Chapter1
For the ninety-ninth time, my twin sister, Serena, contracted Wolfsbane fever.
To ensure I "shared her pain," my Alpha father, Thorne, and Omega mother, Vera, tossed me into the rogue wilderness on the outskirts of the city, a wasteland crawling with feral beasts.
"Is it fair that Serena is burning up like this, while you are still skipping around alive and well?"
Before shutting the car door, my mother shot me a frigid glare. The vehicle kicked up a trail of yellow dust and quickly vanished at the edge of the wasteland.
There were no shelters here, nor were there any water sources. The sun hung directly overhead, baking the earth until the very air distorted.
On the first day, I managed to lick the dew from the crevices of the rocks. By the second day, even the dew was gone. By the third day, my lips cracked, and my body grew increasingly feverish.
I propped myself against the rock wall and dragged my feet forward, but my legs gave out, and I fell heavily to my knees in the sand.
Just as my consciousness was about to fade, a massive black door materialized within the stone wall. I crawled over and pushed it open with all my remaining strength.
A woman in a black robe stood behind the altar, her silver hair cascading down to her waist. She looked at me.
"Sacrifice what you possess to obtain anything you desire, but the toll must be equivalent."
I patted my empty pockets. "I don't have any money."
"The altar does not accept money. Lifespans, memories, voices, talents, or even your wolf spirit—all can be traded."
I looked up at her, my voice hoarse. "Can I sacrifice my wolf spirit and my health in exchange for a cup of Moon Spring water?"
If I lost my wolf spirit and my health, becoming a completely crippled wolf, would my parents no longer be able to punish me the next time Serena fell ill?
The day before yesterday, when Serena complained of a sore throat, my father shoved a red-hot ember into my mouth and forced me to swallow it until I couldn't even make a sound. Today, when Serena cried about stomach cramps, my mother dumped me into this wilderness without a single supply.
The black-robed woman fell silent.
"Once the transaction is complete, it cannot be undone. Without your wolf spirit, your wolf core will continuously wither, and your skeleton, blood, and organs will rapidly decay."
"Does that mean I will be sick all the time from now on?"
"Yes."
I couldn't help but smile.
"That's wonderful."
From then on, whenever Serena felt awful, my parents would no longer feel like I was the only one living a perfectly happy life.
The black-robed woman raised her hand, and a goblet of shimmering silver spring water materialized in her palm.
I took it and downed it in one gulp.
The very next second, a horrific, tearing agony erupted from deep within my spine. I distinctly felt my wolf spirit slowly fading away.
When I opened my eyes again, two pairs of mud-caked combat boots were planted right beside my face.
My father, Thorne, snatched me by my collar. "Where did you go hide? I almost thought the perimeter rogues had picked your bones clean."
"I wasn't hiding..." I gasped heavily for air. "I stumbled upon a fae altar. I traded my wolf spirit and my health for water..."
Smack!
A vicious slap landed squarely on my left cheek. I was sent flying, my jaw smashing heavily against a jagged rock.
Crack.
A sickeningly crisp snap exploded inside my mind. It was my newly budding primal fangs. I opened my mouth, and two blood-soaked sharp teeth tumbled out onto the mud.
My mother, Vera, strode over, grabbing me by the ear and yanking me upward. "Stop playing dead! You spend every day reading those deceitful comic books, and now you’ve learned how to lie? Speak to me!"
"Mom... it hurts..."
The moment I opened my mouth, I gagged, violently spewing a mouthful of black blood onto her leather boots.
The hand gripping my ear released me instantly. A flicker of panic flashed across my mother's eyes. Thorne's face turned livid as he hoisted me over his shoulder and broke into a mad sprint toward home.
The freezing wind sliced at my face like icy knives, but I simply closed my eyes. His broad shoulder felt rock-hard, yet it carried my father's signature pinewood scent. So this was the spot Serena had always monopolized.
It was truly warm.
The clinic reeked of pungent antiseptics. The pack doctor forcibly stitched my shattered gums back together with needle and thread. Clutching the freshly printed test results, he marched briskly out of the inner room.
"Thorne. Vera." The doctor slapped the medical report harshly onto the desk. "The foundation of her gums is completely pulverized. This child will only be able to consume a liquid diet for the rest of her life! But that’s not even the worst of it!"
His voice trembled. "She’s only fourteen! This is the absolute critical stage for her skeleton to set! But look at her wolf bones—they're as brittle as rusted iron! And the wolf core inside her body is completely drained, just like an eighty-year-old elder!"
"Just what kind of forsaken death trap did you throw a child who hasn't even shifted yet?!"
My mother's pupils contracted violently, her gaze landing on my face with an inexplicable bewilderment. She parted her lips, but couldn't squeeze out a single word. My father's face darkened into an abyssal scowl.
An hour later, back at the villa.
Serena lay curled on the sofa, sobbing softly, with an ice pack plastered to her forehead and her body wrapped tightly in white fox fur.
My older brother, Caleb, was trying everything to comfort her; however, his face instantly iced over the moment he saw us return.
He strode directly toward me. "Does she not have hands and feet to come back on her own? Did she really need both of you to escort her?"
He viciously snatched the blood-stained coat I was clutching. "Elara, playing the victim again? You obviously tripped and hurt your own mouth, but you just had to drag Mom and Dad to the doctor with you so Serena would be left to suffer all by herself?"
"Could your little tricks for attention be any more pathetic?"
