The healer pressed a new communicator into my hand and left quickly.

I lay alone on the simple cot, my wounds throbbing.

The silver poison was gone, but the burns would take a long time to heal.

Just then, the new communicator buzzed.

It was someone I'd mentioned in my journal.

Elder Samuel.

He was one of the most respected elders in the pack, retired from active duty two years ago, rarely involving himself in pack affairs.

I hesitated, then answered.

"Child, are you alright?"

The Elder's old, kind voice came through the speaker, full of concern.

"I heard what happened. Where are you now?"

"In the medical tent," I answered weakly.

"I'm on my way."

"No, Elder, you don't have to. I'm fine…"

"Nonsense!" he snapped. "You were poisoned with silver, and you call that 'fine'?"

The line went dead.

Half an hour later, Elder Samuel appeared at the tent flap.

He was a tall, old man with a full head of white hair, but his eyes were still sharp.

When he saw the burns on my body, a look of pain crossed his face.

"My child," he said, sitting by my bed. "Who did this to you?"

"No one. It was an accident…"

"An accident?" the Elder scoffed. "Wolf's Blight accidentally appears in your porridge? Liquid silver accidentally splashes on you?"

I stared at him in shock. "How did you know…?"

"The healer told me," the Elder said, his voice filled with rage. "Hazel, just how much have you suffered these past two years?"

I said nothing.

"I know about the things you did for Fabian," the Elder said, his voice full of sorrow. "Sneaking into the Blazefire pack to steal their manual, settling the land dispute in the eastern territories for him, finding the lost Moon Goddess totem on a stormy night…"

Tears suddenly streamed down my face.

Someone remembered. Someone knew what I had done.

"And that time his power went wild," the Elder continued. "You watched over him for three days and three nights, nearly draining your own life force. The healer said if you'd been a moment later, you would have died right there."

"But when he woke up, the first thing he asked was where Gloria was."

I covered my face, unable to stop the tears.

"Child, you deserve better," the Elder said, taking my hand. "I will see justice done," he vowed, his voice ringing with authority. "By the Moon Goddess, this will not stand."

"Don't, Elder," I shook my head. "I don't want to fight about this anymore."

"No, I must," the Elder said firmly. "As an elder of this pack, it is my duty to protect every child who is wronged. I will call a council meeting tomorrow…"

His communicator suddenly buzzed, interrupting him.

I glanced at it. The call had ended.

But just then, the tent flap was violently thrown open.

Fabian stormed in, his face dark and furious.

"Crying again?" he sneered at me. "Is it fun, running to the Elder to complain?"

"Fabian, how dare you speak to her like that?" Elder Samuel stood up angrily. "She is the victim here!"

"Victim?" Fabian laughed coldly. "She betrayed the pack. She deserved to be punished. Now she's playing the pity card again. Pathetic."

"She was nearly poisoned to death!" the Elder roared.

"She was careless," Fabian said dismissively. "Gloria was burned too. Did she complain?"

I looked at him. This man I once loved so deeply.

His eyes held no concern, only disgust and impatience.

"I didn't complain to the Elder," I said weakly. "He contacted me."

"Oh, really?" Fabian stepped closer to the bed, looking down at me. "Then what were you two talking about?"

"He was asking about my injuries."

"Asking?" Fabian's eyes grew colder. "Do you need that? I thought you were so tough."

I looked at him and suddenly realized something.

He had no idea what I had done for him.

Those 100 things were probably just things he took for granted, things he didn't even notice.

"Do you even know what I've done for you?" I asked.

"Done for me?" he sneered. "Besides being a constant, clinging shadow, what exactly have you accomplished?"

Elder Samuel looked at him, shocked. "You don't know that she—"

"Enough!" Fabian cut him off. "I don't want to hear this nonsense."

Just then, his own communicator rang.

I saw Gloria's name on the screen.

He answered instantly, his voice softening. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

"My hand still hurts…" Gloria's weak voice came through.

"I'll be right there," Fabian said gently. "Put some ice on it for now. I'll bring you a better healing balm."

"Okay. Hurry back. I'm scared…"

"Don't be scared. I'm always here for you."

His face was a mask of worry and affection the entire time.

After he hung up, he turned to leave.

"Wait," Elder Samuel called out. "You're just leaving? You're not even going to check on her injuries?"

"She's not dying," Fabian said, his voice flat as he walked away. "Gloria needs me."

He disappeared through the tent flap.

Elder Samuel clenched his fists in anger. "That bastard! I'm going to…"

"Let it go, Elder," I said weakly. "Let him go."

"No! I cannot tolerate this injustice!"

"It really doesn't matter anymore," I said, looking at the moon outside the tent. "I don't care anymore."

Tears slid down my cheeks.

Elder Samuel gripped my arm, his gaze firm.

"Don't you worry. I will handle the Alpha. And once you're healed, I'm getting you out of here."

Three days later, I was woken by a frantic knocking at my door.

My wounds weren't fully healed, but I could walk again.

I opened the door to see my anxious parents and a panicked-looking Fabian.

"Gloria is sick!" my mother cried, rushing into the room. "She's dying!"

"What?"

"It's a wasting curse," my father said, his voice trembling. "Someone put a vile curse on her. Her life force is draining away."

I followed them to Gloria's room.

She lay in bed, pale as a sheet, her breathing so shallow it was almost imperceptible.

A circle of healers and mages stood around her, all of them looking hopeless.

"How did this happen?" I asked, shocked.

"It must be an enemy pack," Fabian snarled. "They're trying to weaken us by hurting her."

The oldest and most powerful shaman stepped forward, his expression grave.

"The curse has taken root in her bloodline. Normal methods won't work."

"Then how can we save her?" Fabian demanded.

The shaman was silent for a moment. "There is only one way. It requires a blood-kin to share their wolf's spirit to purge the curse."

"Blood-kin?"

"Yes. It must be a direct blood relative," the shaman said, looking at me. "Only Hazel can save her."

All eyes in the room turned to me.

"Me?"

"You are her only blood-sister," my father said. "Only your wolf's spirit can resonate with hers."

"But…" I hesitated. "The ritual could kill me," I said, my voice shaking but firm. "I won't do it."

"So what?" my mother shrieked. "She's your sister! Are you just going to stand there and watch her die?"

"I'm not saying I won't help, it's just that this ritual…"

"Enough!" Fabian cut me off, his voice raw with fury. "You're still trying to bargain at a time like this?"

"I'm not bargaining, I'm just considering the risks…"

"Risks?" he leaned in, his voice a low growl that vibrated in my bones. "Is your pathetic life more important than hers?"

The words were a dagger to my heart.

"Fabian, you can't say that…"

"Why can't I?" he advanced on me, his eyes full of menace. "She's lying there on the brink of death, and you're here weighing your options?"

"I'm not weighing my options!"

"Then what are you waiting for?" my father roared. "Do the ritual! Now!"

"I refuse."

Three words. The room fell into a dead silence.

"What did you say?" my mother stared at me in disbelief.

"I said, I refuse," I repeated. "Sacrificing my wolf's spirit could kill me. I'm not willing to take that risk."

"You selfish, wicked girl!" My mother lunged, trying to slap me.

I stepped back, dodging her hand.

"I'm not being selfish. I'm trying to stay alive."

"She's your sister!" my father bellowed.

"She's your adopted daughter," I corrected him. "And I'm your real one. Why do I always have to be the one to sacrifice for her?"

A dangerous light flared in Fabian's eyes.

"Are you sure you want to refuse?"

"Yes."

In the next second, the Alpha's Command slammed into me—a crushing, invisible weight that buckled my knees and stole the air from my lungs.

"I'll ask you one more time," Fabian's voice was a low, dangerous growl. "Will you save her?"

"I…" The pressure made it almost impossible to speak. "I… won't…"

The pressure doubled.

I finally crumpled to the floor, my body shaking uncontrollably.

"Looks like we'll have to do this the hard way," Fabian said coldly. "Guards, take her to the altar."

"No!" I struggled to get up. "You can't force me!"

Several guards rushed in and seized my arms.

"Let go of me! This is against pack law!"

"Law?" Fabian laughed mockingly. "Who's going to side with a selfish traitor against me?"

He leaned down, whispering in my ear.

"You've always been desperate for my touch, haven't you? Do this one thing for me, and I'll make it less painful."

I stared at him in horror.

This was the man I once loved?

"In your dreams."

"Fine," he straightened up, his eyes full of cruelty. "Then we'll do it the most painful way possible."

I was dragged out of the room and hauled toward the ancient altar in the center of the pack grounds.

The pack members along the way just stared, not one of them speaking up for me.

"Look, it's that traitor, Hazel."

"I heard she refused to save Gloria."

"So selfish. Won't even save her own sister."

"She deserves whatever she gets."

The altar glowed eerily in the moonlight.

It was covered in ancient runes, with a silver ritual circle in the center.

The old shaman was already waiting, holding various ritual tools.

"Begin," Fabian commanded.

"No! Please, don't do this!" I struggled wildly. "I'll die!"

"That was your choice," my father said heartlessly. "If you had agreed from the start, it wouldn't have to be this painful."

I was forced onto the altar. Silver chains clamped around my wrists and ankles.

The shaman began chanting in an ancient tongue. A strange, dark energy filled the air.

"Begin the separation," he said, raising a silver ritual knife.

The blade didn't cut my skin. It plunged through me, a shard of pure agony, stabbing not my flesh, but my very soul.

"Ahhhhh—!"

An agony beyond words ripped through me.

I felt my wolf spirit being shredded, ripped from my soul fiber by fiber. It was an agony beyond the flesh, a spiritual dismemberment.

"Stop! Please, stop!"

But no one listened.

Fabian just stood there, watching, his eyes cold and empty of pity.

As more of my spirit was torn away, I felt myself dying.

Just as I was about to lose consciousness, a deafening SNAP echoed not in the air, but in my very soul.

The invisible chain that bound me to him—the cursed mate bond—snapped.

Instantly, a strange sense of relief washed over me.

The ritual continued, but I felt an incredible lightness.

Like a chain I never knew was there had just been broken.

Fabian suddenly staggered, his face going pale.

He looked at his hands, his eyes filled with a dawning confusion and panic.

I knew what had happened.

The fated mate bond.

It was broken.

Completely and irrevocably broken.

The moment the ritual ended, a cheer went up from Gloria's room.

"She's awake! She's awake!"

"Gloria, how do you feel?"

"It worked! The curse is gone!"

I lay on the cold stone altar, feeling completely hollowed out.

But strangely, I wasn't in pain.

Instead, I felt a sense of freedom I'd never known.

Like a bird caged for years, finally set free.

"Fabian!"

Gloria's weak but sweet voice carried across the square.

Everyone, including my parents who had been watching over the ritual, rushed to her room.

No one even glanced my way.

I sat up, looking at the empty altar grounds.

Alone in the moonlight.

I tried to feel my inner wolf, but there was nothing there.

I was no longer a whole werewolf.

But I was also no longer Fabian's mate.

The memories of my past life came flooding back. But the invisible chain that had bound me for two years was finally, completely gone.

I climbed off the altar, trembling, each step like walking on knives.

Back in my quarters, I grabbed the encrypted communicator.

"Elder," I said, my voice weak but steady. "It's me."

"Child! Where are you? I heard about the ritual!" Elder Samuel's voice was filled with fury.

"I'm in my quarters. Elder, you said if I needed help…"

"Of course! I've already arranged everything," his voice softened. "In one hour, someone will be waiting for you at the north gate. A black SUV."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me, child. You never should have had to endure any of this."

I hung up and started packing.

There wasn't much to pack.

This had never been my home.

I found a small backpack and threw in a few changes of clothes.

Then I saw the journal.

I picked it up and flipped to the last page.

Below "Task 101: Leave him. Reclaim myself," I added one more line:

"Mission complete."

I tossed the journal into the fireplace. The girl who wrote it had died in the Silver Room. This was her funeral.

An hour later, I dragged my weak body to the north gate.

The pack was quiet, everyone celebrating Gloria's recovery.

At the north gate, a black SUV was waiting silently.

The driver, a middle-aged man, nodded at me.

"Miss Hazel?"

"Yes."

"Please, get in. Elder Samuel said you need to go to a neutral city?"

"Yes. New Moon City."

I climbed into the back. The car door clicked shut behind me, the sound as final as a coffin lid closing.

The engine started, and the vehicle moved slowly toward the pack border.

The SUV drove through the forest, passing through one magical ward after another.

I leaned against the window, watching the trees fly by.

Further and further away.

Finally, the vehicle passed the last ward.

I didn't look back.

The place that had been my prison for two years was fading into the darkness.

My parents were there. My pack was there. The man I once loved was there.

But starting tonight, none of it had anything to do with me.

I turned my head and looked at the endless road ahead.

At the end of that darkness was a new world.

A world where no one knew me.

A world where I could start again.

"Goodbye, Fabian," I whispered to the night. "And goodbye to the fool who loved you."