Chapter 4

Corvina's POV

I clutched my throat and doubled over, coughing hard. My tongue didn’t feel like mine anymore. The numbness crawled from my lips all the way out to my fingertips, and my heart was racing so hard it felt like it was trying to break out of my chest.

“What... what did you put in this?”

I knew this feeling all too well.

Just like the ring last year, it was something a werewolf’s body can’t fight off.

It wasn’t ginger. It was wolfsbane.

Hesper rushed over and caught me, then rounded on Myrtle, his voice tight with anger.

“You said it was just bitter powder! What the hell is this?!”

Myrtle’s face flushed bright red.

“I—I didn’t know! It was some prank powder I bought online.”

“Besides, she slapped you last night! I wasn’t just going to let that go! And you’re the one who said she’s too stubborn for her own good and needed to learn her lesson. You signed off on it!”

So that was it.

This time, he’d signed off on it.

I was shaking all over. My arms and legs had gone numb, and my throat felt like a hand was squeezing it shut. Every breath was a fight.

“I knew it... There’s no way you’d ever make her apologize to me.”

“Hesper... and I actually wanted us to part on good terms. You don’t deserve that.”

I tried to make it to the bathroom to throw it up, but I’d barely taken a step before everything went black.

The last thing I heard was him shouting, panicked.

“Corvina! Don’t you dare do this to me!”

When I came to, it was already evening outside the window.

My throat felt like it had been scraped raw with sandpaper. My stomach cramped in waves, and I couldn’t get the taste of rust out of my mouth.

Drifting in and out, I’d half heard the doctor talking. They’d gotten me there in time. They’d pumped my stomach. I’d live. But the wolfsbane had burned my esophagus and the lining of my stomach, and werewolf healing doesn’t work against wolfsbane. Recovery was going to take a long time, and most likely, there would be lasting damage.

The moment I stirred, Hesper jolted awake at my bedside.

“Corvina, you’re awake. You scared the hell out of me. The doctor said you accidentally swallowed wolfsbane—if we’d gotten here any later...”

He paused, then rushed on.

“Myrtle really did want to apologize. You know how she is—she talks a big game, and okay, sometimes she goes a little too far, but she honestly didn’t mean it. Don’t be mad at her, okay?”

He didn’t ask once if I was in pain. It never even crossed his mind that from now on, I’d have to be careful with every single bite I ate.

The very first thing out of his mouth was an excuse for her.

I looked at him—at the face I’d loved for seven years, which suddenly seemed terrifyingly unfamiliar.

Tears spilled over before I could stop them.

“I’m not mad.”

My voice was so hoarse it barely came out.

“I just regret ever being with you.”

He went rigid. He was about to say something when his phone screen lit up.

Caller ID: Myrtle.

Every trace of emotion vanished from his face.

“I need to take this. Get some rest. I’ll be right back.”

He hurried out of the room.

I don’t know what made me do it, but I followed him.

The stairwell door was propped open a crack.

He was sitting on the steps. Myrtle sat close beside him, her head on his shoulder.

He ruffled her hair.

“Hey, stop beating yourself up. She won’t stay mad. She never does.”

Myrtle punched his arm, grinning.

“She can’t even handle this? Imagine if she found out the only reason you went after her was because you lost a bet. She’d lose her mind.”

“Loser had to land Corvina within a month. And the night you asked her out the seventh time? That was the very last day of the bet.”

“All those anniversaries she celebrates every year? For us, it’s the anniversary of the bet.”

In that instant, it was like something exploded inside my head.

I couldn’t hear anything but a high, thin ringing.

Hesper clapped a hand over her mouth and glanced around warily.

“Shh! That was forever ago. You take that to your grave, you hear me?”

My legs gave out. It was like someone had pulled every bone out of my body. I had to grab the wall to keep from falling.

All the questions that had haunted me for years finally had answers.

Why I lost to Myrtle every time he had to choose between us.

Why he said he loved me, but let other people hurt me, over and over again.

Why every anniversary was a joke.

I’d always thought he just cared too much about being a good brother.

It had never once occurred to me that everything he’d given me had been fake from the very start.

The rogue that night. Let me protect you. The grassy slope by Mirror Lake. That moon. And the house built on that slope—the one he said would be our home once we were married.

I’d thought it was the moment I was finally saved. It was only ever a bet.

To them, I’d never been Hesper’s girlfriend.

I’d just been the clown. The entertainment.

In that moment, every last shred of my dignity was ripped to pieces.

I pressed a hand hard over my trembling mouth, turned, and walked away.

I had to leave.

Get out of here. Away from all of it—every lie, everything that was choking me.

I pulled the IV out of the back of my hand, signed myself out against medical advice, went back to the hotel for my luggage, and headed straight for the airport. I switched my ticket to the earliest flight to Hawthorn Pack.

Right before boarding, a text from Hesper popped up.

You're not well yet. Where did you run off to? Stay put, I'm coming to get you.

Staring at that fake concern, I laughed until I cried.

I didn’t reply.

I closed my eyes, reaching for the mind-link that tied me to the Celandine Pack. Years ago, when my parents abandoned me, I’d almost severed it. Hesper was the only reason I stayed. He made me believe I still had a home.

Not anymore.

I snapped the connection, shutting them all out. Then, I blocked every last one of their phone numbers.

Hesper can keep his little anniversary games. I’m done.