Chapter 3

3.

Heavy footsteps echoed from the rocky path, and I turned around with a desperate flicker of hope.

Kaelen marched into the cave at the head of an armed search party, passing straight through my spectral form without pausing.

His brow was furrowed with irritation. "She is not here. Where else could that useless girl run off to?"

My heart turned to ash as I watched him ransack the cold, barren cavern where we had shared so many nights.

"Kira is being utterly childish! We only took her inner core. Every member of the Golden Scale pack should be honored to lay down their lives for Lorelei!"

"The full moon is tomorrow night! Hundreds of our people will burn! How can she be so selfish and cruel as to run away and hide?"

A hollow laugh left my throat. It felt as if I had never truly known the man standing before me.

He sounded so righteous and noble, as if I had never been the mate who bled for him night after night.

He quietly slipped away from the search party, heading toward a secluded place.

It was the Moonstone Cliff, a sacred pack ground where we had held our quiet, private mating vows.

Back when his eyes were blinded by dark magic, this was the exact place where I temporarily transferred my core into his body. I had told him, "I discovered my core can leave my chest for a short time. Placing it near your eyes will restore your sight."

Losing my core made me pass out instantly. When I woke up, I found Kaelen holding my sister Lorelei in his arms.

He told me Lorelei had merely happened to walk past.

Standing at the edge of the Moonstone Cliff, Kaelen shouted into the misty winds, "Kira! I know you are hiding nearby! Lorelei is barely clinging to life. Do you really have the heart to watch our entire pack perish because of your petty tantrum?"

Only the whistling wind answered him.

Furious, he stormed away and headed straight toward Mother's royal chambers.

Lorelei had already awakened, looking frail and delicate. She offered Kaelen a faint, sorrowful smile, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

"Did you find her?"

Kaelen shook his head, his jaw clenching. "Do not worry, Lorelei. I will drag her back no matter where she is hiding."

Lorelei reached out her trembling hand, and Kaelen immediately took it, pulling her tenderly into his embrace.

She whimpered softly into his chest. "Kaelen, is this all my fault? Did I push my poor sister too hard, making her turn her back on the entire pack?"

Kaelen held her tighter, his face twisted with devotion. "Never blame yourself. You were the one who saved my sight years ago and asked me to keep her company out of pity. You are an angel, Lorelei. I have never loved her. You are the only one I hold in my heart."

A faint emerald aura drifted from his fingertips, enveloping Lorelei in a soothing glow.

Under the influence of his healing power, Lorelei's labored breathing stabilized, her wounds began to knit together, and color returned to her cheeks.

He was never a lowborn Golden Scale wolf at all. Everything he told me had been a disgusting lie!

That radiant green aura was the ancient healing magic exclusive to the high-ranking Foxfire shifter clan.

Lorelei leaned her head against his broad shoulder. "Kaelen, I am so grateful you are here. When I fell from the Celestial Gate, I truly thought I was going to die."

"Silly girl. As long as I am breathing, I will never let you die."

He leaned down and pressed a loving kiss to her lips.

What about me? What were all those years of slicing my own flesh and bleeding out my scales in his eyes?

I stared at them with hollow eyes, unable to shed a single tear.

It turned out Kaelen had believed Lorelei was his savior all along. He thought I had merely stolen her credit out of petty jealousy and loneliness.

He had stayed by my side for all these years just so he could personally rip out my beast core to save Lorelei when the time came!

I could not bear to listen any longer, collapsing onto the cold floor in utter despair.

Only one day remained before the full moon, and several lower-ranking pack members were already showing symptoms of the agonizing blood curse.

The entire camp grew chaotic. Warriors marched with blazing torches, roaring out vows to hunt me down.

"Help me!"

A warrior suddenly collapsed to the ground, screaming in sheer agony as sweat drenched his trembling frame.

His eyes flared a terrifying crimson. He clawed violently at his own face, losing his sanity to the burning fever and trying to end his own life against the jagged rocks.

The surrounding wolves backed away in terror, treating him like a deadly plague.

His mate tried to hold him down, only to be shoved violently into the dirt, two deep claw marks tearing across her cheek. She wailed in despair, "Where is Kira? Where is she? Only Kira's scales can stop this fire!"

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