2

Even now, thinking back to when the flames burned my skin, I can't help but tremble. My fangs chatter uncontrollably.

Urgent footsteps echoed from outside the hospital room. Kieran and Ryan walked in one after the other.

Scarlett came with them.

She stood at the foot of my bed, her eyes slightly red.

"Miss Ember, I'm so sorry. I was completely out of line. I'll cover all your medical expenses and healing crystals. Please don't stay angry with me. I hope you won't truly hate me for this."

Her tone was sincere, her expression soft and vulnerable. Completely different from the woman who had suggested that deadly contest by the fire circle.

My brain buzzed. The places where the flames had burned me throbbed with massive pain. My wolf was still unconscious.

I closed my eyes, enduring the agony.

This action made Kieran and Ryan think I was holding a grudge against Scarlett.

Kieran stood beside my hospital bed, looking down at me from above. He was as calm as always when he spoke.

"You're awake now, aren't you? So you should be fine. Scarlett is just young and playful. She suggested that game to make everyone happy. None of us wanted to see you get hurt. Besides, I was the one who lost in the end. Are you going to resent me too?"

Even though I had nearly died right in front of him, it couldn't stir even the slightest ripple in his emotions. All he cared about was making excuses for Scarlett.

But he wasn't like this before.

When I was eight years old, my mother was beaten to death by my father. Without her protection, I became his target instead. Even though he beat me black and blue every day, he constantly told me I was a burden.

Finally, my father decided to abandon me completely. He fed me silver poison, and before I lost consciousness, I heard him cursing me endlessly.

Calling me worthless. A dead weight.

Then he secretly carried me into the Darkland Forest - the territory where rogue wolves gathered. At least five adult werewolves went missing there every month. When I woke up, dozens of glowing eyes stared at me in the darkness. The silver poison made my limbs weak. I didn't even have the strength to stand.

The lead rogue wolf bared his teeth and approached, drool dripping onto my body.

That's when an Alpha's howl echoed from outside the cave. Later I learned that Kieran Blackwood, heir to the Ironwood Pack, had been patrolling the territory with his guards when they discovered the rogue wolf den. Those evil rogues were completely wiped out, and I was saved.

Kieran brought me back to a big house. He had people teach me to read and write. He even trained my hunting skills.

But after that day, I never saw him again.

Until a year later, when the silver poison was completely cleared from my system and my body fully recovered, I finally saw him again.

His expression was still indifferent, but when he saw me, a flicker of light passed through his eyes.

That day, I learned his name was Kieran Blackwood. He told me to call him brother.

I called him that for eight years.

I followed behind him for eight years.

Kieran had said that since he raised me, he would cherish me like a beloved sister. He would never let anyone bully me.

But now, he had completely forgotten those words. He gave his favoritism to another woman.

Even when I was dying, he spoke up for someone else.

"Ember, Scarlett finally came back to Ironwood Pack. Don't hold grudges against her."

He was as cold as always, his thin lips pressed together, no emotion readable in his eyes.

My throat was dry and raw. I couldn't speak.

He frowned, seeming displeased. When he called my name, there was a hint of impatience.

"Ember."

"Stop throwing a tantrum."

So my pain was nothing more than a childish tantrum in his eyes.

I pinched my fingertips. It hurt, but when other places hurt, my heart wouldn't ache as much.

Kieran had taught me that trick.

I wanted to speak. To tell him I wasn't throwing a tantrum. That I wasn't angry. I just wanted to be done with him completely.

But my throat had been damaged by the thick smoke. I couldn't even make a sound. They didn't care at all.

Ryan grew impatient. Whatever small amount of guilt he might have felt vanished completely.

"Ember Blackthorne, there's a limit to this act. Scarlett already apologized. What's so hard about saying 'it's okay'?"

"Do you really think you're that precious? Can't even take a little joke?"

"You were nothing but a lowborn commoner wolf to begin with. Kieran raised you for over ten years, and instead of learning anything useful, you just developed a spoiled attitude."