End of Passion

"Alright, I'll come get you." My mother, Lena Lowe, hung up after she finished speaking.

I pulled open the bottommost drawer of my desk. Inside was a dusty application form to leave the pack.

I'd once thought I'd never touch it again for the rest of my life.

But life always took unexpected turns.

After signing my name, I folded the application and slipped it into my backpack. Once the Elder Council stamped it, I'd be completely free.

However, the moment I stepped out of the courtyard, a figure dropped from the sky, landing right in the middle of the forest path.

It was my father, Damon Moretti, blocking my way. He hadn't fully transformed, but gray wolf fur had already appeared on his arms. This was his half-wolf form, usually used to intimidate prey.

And now, he was using it to stop his own daughter from leaving.

Father pulled a velvet box from his pocket. The box sprang open, revealing a pink stone inside. It was the one Joanna Litt had admired at the market yesterday.

Father held the box out to me. "Here. Take it. Consider this compensation for what happened. Joanna has been frail since birth. There's no way she could earn that spot on her own. But going to the Werewolf Academy has always been her dream.

"You've always been very talented. Even if you give her this opportunity, there will be other chances for you in the future."

I looked at the pink stone, and my eyes began to sting.

"Since you've already given her the spot, what's the point of giving me this now?" I smiled bitterly. "I don't want any compensation. I just want to be alone for a while. Just let me leave."

Father frowned. "Nina, enough with your tantrum. Everyone is trying to make you feel better. How much longer are you going to lash out at us?"

He not only refused to move aside but also grabbed my hand and tried to drag me back into the courtyard.

The pain in my wrist made me gasp.

I was so sick of their favoritism that I couldn't bear to go back, so I yanked my hand free with all my strength.

Beside the path was a dense patch of thorny brambles. The pack used these poisonous thorns to keep wild beasts away. Even a brush against them could make an ordinary person's skin rot.

I leaped into them without hesitation.

Father instinctively reached out and pulled me against him, slicing his arm open on the thorns. Blood trickled down through his fur onto the ground.

He froze for a second, then instinctively checked if I was hurt. "Nina, are you okay? Are you in pain? Let's go back to the pack to have a healer check on you."

I took a step back, avoiding his hand.

The stinging pain from his wound finally wore out his patience. When he spoke, his voice rang with unrestrained fury.

"Nina, look at yourself! You're acting like some wild, ill-mannered brat! You're nowhere near as obedient as Joanna!"

When Father noticed I was still not backing down, he approached me with a dark look on his face. "Get back there right now and apologize to Joanna and your brothers. Do you have any idea how worried they are about you?"

I looked at his bleeding arm, finding this whole situation ridiculous.

In the past, I would have taken out the herbs I'd gathered and carefully bandaged his wound. But now, I wanted nothing more to do with them.

I turned around and put more distance between us.

"I'm not going back. Also, I'm not going to the Werewolf Academy, so you don't have to worry about me taking Joanna's spot."