Chapter 3

"Evira, come here!" Cecilia waved at me, her face beaming with a brilliant smile.

I dragged my heavy steps toward her. The training leather armor was too large, making me look even clumsier.

However, All the werewolves around us had athletic builds.

"Today I'll help you practice basic moves," Cecilia adjusted her gloves. "Felix said his training intensity was too high—he was worried about hurting you."

I nodded. It was true. Every time I sparred with Felix, I ended up bruised and battered.

"Let's start with the simplest claw strike." She positioned herself across from me, taking a defensive stance. "Relax. Imagine you're protecting someone important."

I tried to extend my wolf claws, but my movements were stiff as a robot. After living in the human world for so many years, I'd grown accustomed to suppressing my wolf nature.

"Too tense," Cecilia shook her head. "You need to find that primal anger."

I stared at her blankly.

"Like..." her voice suddenly became gentle, "your experiences in the human world. I heard you couldn't even protect your adoptive mother?"

My body instantly stiffened. How did she know about that?

"That kind woman was nearly beaten to death by your adoptive father trying to protect you, wasn't she?" she continued, a flash of malice in her eyes.

No. Don't say these things.

Rage boiled inside me like molten lava. My wolf soul began to howl, blood burning in my veins. My fingernails instantly transformed into razor-sharp claws.

"Excellent!" Cecilia clapped. "Now attack me! Release your fury!"

I lost all reason, lunging toward her. My claws gleamed coldly in the sunlight.

But the instant I charged at her, Cecilia didn't dodge. Instead, she deliberately moved toward my claws, her chest colliding hard with my claw tips.

The sound of fabric tearing, accompanied by her scream.

"Ahhhh!"

She collapsed to the ground, her training uniform ripped open with a massive gash, blood gushing like a fountain.

I stared numbly at my blood-stained claws, my mind completely blank.

The sounds around us suddenly went quiet. Everyone stopped training, staring at us in shock.

"Cecilia!" The instructor's furious roar shook the entire training ground.

She lay in a pool of blood, her face pale as paper.

She said weakly, "It's okay... I asked her to attack with real force... I know she didn't mean it..."

But the instant she fell, I felt a sharp pain in my wrist. Her fingernails had scraped across my skin, leaving a tiny wound. The injury immediately began to fester, silver poison corroding my flesh.

"Get away! You monster!" Felix rushed over, slapping me across the face with such force that I tumbled to the ground.

Angry shouts erupted across the training ground:

"She almost killed Cecilia!"

"Out-of-control beast!"

I struggled to my feet, watching the crowd gathered around Cecilia.

Then they threw me into the dungeon. The whip left scars all over my body.

Even injured, I knocked on Cecilia's door that evening to apologize, filled with guilt.

"Cecilia..." I said in a trembling voice. "I came to check on your injury..."

The door was ajar. I gently pushed it open, only to see she sat perfectly intact at her table, arranging some items.

On the table were several small pouches: blood bags, silver powder, and a few sharp silver needles.

Sensing my gaze, she slowly turned around.

"Didn't expect you to find out," she said with a cold smile. "Though it doesn't matter. No one will believe your word."

My brain went completely blank. "You... you weren't injured?"

"Of course not." She stood up, speaking carelessly. "That blood was a mixture of deer blood and silver powder. I sewed it into the inner layer of my training uniform beforehand."

"Why?" My voice trembled. "Why would you do this?"

She didn't answer directly. Instead, she walked to a drawer, retrieved a heavy money pouch, and threw it at my feet.

"If you dare speak about what you saw tonight," her voice turned dangerous, "I guarantee you'll be sent back to that human family. These coins are enough to pay for your adoptive mother's medical treatment."

I stared at the gold coins on the floor, endless rage and despair surging in my heart. But I knew she was right. No one would believe my words.

In everyone's eyes, she was the kind and caring daughter, while I was the out-of-control monster.

When I awakened from the memory, the Ancestral Hall was deathly quiet.

Luna covered her face, weeping. "How could she scheme to hurt her own sister like that..."

Felix's face was ashen. "No wonder she wouldn't let me see her wound that day..."

His hands trembled, as if he could still feel the impact of that moment.

"Enough." Luna looked at me with heartache. "

Stop it... she's already endured enough..."

"No!" Alpha's voice thundered like lightning. "There's still that night! The night she nearly killed you! That's when Cecilia disappeared afterward!"

My heartbeat skipped. That night was when the real nightmare began.

"Take us to the night Luna's condition flared up."