Chapter 4

Late at night, Luke walked out of the infirmary with Lena. He kept checking his phone, feeling irritated.

There was nothing in the chat at all. I still hadn't replied.

Lena chewed on her lip, her tone laced with concern. "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have kept you here for so long.

"You should go home and see Luna Ella. She's always been in poor health. I don't want you two fighting because of me."

"There's no rush," he said. "She's really upset with me this time. I need to let her cool off. I'll talk things out with her when I'm home."

Lena hung her head and said, "But the healer said a severe allergic reaction could send her into shock… Luna Ella sounded like she was having trouble breathing when she spoke earlier."

Luke frowned. After a brief silence, he sighed, as if he were just trying to convince himself.

"Ella's just jealous. She doesn't like that I'm here with you on your birthday, so she put on this little act. She just wants me to come home early."

Lena smiled faintly. "You really do know Luna Ella. So are you going home? Or do you want to join us for a few drinks?"

Luke pulled out his phone and checked our chat. He typed, "I'm coming back now."

A few seconds later, he deleted everything. He carefully picked up the box of raspberry cake, refusing to let anyone touch it.

He typed another sentence instead. "I'm coming home tomorrow."

Then he hit send.

I floated behind him, silently listening and watching them.

I was already numb to it all.

…

The next morning, the attendant showed up outside my door right on time to call me down for breakfast. He knocked on the door several times, but not a sound came from inside.

The attendant was beside himself with worry, yet he didn't dare open the door without permission. He turned and went to see Cyrus Hawthorne, one of the Elders.

After hearing what had happened, Cyrus immediately contacted Luke. "Alpha Luke, Luna Ella hasn't left her room since yesterday.

"The attendant called her many times, but there was no response. Something's wrong. We have to go inside and check on her."

Luke's confident voice came through the phone. "Mr. Hawthorne, don't worry about it. Ella's just throwing a tantrum. That's why she won't come out."

Cyrus' tone turned stern. "You'd better hope that's all it is. What if something's happened to her?"

Luke fell silent for a moment. Given Cyrus' standing in the pack, he finally gave in. "Alright. If you insist, go check on her. But don't worry too much. She's fine. I'm coming home now."

The moment the call ended, Cyrus called for someone to force the door open. As soon as it swung open, a foul odor hit them.

The moment the attendant saw what was inside, he froze.

"Luna Ella…"

They all saw my body.

The healer hurried over and crouched beside my body to examine me. She picked up the cookie crumbs scattered on the floor and sniffed them. Her expression grew solemn.

"There's honey in these cookies. Luna Ella is allergic to honey."

Luke had made those cookies himself. When he had brought them to me, I hadn't asked about them and simply taken a bite.

I thought Luke would still remember what I couldn't eat, just like before. I never thought that one bite would take my life.

The healer rose to her feet and announced the approximate time of death, her voice hoarse.

The entire room fell silent. I had already breathed my last just one hour after Luke left the house.

Grief was written all over Cyrus' face. He took out his phone and called Luke. "Alpha Luke, you have to come back now. Luna Ella passed away at 7:00 pm yesterday."

No one spoke on the other end. A few seconds later, they heard the sound of a cake box hitting the ground.