Chapter 5 What the hell is wrong with you?

Liam’s voice was frayed with agitation. “Nothing. Why are you here?”

Cole did not answer.

His eyes remained fixed on the direction I had gone, green irises gleaming like shards of emerald ice—cold, sharp, unyielding.

Liam’s chest tightened. He saw it. “You came here for Nina, didn’t you?”

Snow fell in silence, settling on their shoulders.

Cole’s gloved fingers brushed over the medicine box in his hand. Still, he said nothing.

“Cole!” Liam snapped, unease creeping in. “The Elders didn’t summon you today. Did you deliberately go to fetch her?”

Still, no answer.

But Liam knew him.

They had grown up together, fought side by side a hundred times.

Silence meant consent.

With a furious snarl, Liam slammed his fist into the spruce tree beside him. Bark cracked beneath the blow.

“What the hell is wrong with you? When Nina trailed after you, worshipping you, you ignored her. Now you’re Lily’s fiancé—and suddenly you’ve changed your mind?”

His voice cracked with rage, yet his words rang like the warning of a protective brother.

“I swear, Cole. I only have two sisters. If you dare cross that line, I’ll slit your throat at the Moon Goddess’s altar.”

Cole’s laugh was low, disdainful.

“You sound as though you actually care for Nina.”

The words pierced. Liam froze.

His fury-drained face went pale, as if the accusation had stripped him bare.

His teeth clenched.

“And you? You’re no better! Three years ago—you were there. She hates you just as much as me!”

Cole knew.

Of course he knew.

The girl who once spoke her love with every breath, who filled silence with her laughter—

Now greeted him with nothing more than:

“Cleaner Nina pays respects to Alpha Cole.”

Cole’s expression shadowed. His voice was low, dangerous:

“Liam. Did you know? She didn’t take the tulips.”

Tulips—also Nina’s favorite flower.

Liam’s eyes widened. “Impossible. She never refused your gifts before. She was always grateful, always eager.”

The thought clawed at him.

The wolves in the Grounds—their fists, their whips, their cruelty—

They had beaten her joy away.

Beaten away the girl who had once been theirs.

Liam’s chest ached.

He snapped, desperate to act:“Did you bring wolf-army salve?”

The salves crafted in the Moon Alchemy Hall healed faster than anything else.

Cole shook his head.

“No. Only a flask of medicinal wine.”

Liam snatched it from his hand, storming off.

He only made it two steps before turning back, seizing Cole by the collar, eyes blazing.

“Don’t even think of Nina. Don’t you dare.”

Cole’s eyes narrowed, amusement laced with scorn. “You can’t command me.”

Fury burned through Liam. He shoved Cole away and strode off, cloak slashing the snow in his wake.

Cole was alone.

He rubbed the salve in his hand and asked his close warrior James to give it to Nina.

“Take it to her.”

......

Inside Frost Fall Palace, Laura’s quiet sobs filled the air.

She dabbed ointment over my wounds with trembling fingers, tears spilling down her cheeks.

I wiped them gently away. “Don’t cry. Or they’ll think I bullied you.”

She shook her head fiercely.

“Prince Liam isn’t worthy of being your brother. You’ve suffered that much, and he still shields Lily.”

Her anger should have comforted me. Instead, suspicion stirred.

Was it true pity? Or just a ploy to win my trust?

I turned from her, gaze drifting to the snow beyond the window.

Two shadows entered the hall—one, Liam’s omega servant. The other, Cole’s warrior.

My chest tightened at the sight. Cole’s face rose in my mind, cold and unapproachable.

I sent Laura to meet them. Their voices were low, words carried away by the wind.

When she returned, her eyes were wet again.

“They came to deliver medicine.”

Three years in the Grounds—not once had anyone sent me so much as a bandage.

Now, suddenly, salves and tinctures arrived.

Was it for my healing?

Or just to soothe their fragile, belated guilt?

My gaze dropped to the flask Liam had sent.

The ache in my ankle throbbed, memory rising—his voice, his kick, his scorn.

My face hardened.

“Laura,” I said quietly. “Throw them away.”