Chapter 3

I spat it out immediately, but the poison had already touched the tip of my tongue.

A burning sensation spread rapidly up my throat, and patches of silver blisters crawled across my neck. The faces in the hall began to blur together, and the voices grew farther and farther away.

Kael noticed something was wrong and reached out to steady me.

But Layla started crying behind him.

"Kael, is she still blaming me?"

His hand froze midair.

I gripped the edge of the table, managing to stay upright for a few more seconds before collapsing to the floor.

Before I lost consciousness, I saw Milo hide himself in Layla's arms. No one told him that the poison had been fed by his own hand.

When I opened my eyes again, my nose was filled with the bitter scent of silver herbs.

I was in the Healing Hall.

Kael sat by the bed. Seeing me wake, the tension in his face eased at once.

"You're finally awake."

I didn't answer.

The wounds on my arms had already been treated. Over every burn mark was a healing talisman printed with a wolf-cub design.

Kael used to love that particular design. He once said the fierce little wolf cub looked just like Milo as a baby.

Two nurse-wolves pushed the door open to change my bandages.

They both paused the instant they saw the moon-mark on my elbow.

"It's identical to the mark in the mirror-vision."

"So it really is her."

They lowered their voices, but made no effort to look away from me.

I reached over and picked up the mirror-vision device on the nightstand.

The moment the light-screen unfolded, the trending images filled my view.

All of them were me.

Changing clothes. Bathing. Sleeping. And the moment my wolf blood had spiraled out of control, curled up on the bed.

Every clip had been edited, with concealment spells cast over key parts of my body—but the moon-mark had been deliberately left visible.

Captions scrolled endlessly beneath them.

"Abandoned Luna harasses Alpha's mate."

"Chaotic private life—spread rumors that Layla was kept by a foreign wolf lord."

"Disrupted the recognition ceremony at the full-moon rite, attempting to steal the cub."

My hands began to shake.

These clips could only have come from Kael's private memory crystal.

I looked up at him.

Kael was wiping the medicine residue off the back of my hand, his movements as steady as ever.

"Did you release these?"

"You spread rumors back then that got Layla surrounded and attacked by the pack. You should feel a taste of the humiliation she went through."

He set the cloth back in the water basin.

"Now we owe each other nothing."

I picked up the bowl of medicinal broth beside me and threw the entire thing in his face.

"Kael, you truly disgust me."

The liquid dripped down his chin.

Fury rose in his eyes.

"I already cast a concealment spell—no one can actually see your body clearly. If you hadn't hurt Layla first, I never would have done this."

"You left the moon-mark visible."

"So what?"

"The entire pack knows exactly who that mark belongs to."

Kael went quiet for a moment. He didn't apologize.

He wiped the liquid from his face, and his voice softened instead.

"Layla went into sudden labor just now. She's hemorrhaging badly. Her bloodline is unusual—the Healing Hall doesn't have enough stored blood crystals for her."

I had already guessed what he was about to say.

"Her bloodline is compatible with yours. The healers need the essence of your wolf blood."

"She took my mate from me. She taught my own cub to hate me. And now you want my blood too?"

"She's your sister."

"My mother only ever gave birth to one child—me."

Kael restrained his emotions and stepped closer.

"Save her first. Once she's safe, I'll dissolve the binding cord between us, and give you a proper moonlight wedding to make up for it."

He added, almost as if granting me a reward: "The position of Luna you wanted—I'll give that back to you too."

The door to the room swung open.

Morgaine walked in first.

"Layla's life hangs by a thread, and you're still arguing over this?"

The elder followed behind her, his face cold. "Kael is willing to re-mark you—that's already a concession on his part. Go donate blood immediately. Don't delay the birth of the cub."

They surrounded the bed, blocking every exit.

Everyone was waiting for me to comply.

I closed my eyes and silently called on the contract.

"How much time is left? I don't want to look at them anymore."

The silver mark glowed faintly.

【Contract dissolution countdown: ten minutes.】

I opened my eyes and gave Kael a small smile.

"Fine. I'll donate."

Kael visibly relaxed.

"I knew you wouldn't really stand by and let her die."

He reached out to help me up. I sidestepped him directly.

Kael didn't seem to mind. He simply followed behind me, making promises. "Once this is over, I'll make it up to you. We can start over past misunderstandings."

I walked alone into the blood-donation chamber.

The healer had me lie down on the stone bed and wrapped a blood-drawing talisman band around my arm. The runes pierced into my veins, and bright red wolf-blood essence began flowing through the crystal tubes.

The blood-crystal vial gradually swelled.

My body grew colder and colder, while the contract mark on my palm burned brighter and brighter.

Kael stood outside the chamber, watching the rising blood volume through the stone door.

No one asked whether I—having just been poisoned—could even withstand a blood donation.

The countdown entered its final three seconds.

I closed my eyes.

Three.

The blood kept draining.

Two.

The mark began to dissolve.

One.

The last bit of light on my palm went out.

The healer lunged toward the stone bed.

"Heartbeat has stopped! Cut off the blood draw immediately!"

The stone door burst open.

Kael rushed in, shoving aside the healer blocking his path, and gripped my shoulders with desperate force.

"Who gave you permission to stop! Keep going!"

The head healer activated the resuscitation array again and again, but the life-rune beside the bed gave no response at all.

After a moment, he withdrew his hands.

"Her heart has completely stopped."