Morgan and Nate were walking down the hallway and walked by my room when Morgan spoke up.

“Ariel hadn't given Demi a birthday gift yesterday!”

I heard him exclaim with my heightened werewolf hearing.

Nate sounded close as he replied, “I just realized it too! How wouldn't she give her own cousin a gift on her birthday?”

“I don't know, but I bet these items would be perfect as Ariel’s present to Demi.” Morgan suggested as he opened the door to my room and pointed at my closet.

“Yeah, you're right.” Nate agreed as he walked into my room.

Morgan walked in too and went straight for the closet, and Nate did the same.

“Hey! You can't just walk in here and take my things!” I yelled as I stood up from my bed.

“Well, Demi deserves a gift and we're going to take it to her whether you like it or not!” Nate yelled back.

Together, they pulled the door of the closet open.

Surprise showed on both of their faces as they realized that there wasn't a piece of clothing in my closet.

They both turned to me and their lips parted as if they were about to ask me why my closet was empty, but Nate's phone started ringing.

He pulled it out of his pants pocket and glanced at the screen.

His lips tugged up into a smile and he answered the call, “Demi! Are you feeling better now?”

I could hear her clearly with my heightened werewolf hearing as she replied to him, “Not so good. The doctor wants to draw my blood to test for any other ailments. I'm scared! Can you guys come back? I need you here.”

“Yes, we can come back right now.” He confirmed as his smile dropped and worry showed on his face.

She hung up the call and he pushed his phone back into his pants pocket.

He glanced at Morgan as he said, “We need to go to the pack hospital right now.”

“I know, I heard her.” Morgan replied as he looked just as worried.

They didn't spare me a glance as they walked out of my room to get to the pack hospital for Demi’s sake.

Later that day, I was at my father's studio, talking with my father's close friend and our Alpha, Ryan, when he did something so marvelous.

“Ariel, I want to give you the Diamond Jade as a gift from me to you.” Alpha Ryan said as he smiled at me.

The Diamond Jade was a piece of jewelry and one of my father's best designs.

I was so surprised, yet pleased to be receiving this gift.

“It's an honor to accept this gift, Alpha Ryan.” I replied as I smiled back at him.

The next day, Demi was discharged from the pack hospital and helped me pick up the jewelry from the courier.

She walked into the house and made her way towards me to hand it to me.

Instead of Demi handing me the jewelry box, she opened it.

Her eyes filled with awe as she saw the piece.

“Wow! It looks so beautiful!” She exclaimed as she stared at it.

“I want to try it on!” She said excitedly.

“No, you can't try it on, Demi.” I interjected as I walked up to her.

“Why?” She asked.

“Because it's not yours!” I replied as I felt frustrated with her.

“Well, I'm going to try it on anyway.” She said as she picked up the Diamond Jade.

I grabbed it to stop her as I said, “Oh no, you can't!”

“I want to!” She yelled like a stubborn child and pulled the jewelry, trying to get it out of my grasp.

I pulled it too as I tried to get it out of her grasp.

Suddenly, she pulled hard and it slipped from both of our grasps.

The jewelry fell to the ground and broke at the clasp.

“You broke it!” I exclaimed as I stared at it.

I bent down to pick it up and placed it back in the box.

Out of nowhere, Demi started crying as tears filled her eyes and a sob left her lips.

Worry showed on both Morgan and Nate's faces, and they rushed to her side.

“Don't cry, Demi. It's going to be alright.” Morgan said as he tried to comfort her.

“Yeah, it's going to be just fine, and we can even get you another piece of jewelry.” Nate said as his effort to comfort her.

She sobbed harder and they looked torn at the sight.

Morgan turned to me as he blamed me, “How can you harm your cousin over an inexpensive piece of jewelry?!”

“Is it more valuable than your cousin?!” Nate yelled as he glared at me.

I wanted to say yes because it meant so much more than having a scheming vixen like her as my cousin.

However, I sighed as I asked, “What are you trying to say?”

“You shouldn't treat Demi like this!” Nate yelled.

Morgan shook his head as he said, “I'm disappointed in you, Ariel. You should treat Demi with love and care as if she was your little sister.”

“She broke my father's precious jewelry!” I exclaimed as I stared at them like they were out of their minds.

He sighed, “As her elder cousin, you need to let this go.”

“Exactly! You can't blame her when she's been harmed.” Nate added as he brushed Demi's hair from her face as she finally stopped wailing.

She wiped her tears, but she didn't say anything and stared at me with pitiful eyes.

I was furious since the Diamond Jade was my father’s final piece and it had been meant as part of my dowry. He had wanted me to wear it on my wedding day.

The jewelry was so important to me that when it broke, my heart broke as well.

My jaw clenched in anger as I was about to reply to Morgan and Nate, but Nate cut me off, “You haven't even apologized to her for hurting her.”

Morgan nodded as he said, “Ariel, apologize to Demi right now!”

"If you don't apologize, we will send you to jail! Charge you with intentional injury!"

Facing Morgan and Nate's attitude towards me, I felt a pain in my heart. They didn't notice that my palm was scratched and bleeding, but they forced me to apologize for this woman.

I was done!

I raised my head and looked directly into his eyes, and spoke firmly——"Never!"

I scoffed as I replied to them, “She should be the one apologizing to me since she broke my father's final piece!”

Morgan shook his head as he said, “No, she won't be apologizing to you, Ariel because you harmed her while fighting over the jewelry.”

“No, I didn't!” I defended myself and decided to expose her as I added, “She's pretending to be hurt and crying fake tears to gain your sympathy. It's what she's always done.”

She gasped as if she couldn't believe that I would say that.

“Demi would never do that! She's not cunning like you.” Nate said, defending her.

“And it wouldn't have hurt you to let her try the jewelry on, but you had to fight her over it. You should have known better.” Morgan chastised as he wrapped his arm around Demi's shoulders.

She leaned into his embrace and Nate also wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

Morgan stared at me expectantly as he raised his brows and asked, “Well?”

“What?” I asked him as a confused frown fell on my brows.

“Aren't you going to apologize to Demi?” He asked me.

“How can you even have the guts to tell me to apologize to me when she's the one that did me wrong?” I asked him.

“Apologize to her, Ariel!” Nate yelled as he gritted his teeth in anger.

“I'm not apologizing to her.” I replied then walked past them to walk upstairs to the bathroom to get the first aid kit.

Later that day, I was reading a novel on my phone in the living room when my phone started ringing.

I saw that it was my mother calling, so I picked up immediately, “Hi, Mom.”

“Ariel. I've missed you.” My mother replied in a soft voice.

“I've missed you too! How is your health?” I asked her as worry gripped me.

“I'm feeling better now that I'm taking medication. Have you booked your flight?” She asked me, sounding curious.

“Yes, I've booked my flight.” I answered her as I smiled, feeling happy that I was talking to her.

“Flight? What flight?” Nate asked as he and Morgan walked into the room.

“Are you going somewhere?” Morgan asked me.

“I'll talk to you later, Mom.” I said and waited for her reply.

“Sure.” She replied and I hung up the call.

I realized that Morgan and Nate have overhead my phone conversation and I tried to think of a suitable reply.

Should I tell them the truth?

“What do you think Quinn?” I asked my wolf in my head.

“Do what your heart tells you to do.” She replied in a soft voice.

“I’m going to attend a jewelry show in London. It happens only once a year and it's really popular. It's also very exclusive, but I can get you in if you would like to join me?”

“Ah, no, I can't go. Demi needs me to take care of her, so I can't just leave the country!” Morgan exclaimed.

Nate nodded as he said, “I can't go either because Demi also needs me here. Besides, leaving the country is a big deal, so you should have known that we won't be able to accompany you before you even asked us.”

His scolding made me frown and before I could reply, Morgan said, “Excuse me, I need to go check on Demi.”

“I'm coming with you.” Nate said as his eyes brightened at the mention of Demi.

They didn't wait for my reply and turned around to rush upstairs to Demi's room.

Their reaction made me feel disappointed.

It was hard to believe that they used to dote on me.

I decided to go to bed early, so I stood up and made my way upstairs to my room.

The next morning, my eyes fluttered open and I sat up on the bed.

I made my way to the bathroom to brush and shower.

It took me less than half an hour to finish showering and get dressed.

I walked over to the dresser and glanced at my reflection in the mirror then decided to touch on a bit of makeup.

After I was done, I walked out of the room and made my way downstairs.

As I walked into the kitchen to make breakfast, I saw Morgan, Nate and Demi standing in front of the counter with a cake in front of them.

“Ariel, you see this cake?” Morgan asked me as he pointed at the cake.

Before I could react, he continued, “Demi made it all by herself!”

“Oh! Well, nice cake, Demi.” I said awkwardly, not knowing what else to say since we weren't exactly close since she was a cunning little vixen.

“Thanks.” She replied as she held her head high acting like she has achieved something great

Nate grabbed a plate from the cupboard and a knife from a drawer.

He sliced a small piece off the cake and placed it on the plate then picked up the fork from the counter and placed it on the plate.

“Why don't you try it?” He asked as he approached me.

“No, I don't have to.” I replied as I shook my head.

“But you do have to, Ariel. Demi tried so hard to bake this cake. Just have a bite.” Morgan reasoned as he gestured at the plate in Nate's hand.

“I don't want to eat cake first thing in the morning. It's not healthy for you.” I argued honestly.

Demi pouted as she put on a pitiful look and as they glanced at her, their expression changed.

Morgan turned to me and asked in a sarcastic tone of voice, “Really, Ariel? You are being stingy to Demi?”

“No, it's not like that. I just don't like cake very much and it's so early in the morning.” I explained as I gave them a strained smile.

“Then you must be looking down on Demi. What would make you think so lowly of her?” Nate asked as he frowned.

“I don't know what you guys are talking about. I don't think lowly of her and I'm not looking down on her.” I said as I looked between the three of them.

“If you want us to believe you then have a bite of the cake.” Nate insisted as he thrusted the plate of cake towards my face.

Realizing I had to eat the cake to appease them, I took the plate of cake and sighed as I said, “Fine, I'll eat the cake.”

They all smiled as they watched me pick up the fork and pinched a piece of cake then moved it to my mouth.

My eyes widened in surprise and my heart raced as I felt the taste of mango in the cake.

I was allergic to mango and Demi knew that! Why would she let Morgan and Nate pressure me into eating it?

Maybe it wasn't really mango.

I felt worried, so I asked Demi, “Does this cake have any mango in it?”

She nodded as her smile widened, “Yes. Why are you asking?”

“I'm allergic to mango and you should know that!” I replied in a strained voice.

I panicked and tossed the cake aside.

Seeing that, Morgan frowned as he chastised, “How can you toss the cake aside like that? It's so disrespectful to Demi.”

“I feel so bad right now.” Demi said as she batted her eyelashes in a pitiful way.

Morgan wrapped his arms around her to comfort her.

“See how you've made her feel! You need to give Demi the respect she deserves, Ariel!” Nate yelled as he banged his hand on the counter rudely.

He was the one being disrespectful towards me right now.

Besides, she never gave me the respect I deserved as the elder cousin, so what respect should I give her? And this wasn't even about respect, it was about how she just fed me a cake that contained mangoes which I was allergic to.

Was she trying to kill me?

My throat started becoming constricted as I started gasping.

The allergic reaction was already starting and I needed help.

I pulled my phone out from my jeans pocket.

One hand held my throat gently as my other hand held my phone.

I shakily dialed 911 and they answered immediately, “Hello, this is 911. What's your emergency?”

“I need an ambulance.” I croaked out as I tried to breathe evenly.

“Don’t worry, we'll be there right away! But first, what's your address?” The female 911 dispatcher asked me.

I rattled my address off to her and she hung up.

Morgan started sweeping the floor while Nate started washing the utensils used in making the cake as Demi stood in the middle of the kitchen, still looking upset.

“Don't let what Ariel did to your cake get to you, okay?” Morgan said to Demi in a comforting voice.

“Okay.” She replied as her expression softened.

Nate’s lips tugged up into a comforting smile as he said, “She's probably just jealous ‘cause your cake is so sweet.”