Glacier… Help Me.

Corinne POV

I ran away from the school, Mason Carter’s words chasing me like shadows. How could that stranger read me so easily? Was my desire for Glacier really that obvious in my scent? Shame clawed at my insides, as if my small secret no longer belonged to me, but had become common knowledge among the wolves.

When I reached the Alpha Palace of Silver Stone, my heart was still pounding like war drums in my chest. I opened the door quietly, but the sight that greeted me made me wish I had stayed in the forest forever.

Lumi was there.

She stood far too close to Glacier, leaning into him, speaking in a soft voice that felt like poison. When her eyes landed on me, she did not step away. Instead, a victorious, mocking smile curved her lips. Glacier did not even look at me. He was buried in his papers, or maybe he was ignoring me on purpose, like he always did.

I rushed up the stairs, tripping over my loose clothes, and slammed my bedroom door shut behind me, as if I were locking the world out. I collapsed onto the bed, staring at my phone without moving. I was waiting for something, though I did not know what. An apology. An explanation. Or just a look.

Hours of silence passed before my door suddenly opened. He did not knock. He never does. He is the Alpha. This is his house. And I am just a burden under his protection.

Glacier stood at the doorway, his presence filling the space around him. He walked closer, each step heavy with authority.

“Why weren’t you in class, Corinne?” he asked in his smooth voice, though the tone carried clear disapproval.

I laughed bitterly and lifted my eyes to him with a defiance I did not know I had. “Do you really care? Or were you too busy bringing women into the house to notice I was gone until now?”

His sharp features hardened, and his gray eyes turned colder. “That is not a question a child like you should concern herself with.”

A child? I screamed inside. If you knew what your presence does to my body, you would never say child. But I only stared at him in anger.

He continued flatly, “I am looking forward to the next school rotation. Your father, Luke, was a strong warrior. He would have expected more discipline from you. If he were here now…”

“Do not talk about my father,” I cut him off sharply. “He’s been gone for years, and I do not have a single memory of him. His heroic stories mean nothing to me in a place that rejects me.”

A suffocating silence filled the room. I knew what he was thinking. He believed I would stay here forever, under his rule. He did not know I had already made my choice. Professor Nina would soon assign us to different packs, and I had chosen the farthest place possible from Silver Stone. Two months. Just two months, and I would leave this golden cage and never come back.

“Corinne?” Lumi’s voice called from the hallway, sweet and fake. “Dinner is ready.”

Glacier turned toward the door, and I saw his expression soften slightly as he looked at her. My nose stung, bitterness filling my throat. He moved back to his desk to continue some work with her, leaving behind his scent, which began to suffocate me.

I went down to dinner against my will. Lumi acted as if she were already the pack’s Luna, serving the food with the smile of a perfect hostess.

“Here you go, sweetheart. I made something special for you. You’re so thin, you need to eat,” Lumi said as she placed the plate in front of me, her innocent look far too perfect.

I ate in silence while she pulled Glacier into conversation, guiding him toward a side room under the excuse of asking his opinion about something. Minutes later, a sharp pain tore through my stomach, and my breath tightened like a beast sinking its claws into me.

I stared at the plate in horror. The small green seeds. Kiwi.

She had put kiwi in my food. She knows. No, maybe she does not. But I have a deadly allergy to it. I tried to stand, but my weak body failed me. I crawled toward the door and knocked weakly, gasping for air.

“Glacier… help me…”

No one opened. I heard her soft laugh from inside, and his deep voice answering her. Were they ignoring me? Or could they no longer hear me? I collapsed to the floor as darkness crept into my vision, and I lost consciousness.

I woke up to the smell of disinfectant and Glacier’s face leaning over me beside the bed. His expression was angry. Very angry.

“Are you stupid?” he growled in a low voice. “How do you eat something you know could kill you? I would not have known how to explain it to your mother if something had happened to you.”

I looked at him weakly. I had hoped to see real worry in his eyes, but all I saw was anger at the responsibility he almost lost.

Lumi stood behind him, wiping fake tears. “I’m so sorry, Alpha. I didn’t know she had an allergy. I just wanted to be nice to her.”

I glared at her with hatred and croaked, “Liar. You put the kiwi in my food on purpose.”

Lumi hid behind Glacier’s broad back, whispering with false fear, “I swear I didn’t know. Glacier, please believe me.”

Glacier turned to me, and his words shattered me. “Enough, Corinne. Lumi did not know. Stop blaming others for your own carelessness.”

My heart broke into a thousand pieces. He chose her. He believed her, and he doubted me.

With all the strength I had left, I ripped the IV from my hand and tried to leave the room. Glacier grabbed my wrist hard, trying to stop me.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Let me go!” I screamed, tears streaming down my cheeks.

“Let me go and go to her. Let me go, Glacier. I hate you!”

He froze in place, shock flashing across his face for the first time. I shoved his hand away and ran, promising myself that these two months would be my last in this hell.