could puncture the lining around her lungs and force her to undergo surgery to open her chest.”

“Ribs from cattle or sheep can also be carved into bone picks. If those won’t do, we have plenty of cadaver donors who could…”

Malak cut the Healer off impatiently.

“No. Bones from cattle or sheep aren’t smooth enough and have no spiritual resonance. Picks made from them could never produce music that resonates with the audience’s souls. Sera has rehearsal and soundcheck at dawn, and I still have to carve the picks myself. I don’t have time to find another donor.”

“Sunniva will be my Luna soon enough. For a commoner like her, being made Luna is the greatest honor she could ever hope for. What could she possibly have to complain about? It’s only one rib. She can grit her teeth and bear the pain. Besides, it doesn’t rain in Ashmark every day.”

The Healer’s gaze swept over the blood on my body before stopping at my trembling fingertips.

Knowing I could hear every word, he took pity on me and pressed on.

“But a guitar pick is paper-thin. We only need a sliver of bone. That would preserve the structural integrity of Ms. Ironcrest’s rib cage and leave her breathing almost unaffected. She might even retain her warrior status. Why do you insist on taking the entire rib?”

Malak scoffed.

“How long is one pick supposed to last? What if it breaks or gets lost? Sera worked hard to earn her place as the Moonlight Performer, and nothing can be allowed to ruin her performance. Of course I’m making several spares. As for Sunniva… after the bonding ceremony, I’ll hire a private caregiver for her. Stop arguing and do it!”

The anesthetic had left me unable to open my eyes, much less speak.

Inside, I felt as cold as the operating table beneath me.

I wanted to ask him one thing. If it hadn’t been easy for Sera to become the Moonlight Performer, did he think the eight years I had spent fighting to earn the title of Golden Warrior had been easy for me?

When I woke in the pack hospital, it was already the following day.

My wolf curled in on herself inside me and whimpered. I could clearly feel that a piece of me was missing.

Dawn was just beginning to break outside, but no one was at my bedside.

I picked up my phone and saw that Seraphina had posted on social media an hour earlier.

In the photo, Malak sat in her recording studio at the warrior compound, his head bent as he sanded down a guitar pick for her.

The caption read as follows.

[I’m so lucky to have your support and to share every important moment of my life with you.]

My rib had become a prop in their performance of devotion.