Chapter 2

I didn't know how I made it home.

I curled up on the edge of the bed, unable to stop the tears from streaming down my face.

Seven years.

For seven whole years, I had been naive enough to believe Kael understood me.

When I first told him I wanted to hold our mating ceremony on the frozen plains of Beloria, I had been so excited. He pulled me into his arms with an affectionate smile and agreed.

I was deeply moved because I thought he remembered what that place meant to us.

It was where we had first met, where a blizzard had separated us from the rest of our tour group and forced us to depend on each other to survive.

I had nearly fallen into a frozen lake while saving him. Then, when hypothermia left him unable to walk, I carried him on my back and fought my way out of the storm one step at a time.

But after all this time, it turned out he didn't remember any of it, or maybe he had simply never cared enough to remember.

It felt as if my heart were being crushed inside my chest. The pain was so intense that a cold sweat broke out across my skin.

The pack healer's warning echoed in my mind. He had told me that emotional distress could keep my old wound from healing.

I pressed a hand tightly against my chest and tipped my head back, desperately trying to hold in my tears.

Instead, the pain only grew worse.

Just then, Kael called me. Loud music and bursts of laughter filled the background.

"Akalia, Ryan and the others are throwing me a bachelor party tonight, so I won't be coming home. Get some sleep, okay?"

I fell silent for two seconds before answering, "Okay."

Kael hung up without noticing the tremor in my voice or hearing that I was struggling not to cry.

This was the third night in a row.

They had somehow managed to turn one bachelor party into a three-day celebration.

At 1:00 am, a sudden throbbing pain in my chest jolted me awake.

After a moment of hesitation, I reached for my phone. I wanted to ask Kael if he could accompany me to my follow-up appointment the next day.

But as soon as I unlocked the screen, I saw Ryan's latest post.

He had uploaded nine photos with the caption, "Let's party! It's my buddy's last night of freedom!"

In the center photo, Lilith's cheeks were flushed as she leaned drunkenly against Kael's chest. His hand rested casually on her waist.

The comments were already pouring in.

"They're perfect for each other. It's such a shame they never got together."

"They're just friends. Stop trying to make it into something it's not."

"Kael, you'd better watch out! Akalia's going to be mad!"

Kael had replied to those comments.

"Lilith is just one of the guys. Akalia wouldn't get upset over something this trivial. If she does start a fight with me over this, I simply won't go through with our ceremony."

I quietly liked his comment and turned off my phone.

He was certain I could never leave him and that I would keep letting everything slide.

I had accepted the change of venue for our ceremony. I had let the necklace worth more than two million dollars go. And every time Lilith crossed a line, I had accepted the same excuse that she was "just one of the guys."

But now, I was done letting things slide.

…

The following day, I went to my follow-up appointment alone.

The healer regarded me sternly. "I remember telling you at your last appointment that the wound was getting worse. You need someone to accompany you."

I gave him a faint smile. "I can manage on my own."

A heavy downpour began as I left the clinic.

While taking shelter on a street corner, I glanced into a nearby jewelry store and immediately spotted Kael and Lilith.

Kael smiled warmly as he helped her choose jewelry, offering his opinion on each piece. From beginning to end, he never took his eyes off her.

Then, I noticed Lilith's purse.

It was the same one I had once sent Kael a picture of. In the end, I couldn't bring myself to buy it because it was too expensive.

I laughed bitterly and ran into the pouring rain.

By the time I got home, Kael had already made some stew for me.

"Akalia, you're home. Didn't you say you wanted stew the other day? I learned how to make it just for you. Come try some."

Kael walked out of the kitchen with a bright smile, only to find me taking off my soaked clothes.

He froze in the doorway. "Why are you drenched?"

"I went to my follow-up appointment."

His expression shifted. "That was today?"

I raised my head and looked at him quietly. "I reminded you three times."

Kael stiffened before stumbling through an explanation.

"There's so much we need to prepare for the mating ceremony. I've been incredibly busy lately… Besides, I thought your wound had already healed. Missing one follow-up shouldn't be a big deal, right?"

"The healer said it's getting worse."

Although my voice remained calm, Kael frowned.

"Akalia, are you trying to remind me that you took that knife for me? Are you going to hold that over my head again?"

So, that was how he saw it.

Apparently, I wasn't even allowed to bring it up.

Kael seemed to realize he had gone too far. He stepped forward, took my hand, and softened his voice. "Akalia, that's not what I meant. I only forgot once. Something this trivial isn't worth fighting over."

Except this wasn't the first time he had forgotten.

He had never remembered at all.

"Lilith's purse is pretty," I said quietly.

Kael faltered, and a wounded look flashed across his eyes.

"Akalia, were you following me? Lilith is taking our mating ceremony very seriously. She only asked me to help her pick out some appropriate jewelry for it!

"Her tribe is in Sendor, and she traveled all the way to Nadoria to help us. I'm the only person here she can rely on. If you're going to make a mountain out of a molehill, then I don't know what else to say."

A bitter laugh escaped me.

"What a coincidence. When I went to my appointment today, the only person I could rely on was me."

Kael opened his mouth to respond, but his ringing phone cut him off.

It was Lilith.

As soon as he answered, her tearful voice came through the phone. "Kael, the rain is coming down so hard, and there's thunder outside. I'm scared…"

"Don't be afraid. I'll be right there."

Kael quickly ended the call. As he opened the door, he paused and glanced back at me.

"I'll be home soon. Tomorrow, I'll go with you to the florist so we can choose the bouquet for the ceremony. Lilith is like a little sister to me. That's all. I hope you'll think this through because if you keep acting this way, I'll start to feel like our entire union is a joke."

A joke?

He was right.

The joke was that it had taken me until today to finally see the truth.

There was a cure for the wound in my chest, but there was no cure for willful blindness.