Mia immediately gave me a positive answer.

She said that the Alpha of Northwind Pack was completely different from the other hypocritical Alphas in the southern region.

Apparently, the Alpha didn't care about the wolf's bloodline or their strength. If a wolf had nowhere to go, the Northwind Pack doors were always open to them.

I heaved a sigh of relief and felt my tension easing away.

As it turned out, I wasn't going to be truly without options anyway.

Just as I ended the call and put my phone away, I felt a hard chest slamming up against my back.

I smelled the familiar scent of cedar in the air and knew that it was Carlson.

His brows were furrowed as he glared down at me, sounding impatient as he interrogated me.

"Who were you talking to on the phone? What is this about a shelter?"

I felt my heart drop into my stomach. However, I quickly calmed down after that.

Carlson had only heard bits and pieces of my conversation. He hadn't managed to overhear everything.

So, I lowered my eyes and got rid of all the emotion in my eyes before coming up with an excuse.

"Oh, it was Mia. She invited me to watch a movie about a shelter and asked me if I was interested."

The doubt in Carlson's eyes quickly disappeared. His lips curled up in a sneer as he scoffed and said, "Nonsense. You should stop being friends with shady hooligans like Mia. She's only going to corrupt you."

He then paused for a bit and resumed his cold demeanor.

"The surgery is scheduled in three days. I will be bringing Selena home to take care of her in the meantime. It's more convenient that way."

Then, he seemed to suddenly think of something, and his voice got even colder as he ordered, "Also, get rid of the stupid stars in your room and make sure Selena never finds out about them. I don't want any misunderstandings to happen."

Stupid stars.

So, that was what he thought about those memories.

I smirked lightly and self-deprecatingly.

When Mom and Dad died in the battle, I nestled in Carlson's arms, sobbing hard and asking him if there was anything I could do to bring them back, how to be strong so that I wouldn't continue getting bullied, and what I should do so that Carlson would always like me.

Back then, Carlson wiped away the blood smears and tears from my face and said, "The Moon Goddess will grant your three wishes once you've managed to fold 1000 paper stars, Ayna."

I believed him.

Ever since getting a crush on him, I wrote down all of my unspoken love, affection, and dependence on Carlson onto the tiny paper slips before folding them day after day into paper stars and collecting them into a glass bottle.

After 15 years, I had finally finished folding all 1000 of them.

However, the very person who wove this fairytale for me had long forgotten that promise a long time ago.

"Fine. I'll throw them away," I said, my voice dry and hoarse, going with everything he said.

Carlson seemed very satisfied with my obedience.

"Smart. At least you know what's good for you."

Then, he turned and left.

I went home and pushed open the door to the second bedroom, my eyes widening as soon as I saw Selena seated on my bed and holding the glass bottle of stars in her hands. She was happily unfolding the stars one by one, reciting aloud the words I'd written in a drawn-out voice.

"Carlson called me pretty today. I was happy for the entire day."

After reading it aloud, she threw the slip onto the floor and clicked her tongue in disapproval. "What touching, unrequited love, Ayna."

I clenched my fists and suppressed my anger.

"You're not even going to pretend to be blind anymore?"

Selena didn't seem to panic even though I'd caught her red-handed. Instead, she slowly looked up and waved the glass jar at me.

Her right eye was wide open, and it looked clear and bright. There was no sign of blindness whatsoever.

"So, you knew all along," she said with a malicious grin on her face.

I stared at her intact eye and found it ridiculously absurd.

"You already have all of Carlson's love, Selena. Why are you still pretending to be blind? Why won't you just leave me be?"

"You're asking me why?"

The smile on Selena's face suddenly turned dark and twisted. She jumped up from the bed and took menacing steps toward me.

"Do you even know what kind of life I'd been living all these years, Ayna Radolf?

"That bastard I was mated off to treated me like livestock, constantly beating me up and verbally abusing me every single day! I was fed rotten scraps and even had to sleep with one eye open to avoid being mauled to death by the other she-wolves!"

She then pointed at her blind left eye with a resentful look and said, "And what about you? What were you doing back here when I was being treated like a mongrel elsewhere?

"You stole all the love and affection that should have belonged to me! You were cared for so tenderly by Carlson the whole time, and even being treated as the apple of his eye! Why? Why!"

She suddenly raised her voice as she screamed in my face. "I am the one who was his fated mate all along! All of Carlson's love and all of the best resources in the pack should have been mine! Mine!

"Why should you, an orphan without even the mark of a fated mate on her body, take all of this from me and enjoy them all in my place?"

I felt a deep chill run down my spine after listening to her maniacal words.

I never thought that her resentment toward me had stemmed from such a ridiculous "reason" where she accused me of usurping her place in the pack.

I wasn't the one who caused the suffering she went through outside the pack. And yet, she still pinned the blame for her misfortune on me.

"So, I decided that I'm going to ruin your beautiful silvery eyes. As long as you descend into a pathetic wolf, despised by everyone who sees you and forced to eke out a living in the total darkness, then I will finally consider that you'd have repaid all of the good days you lived in my place, with interest."

She then cackled aloud with a strange, crazed look in her eye. "When that time comes, Carlson's gaze and all his love will finally belong to me, and me only!"

"You're out of your mind," I said, suppressing the chill in my heart. I didn't want to continue arguing with this mad she-wolf anymore and just fixed my gaze on the glass jar instead.

"Give that back to me!" I demanded.

"Give it back? Sure!"

A malicious look flashed in her eye before she suddenly dropped the glass jar.

The jar hit the ground and smashed into a hundred pieces on the hardwood floor, and all 1000 folded paper stars containing my love for Carlson scattered all over the place.

At the same time, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed from downstairs.

Selena screamed out loud and threw herself to the floor, tears immediately gushing from her eyes.

Carlson's figure then appeared at the door. When he took in the scene, his face immediately turned as dark as thunder.

He pulled Selena into his arms at once and began yelling at me without even bothering to ask what was going on.

"Ayna Radolf! What the fuck is wrong with you!"

I ignored him and crouched on the floor, picking up the broken pieces of glass instead.

The sharp edges sliced into my fingers, and blood seeped out at once, bleeding into the paper stars on the floor.

"I just… I just accidentally walked into the wrong room, Carlson… I didn't mean to bump into Ayna's jar…"

Selena shrank herself into Carlson's arms as she began sobbing harder. "I didn't think that she would rush up to me and shove me over. I didn't mean to break her things…"

Carlson's knuckles popped as he clenched his fists.

He'd only just reminded me earlier today to get rid of these "stupid stars", and yet, how dare I shove Selena to the floor after she'd broken it?

He was just about to roar at me in fury when his gaze suddenly landed on an unfolded paper star on the floor with something written on it.

"I wish that Carl would stay happy and healthy forever."

Carlson's movements stopped abruptly.

"That's enough! Stop picking that shit up!" he said, rubbing his temples in anger. "It's just a stupid jar anyway! I'll buy another one for you if you insist! Selena never meant to break it!"

I froze halfway through cleaning up the mess.

Then, I slowly got to my feet and took a step back, addressing him respectfully yet distantly, "There's no need for that, Alpha Carlson."

Carlson froze for a split second.

Over the past 15 years, I had only ever called Carlson by his nickname, "Carl", no matter if we were alone or in public. Even if he reminded me again and again that I should always refer to him as "Alpha" and obey the rules, I would stubbornly refuse, insisting that it was only a term of address for a wolf that I wasn't close to.

But now, even though we were in a private space with just a few of us, I had referred to him as "Alpha Carlson".

A strange sense of unease instantly washed over him.

Selena also sensed that he was distracted and hurriedly shook his arm, speaking in a sweet, coquettish voice.

"Do you think that Ayna is still mad at me? It's my fault for being blind. I shouldn't have knocked over her belongings…"

Carlson snapped back to the present and patted her on the back, comforting her.

"Just be more careful next time. Ayna's very attached to that jar. Don't hold it against a kid like her."

This was the first time Carlson didn't completely take Selena's side and even defended me subtly. Selena's eyes were immediately filled with immense jealousy. Yet, she nodded meekly and said, "I got it. Whatever you say."

That night, I collected all of the scattered stars and threw everything into the fireplace.

I watched as the little notes filled with 15 years of my love and affection for Carlson curl up, burn, and turn into ashes in the flames.

It had taken me 15 years to fold these stars, but it only took a minute for me to burn them all up.

I heard footsteps behind me, and Carlson's voice appeared soon after.

"What the hell are you doing, Ayna?"

I didn't even look up and continued throwing more stars into the fire. I answered calmly, "Nothing. Just getting rid of rubbish."

Carlson glanced at the unburned paper stars, and his face darkened at once.

"I will be officially holding the marking ceremony with Selena after the surgery."

I shivered very slightly, but I turned numb again shortly after.

"Congratulations."

I said it flatly and indifferently without a trace of anger, jealousy, or any other emotions. Carlson stared at my face for a long time like he was trying to find even the slightest hint of anger or sadness in my expression, but he couldn't find anything.

He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt a bout of disappointment washing over him. So, he began adding fuel to the fire like he was deliberately trying to get a reaction from me.

"Selena already said that the marking ceremony would only happen once in a lifetime, and she's not used to wearing any clothes made by other tailors. It must be made by the best seamstress in the pack."

His eyes were like knives as they landed on my face.

"Ayna, you've always loved sewing clothes and coats for me since you were young. The entire pack knows that you're the best seamstress. So, I want you to personally make the clothing and garments for Selena and me for the marking ceremony."

I finally gave him a reaction by looking at him incredulously.

When he saw that I was finally responding to him, he grinned smugly and said, "What, you don't want to? Don't you dare forget that this is what you owe to Selena. You'd been upsetting her too much. This is your way of making it up to her."

I lowered my eyes to hide the self-deprecating look in them.

Did I even have the option to refuse now anyway?

I inhaled deeply and put on a wan smile.

"Yes, Alpha Carlson. I will do as you say, since it is a direct order from you."

However, it would be up to fate to decide if I would ever be able to finish making them.

I didn't spare him another glance before stumbling out of the door.

Carlson stood alone in the living room, watching the fire slowly die down as the inexplicable panic in his chest only grew worse.

This was what he'd always wanted. I had finally relented and given in to him, listening to his every order and not pestering him anymore. But why was it that he just couldn't feel happy about it?

…

I stayed out by myself the next day. When I finally returned to the pack afterward, I realized that everyone in the pack was behaving strangely toward me.

Those who walked past me looked at me judgmentally with undisguised contempt and disgust in their eyes. Some of the younger brats even spat in my direction before running off in disgust.

"She acts all high-and-mighty all the time, but as it turns out, she's nothing but a horny bitch who keeps throwing herself at Alpha all day!"

"How could she even think of seducing her own stepbrother like that? She's such a disgrace to all the she-wolves in Moonshadow Pack!"

"Filthy, shameless creatures like her should be exiled from the pack immediately!"

Insults after insults were thrown in my face. I was still feeling completely bewildered about their reactions when I suddenly got a phone call from Mia.

She sounded angry and urgent.

"Ayna! You must have been set up! Hurry up and look at the werewolf forum online! Everyone's talking about it now!"

I hurriedly went online to the forum.

At the very top of the homepage, highlighted in a bright red box, was a partially censored explicit video.

The she-wolf in the video had a face that looked almost identical to mine, and she was naked all over while kneeling before the camera, wagging her tail, and pretending to look pitifully at the camera while repeatedly moaning Carlson's name.