Damian's cold voice came from behind me. He wrapped his arm around Chloe, shoved past me, and walked away.

At the banquet that evening, Damian served Chloe food and wiped her mouth, acting the part of the doting, attentive husband. Their newlywed bliss slowly softened my father’s expression, who had still been harboring resentment over Damian’s prophecy.

The Damian from my last life had been kind to me, but he had never once done something like serve me. In his eyes, I was of a lower status and it was my duty to serve him.

This whole act was just to spite me.

He wasn’t the only Golden Lycan in the world. If I could, I would just borrow a seed from another.

Borrow a seed! It was a perfect idea. No marriage, no strings attached. I would birth my own Golden Lycan pup to spite Damian and fulfill the dream of motherhood that was stolen from me.

But all the Golden Lycans I knew were either too old or too young. Where could I find a young one?

“You’re looking for a young Golden Lycan?!”

I quickly clamped my hand over Lilith’s mouth.

“Can you keep your voice down?”

Lilith was the spirit of a thousand-year-old oak tree, and my only friend from another race.

“Mmph… let go!”

I released my hand, and Lilith lowered her voice.

“I actually know of an absolutely incredible Golden Lycan.”

“Really?”

“Legend has it that in the heart of the forbidden ‘Silent Peak,’ in a place called the Moonlit Core, lives an Ancestral Golden Lycan. He’s a pureblood, the likes of which your Werewolf Alliance hasn’t seen in centuries. Even your pack elders would have to bow to him.”

“He’s that powerful?”

I was skeptical. Lilith had a flair for the dramatic.

“Of course! They say any werewolf who has seen him was blinded by the sheer radiance of his golden aura. But ever since he went up to Silent Peak, he’s never come down. We can’t get up there, so Silent Peak slowly became forbidden ground.”

I thought for a moment. It was true; when I was a child, the elders always warned us to stay away from that mountain.

“How do you know more about this than I do, a werewolf?”

“I’ve lived for nearly a thousand years. What don’t I know?”

Lilith flicked me with a hand made of leaves.

“So… let’s just say, hypothetically… if I were to borrow a seed from him, would that be possible?”

“Huh? What?!”

Another shriek. I had to cover her mouth again.

“Quiet! Don’t let anyone hear.”

“Did I hear you right? Forget the fact that no one can get up that mountain now, and we have no idea what it’s like up there after all these years… you want to borrow a seed from that Golden Lycan? Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“How will I know if I don’t try? What if I get lucky and find him? I’ll just use a little ‘Moonpetal Pollen,’ sleep with him for a night, and by the next day, he’ll have forgotten all about our little fling.”

Lilith was so shocked my words her mouth hung open wide enough to fit an apple.

I knew how to get onto the mountain.

In my last life with Damian, he had searched for countless forbidden secrets to hide his Omega identity. I remembered one book clearly. It said that the juice of the Golden Glow Grass on Silent Peak, when applied to a wolf’s fur, could turn it a brilliant gold that would not fade over time.

To find that herb, Damian had scoured hundreds of ancient texts to find a way onto the mountain.

At the southwest foot of the mountain, there was a runestone, indestructible. By using the blood of a high-ranking Alpha as a catalyst, one could draw a glyph to break the barrier. I still remembered what that glyph looked like.

I remembered how Damian used half a bowl of my blood. But he returned without the herb, grievously injured. He never told me what happened.

“You’re really insane. That’s an Ancestral Lycan. If he finds out a wolf of your rank is fantasizing about him, he’ll tear you to pieces with one swipe.”

Lilith gestured with two leaves.

“What do you mean, ‘my rank’? I’m a high-ranking Silver Moon Alpha, thank you very much.”

“Are you serious about this?”

“I’m serious.”

“I’ve heard what’s been happening with you in the Alliance. For all the spiritual spring water you’ve given me, I guess I can help you this much.”

Lilith plucked the tenderest leaf from her core and handed it to me.

“I’m actually a ‘Fertility Tree.’ Eat this, and I guarantee you’ll get pregnant on the first try.”

“So that’s what you do! And here you were, telling me eating your leaves would double my power and grant me eternal youth.”

I couldn’t help but laugh as I took the leaf.

“Don’t you dare laugh at me!”

“Haha, alright, alright.”

“You have to come back safe and sound. I’ll be waiting for you to water me.”

“I know, I know.”

I waved her off and started walking in the direction of Silent Peak.