Constance's POV:
I was awakened by a nightmare again.
I couldn't remember how many times.
The golden eyes in the dream were cold and vicious. The person with the eyes held a blood-stained dagger as it was stabbed into my heart.
I couldn't remember how many times I was killed in the dream.
Every time, I would comfort myself, 'Honey, this is a dream. It doesn't matter.' But I couldn't contain the terror of the nightmare.
Outside the window, the moonlight was pale and illuminated everything in the pack.
I glanced at my room—a plain and small living quarters for temple maids.
Everything in the temple was drab and boring.
Of course, I had a little more fun than the usual maids—being laughed at.
As the next Saintess, I was the only one in the temple who didn't have the ability to talk to the Moon Goddess. Everyone laughed at me behind my back, including my childhood friends.
I often thought the Saintess kept me because of my father, Alpha Baron.
The nightmares made me feel bad. The moonlight guided me as I headed to the lake behind the temple to bathe.
Every time I felt terrible, I would come to the lake alone.
Under the moonlight, the lake was beautiful.
I took off my clothes and went into the lake. The lake's surface rippled, and the reflection of the moonlight glittered upon my naked body.
It felt good to bathe in the lake in the middle of the night. No one noticed that I was a powerless Saintess. No one noticed that the werewolf power in me hadn't risen. No one laughed at me for being a useless piece of garbage in the quiet of the night.
Just as I was enjoying the moment, I felt a pair of sharp eyes staring at me from the forest by the lake.
The gaze was like a sharp arrow, shooting straight at me, making me shudder and shiver.
Alarm bells went off in my head, and I hurriedly dressed and fled the lake.
Back in my room, I panted.
The gaze made me feel uneasy and threatened.
I lay in bed, my heart pounding.
I had never felt this way before一nervous, flustered, scared, and a little curious.
Who was this man?
How could he be at the lake by the temple in the middle of the night?
Could it be Declan?
No, that couldn't be. He was my father's loyal Beta and wouldn't go too far away from my father at night.
So who was it? Who had such a strong and oppressive aura?
I closed my eyes and racked my brain for an answer.
My body and mind told me—to stay far away from this pair of eyes. This was dangerous!
I didn't sleep all night because of this strange fear.
The next day, I arrived at the altar feeling exhausted.
This year's prayer session was especially lively.
Two other packs that were better than ours came to our pack every three years for a prayer.
This was a big deal for the whole pack. Every time there was a big event like this, many men and women found their mates. But it had nothing to do with me because a saintess had to remain a virgin for the rest of her life, unfeeling and unlustful, serving only the Moon Goddess.
Not surprisingly, my presence attracted a lot of derisive looks.
I was used to it.
Everyone knew that Alpha Baron's daughter was a broken werewolf—I have no wolf.
I lowered my head as I approached the altar, and the eyes of the audience were curious, contemptuous, and mocking.
I was a little relieved that I didn't see the same dangerous gaze I had seen last night. It looked like that particular werewolf wasn't there.
I was a little relieved.
The service went well.
I saw Declan at the service.
He was standing next to Baron. His red hair was like a ball of fire, glowing in the sun, as bright as his personality. He was wearing a skin-tight black shirt today, and his muscular body was like an aphrodisiac, attracting the attention of the girls around him.
Declan was the most handsome and courageous Beta in the pack. He was tall and handsome, and many of the girls in the pack fantasized about dating Declan before finding a mate, but none of them ever succeeded.
Declan also saw me. He waved and smiled at me. He was the most gentle person to me in the pack. Every time I saw him, I felt as peaceful as praying before the statue of the Moon Goddess.
If I could, I would like to stay by Declan's side for the rest of my life!
Unfortunately, a Beta would eventually get a mate of his own, and a saintess would have to be alone for the rest of her life.
When the girls around saw Declan being nice to me, they all expressed their jealousy.
"What right does she have to stay in the pack?"
"The Saintess is so kind. She has left such trash to inherit the throne."
"She is shamelessly seducing Declan!"
I was very sad, but I had no way to retort to them.
It was already an embarrassment not to be eligible as a werewolf to stay in the pack. In the past, werewolves like me would be banished from the pack. But, the Saintess was kind enough to take me in. I wanted to thank my Baron for his indifference to me and for making me less visible, too.
As the prayer session progressed, it became increasingly like torture, and I felt more and more people's dissatisfaction and malice toward me.
When the service was over, I couldn't wait to run away.