Chapter 3 Chapter 3

Edyth Hart POV 

8 years ago

“Edyth, dear... come here quickly, we don't have much time.” Mom's voice pulled me from my sleep. 

“Coming…” I blinked my eyes and walked wobbly, my feet crunching through dry leaves which had blown in through the open windows, scattering on the wooden floor. 

“Eden, my dear child, come fast. We don't have much time left.” Mom said again, like she was in a hurry. 

“What is it mommy?” 

The moment I reached her, she dropped to her knees and cupped my face with trembling hands.

“You're very special, Eden. Listen to Mommy carefully, okay? You must never tell anyone what happens today. Understand?”

I frowned, “Why? Are we in trouble, Mommy?”

Before she could answer, my father walked into the room. He was carrying a syringe filled with a strange golden serum.

“My baby,” he said softly, sadness filling his eyes, “you are not supposed to tell anything because the world isn't ready for what is inside you.”

Inside me?

I stared at the syringe, confused. But then mom hugged me tightly, blocking my vision. “This is going to protect you. One day, it might save many lives. But now, you must run, Edyth.”

“Run? But where, Mommy?” My voice cracked. What was going on? My brain couldn't process any details at the moment. 

“Anywhere.” Mom's eyes welled with tears. “Promise us...if anything happens...you’ll run and never speak of this. Not to anyone.”

Before I could answer, I felt the needle pierce my skin. I flinched, but it didn't hurt.

Instead, warmth spread through my veins, flowing throughout my body like liquid sunlight. My arms felt light.

My thoughts became hazy. Everything around me suddenly seemed distant and unreal.

I couldn't understand what was happening now but I didn't dare to ask a question either seeing their distressed expression. 

I was super scared and suddenly a sound echoed near the door making everyone flinch. From the very moment everything started to move in a blur. 

The terminal beeped, scaring me. Mom shoved open a panel behind the storage shelves, revealing a dark narrow exit tunnel.

“Edyth, go! Now!” she cried, pushing me forward.

“Mama? Papa? What about you?” My voice trembled. I couldn't process what was going on because the injection on my little body was making me hazy. 

“We will follow you soon dear, now run and don't look back!” Dad pushed me, making me stumble forward. 

And because I trusted him completely, I obeyed. 

I ran.

I ran through the tunnel, through the trees, through the forest. Branches scratched my arms as I stumbled through the darkness but I kept running exactly like they told me to.

But I was still just a child after all…I looked back.

Then—

KABOOM.

A deafening explosion ripped through the night.

A deafening sound bombarded the sky making me flinch violently. And I just witnessed the fire that swallowed the house my parents were in. 

The entire estate erupted into a bloom of smoke and death. And then my world shattered through in a heartbeat.

“MOM! DAD!” 

I suddenly woke up from the hospital desk, the scream still lodged in my throat. I looked around in anxiety, breathing heavily. 

It was that damn nightmare again! I pressed my aching head. I was eighteen now not eight anymore but the scene was so vivid that it brought chills whenever I remembered it. 

I curled into a ball hiding my face on my knees when my parent's memory hit me. 

My parents were once a renowned biomedical scientists. The world admired their brilliance, often calling them the minds that could change the future of medicine.

But all of that ended the night when our house went up in flames.

The newspapers had blamed it on a chemical leak, an unfortunate gas explosion in our private laboratory.

But I remembered more. The memory of fear in our eyes, the injection, the warning to run had etched my mind completely. 

And now I had a secret that no one knew of. A secret buried deep in my blood, one even the world’s best doctors or any pure bloods werewolves wouldn’t dare imagine.

I now had a rare neurological condition, or rather a miracle woven into my now modified genes. 

My blood could fight off almost any rare toxins. My blood didn’t just resist any poison, it neutralized it. 

I, Edyth Hart, am a living antidote. A walking cure. But I had kept it hidden, even my original identity and lived as a nobody because of the promise.

Because in a world ruled by powerful werewolves, miracles were never left alone.

They were hunted. Studied. Controlled.

And I have no intention of being any of that.

“Hey, you….” Tracy, one of the 4th year students called me out, “Dr. Freya told you to clean Room 312. Someone puked in there.”

Is she serious right now…?

I glared at her, “That's not my duty.”

“So what? We are already short on staff. And you do not get much work anyway. So Dr. Freya told you to be useful for once.”

My face went grim immediately. That Freya again…

At this point, I wasn't even surprised anymore.

Ever since she found out I had been accepted into Briarwood and placed directly into the internship program, she had made my life a living nightmare.

Just like old times.

The bullying had spread through the internship program like a disease.

Some students targeted me because they wanted Freya's approval. Others were simply jealous of me that I have achieved so much at such a young age. 

Either way, I became the easiest target.

Tracy snapped her fingers, “Hey are you listening..? Go, clean the room.”

I glared at her, “I will not. I'm not a janitor, I'm an intern. If you tell me to do extra ward duties or extra thesis work I'll do it, but I won't do these kinds of things.” 

“What? Do you think you are too good for this place, is that it?” Another student sneered. 

“I never said that. I am just asking to be treated fairly.” I retaliated.

“Fairly?” Tracy laughed bitterly. “Do not make me laugh. You should be grateful we even let you stay here without a pack, without a wolf, without anyone backing you.”

With a sharp shove, she pushed me and I had no time to react.

My foot slipped and the balance broke. I fell hard onto the cold floor, the impact knocking the breath from her lungs.

Someone splashed the water over my clothes, soaking me completely, seeping into her hair, her skin, her bones.

What the hell!?

Laughter erupted around me. “Oh my God,” one of them mocked. 

“Look at her.”

“So clumsy,” another added.

My eyes stung, but I refused to let the tears fall.

Not here.

Not in front of them.

“Quick, Alpha Nathan is coming!!” The words of the students rippled through the corridor like a warning howl.

Suddenly the air shifted around me. I felt a dangerous, heavy gaze settle on me. I looked up, my body trembling.

And found Nathan's dark eyes already fixed on me.