Chapter 6

Celeste's POV

"Celeste, you're so thin," Serena said brightly, as if admiring me. "If you dressed like before, you'd look even prettier. Not like me-I try every diet, and nothing works. Mother says I'm fine, but she keeps feeding me treats and ruins everything. I'm jealous. You got thin without even trying. I wish I could be like you."

Her voice was sweet, dripping with envy disguised as admiration.

And just like that, Luna Eveline released my hand, smiling faintly at Serena's words, as if convinced. As if my hollow cheeks and gray skin were the result of vanity, not torment.

The warmth vanished. The frost returned.

Inside me, the fragile swell of emotion froze solid once more. My hands slipped from theirs, falling limply to my sides.

And the silence in my chest was louder than any scream.

It was then someone noticed. A servant's gasp broke the hush. "Her feet-"

Every gaze dropped to the floor.

Bare feet. Bloodied. Split open from gravel and stone. Each step I'd taken back here had carved itself into me.

Elias's lip curled. "What an act. Trying to look pitiful already? You could have found shoes anywhere, but no-you want to play the victim. Some things never change."

Serena's eyes widened with a perfect imitation of sympathy. "Brother, don't be so harsh… If only my new diamond shoes from yesterday fit her. But her feet are too small. What a pity." She pressed a hand to her chest, delicate, regretful. "Maybe one of the Omega maids has something she can wear. It's better than nothing."

And so, a pair of discarded shoes-secondhand, unwanted-was brought to me.

Not even mine. Never mine.

Luna Eveline clasped Serena's hand with doting tenderness, her voice dripping with affection.

"You're not fat at all, my sweet. You don't need to starve yourself. If you lost any more weight, it would break your poor mother's heart."

Serena leaned into her, eyes bright, lips curved in a spoiled smile. "Then… in your eyes, am I the most beautiful?"

"Yes, yes-you're the most beautiful girl in the entire world," Eveline cooed, her tone soft as silk.

I stood at the doorway, invisible. Eveline's eyes shimmered with warmth, but not for me. Rowan's stern face softened into pride. Elias tucked away his arrogance and grinned with brotherly joy. Even Callen, the ever-stoic one, allowed a smile to break through.

A perfect picture of a happy Frost family. A circle of warmth I had never been allowed to enter.

And today was supposed to be the day they welcomed me home-after two years locked away in Angel Reform Academy.

But no one looked at me. Not even once.

I had seen this scene too many times before: their arms around Serena, their laughter filling the house while I stood outside the circle, suffocating on the edges. I used to fight for a place there. I used to throw myself into their arms, desperate to belong. Every time, I was pushed back with disgust.

"Celeste, why must you always fight with Serena?"

"Celeste, you're so exhausting!"

"Celeste, just stay away!"

Their voices still echoed in my skull like a curse.

I lowered my head, trying to make myself smaller, less noticeable. If I disappeared far enough into the shadows, maybe I wouldn't feel the ache of exclusion cutting me open again.

It took them a long time to finally notice me.

Their laughter died. Their smiles faltered.

Eveline extended her hand toward me, her voice suddenly soft, cautious. "Celeste, why aren't you saying anything? Did someone… did someone bully you in the Academy?"

Her touch grazed my arm, and I flinched violently. My whole body stiffened, a tremor running down my spine.

Talking. That was my mistake back then. I used to talk too much, desperately filling the silence so they wouldn't forget I existed. I used to chatter, hoping for scraps of attention. They hated it. Said I was noisy, irritating, nothing like Serena-the perfect daughter: obedient, sweet, golden.

And at Angel Reform Academy, every word I spoke had cost me blood. The more I talked, the more the guards beat me. Until silence became survival. Until my wolf was broken piece by piece, starved, beaten, forced into submission.

So no-I no longer spoke freely. I no longer begged for scraps of love.

I pulled my arm from Eveline's grip and stepped back. "Thank you for your concern, Luna Eveline. No one bullied me. I lived well enough."

Lived. That was the miracle. That I walked out of that hell alive.

Eveline froze. Her eyes welled with sudden tears-not because of me, but because I had called her Luna Eveline instead of mother.

Serena gasped, wide-eyed, and rushed forward to take Eveline's hand. She lifted her gaze toward me, and tears fell like diamonds down her cheeks. "Sister Celeste, how could you say that to Mom? She cares about you so deeply. Keeping distance from her-it's like stabbing her heart!"

Her voice cracked, trembling, oh-so-heartbroken. "Blame me instead. It's my fault for taking away her love. It's my fault for telling everyone you tried to poison me. If you need someone to hate, hate me, not Mom…" She broke down into sobs.

Eveline's attention snapped away from me, all her pity pouring into Serena. "No, no, none of this is your fault, Serena. Don't cry, my sweet."

Just like that, her fleeting guilt toward me vanished. Replaced by infinite tenderness for the golden child in her arms.

Rowan's gaze flickered to me then, sharp and cold. His nostrils flared. His lips curled. "No wolf scent," he muttered, disgust dripping from every word. "Just as I thought. Not my blood. No wolf in her at all."

The words ripped through me harder than any whip ever had.

Because he was right. They had tried to crush my wolf in that place. The beatings, the starvation, the humiliation. They made me howl until my throat bled, then punished me for sounding like the beast I was. They broke me down until my wolf cowered so deep inside, I couldn't hear her anymore.

Sometimes I wondered if they had killed her completely.

And if they had-what did that make me?

Elias snarled, his face twisted with anger. "Celeste, you came home only to torment Serena? How dare you! Apologize-now! Or do you want me to drag you back to Angel Reform Academy where you belong?"