Chapter 3

3.

I thought he would let me go.

"I don't remember anything from the past," he said, his voice cold. "You will save her today whether you want to or not."

His hand lifted. Power stabbed into my body. He was forcibly pulling my life force out. Pouring it into Clara.

"Ah―!"

It felt like having your soul carved in half.

Tears blurred my vision. I looked at him. He didn't glance at me once. Every ounce of his attention was on her.

In that moment, every last shred of hope I'd been clinging to shattered.

He held my hand only to drain my life into another woman. He claimed amnesia, yet he knew exactly how to use my ability. His eyes were full of worry. For her. Not me.

I closed my eyes. Stopped looking at him.

I don't know how long it took. Clara stirred awake.

The toxin had been transferred into me. It seeped into my heart meridian. Like a thousand needles threading through my veins all at once.

It won't kill me. But it hurts. And I know this type of poison leaves permanent damage. Within three days, bodily functions start degrading. Within a month, I won't be able to shift into wolf form anymore.

By then, I'll be a broken werewolf. Half a wolf.

But that might be a good thing. A wolf who can't shift is harder to track in the human world. No wolf-specific scent to lock onto. No energy signature from wolf form to trace.

This poison helped me.

"You brought this on yourself." Damian stared down at my colorless face. His voice was flat. "This is the price of poisoning Clara."

He turned. Gathered Clara gently into his arms. Murmured reassurances.

Clara leaned against his shoulder. A shy, trembling smile.

"Alpha, I have good news…"

"I'm pregnant."

My heart dropped. My face stayed still.

The image surfaced in my mind. Damian, ordering someone to hold me down. Prying my mouth open. Forcing that bowl of poison down my throat.

"Only Clara is worthy of carrying the next Alpha. You? You're nothing."

The words still echoed in my ears.

I lowered my eyes. Crushed every emotion back into the deepest pit of my chest.

I remembered his palm resting on my belly. His voice, low. Saying he wanted a pup with my eyes and his dark hair.

That image. I crushed it dead.

The bonding ceremony is in two days. I'll leave then. I don't need the answer I came for anymore.

"Wonderful, Clara." Damian was ecstatic. He immediately signed over the eastern Moonshadow Estate to her name. Transferred the most elite guard unit to her command.

I didn't want to watch another second of this. I turned to leave. Clara called after me.

She bit her lip. Tears brimmed in her eyes. "Lyra, why would you hurt me? Can you really not stand my existence?"

I watched her, cold. I didn't speak. I was in too much pain to play along with her performance.

Right on cue, she screamed. Collapsed to the floor. Both hands clutching her stomach.

"My stomach! My stomach hurts so much! Lyra, why did you push me!"

I stood where I was. I hadn't moved.

Damian didn't look at me. He lunged forward, scooped Clara up. Then he looked at me. Pure revulsion in his eyes.

"Enough, Lyra. You're nothing but a jealous, venomous piece of trash. Memory loss or not, I could never have loved something like you."

I listened. Quietly. All the way through.

My heart still ached. Silver poison still burned through my veins. The newly transferred toxin was still chewing through nerve endings.

But hearing those words, I felt no new pain. Like a cup already full. One more drop won't make it overflow.

I only confirmed one thing. He never truly knew me.

Before, no matter how I threw a fit, Damian would call me adorable. Patiently coax me. Say I was his moonlit mate. Swear he'd protect me for life.

That wasn't real. He was tired of me long ago. He was just waiting for an excuse.

Clara was that excuse.

"Fine, Damian. Then I reject you. I reject you as my mate."

My voice was even.

He flinched. His lashes twitched violently. "What game are you playing now? You think you can threaten me with this mate-rejection act?"

"Aren't you marrying Clara? I'm stepping aside. I'll stay far away from you. What more do you want?"

He stared into my eyes. Hard. For a long time.

In five years, I'd never spoken to him like this. So calm. So real.

Was that a flicker of unease on his face?

He started to speak. Clara clutched her belly and sobbed. "Alpha, my stomach hurts so much… I think something's wrong with the pup… you don't think something's happened, do you…"

Damian crushed that trace of panic instantly. Pointed at me. "Lyra, you want to leave? Go reflect in the silver prison first. That's the price for poisoning Clara and making her almost lose the pup."

The silver prison.

Deepest part of pack headquarters. Chains laced with silver on the walls. Floor paved with silver-pressed bricks.

Every breath, your skin brushes silver. It blisters. It burns. But it doesn't bleed. Silver wounds never bleed. They just sear your flesh alive.

Damian used to fret if I so much as scraped my skin. Now he's sending me to that place.

"Damian. I'll ask you one last time. Did you really forget me?"

I looked straight into his eyes.

He was silent for a long moment. In those few seconds, something inside him panicked. As if nodding right now would mean losing something forever. Something he could never get back.

But at this point, if he didn't keep acting, everything before would have been for nothing.

Once the ceremony was over, he'd go find her. Apologize properly. Explain everything. She'd forgive him. She always forgave him. It wasn't like she had anywhere else to go anyway.

"Don't think you can escape punishment by playing on my emotions." He sneered. "Guards. Take her to the silver prison."

The last thread of hope in my heart splintered. Silent.

I laughed coldly. Let the warriors march me away.

Fine. In the silver prison, at least I won't have to watch their theater anymore.

Two days left. When the ceremony starts and the border patrol gap opens, the silver prison won't hold me either.