Chapter 5

I instinctively raised my arm to shield my face.

Sharp teeth sank into my forearm.

The sound of flesh tearing was horrifyingly clear.

Blood splattered across the fallen petals.

The maids screamed and backed away, but not one of them tried to pull the animal off me.

The young panther lunged again.

It clamped its jaws around my shoulder and tore at me.

I no longer had the strength to fight back.

All I could do was curl into myself and protect my face and chest.

By the time Selena finally arrived, my arm and shoulder had been torn open.

“Come back!”

She called the panther off, then covered her mouth and pretended to be horrified.

“This is my fault. Kael only just started teaching me how to control the battle beast. I haven’t mastered it yet.”

Her personal maid immediately said,

“Why should the Luna apologize to a criminal?”

“Even if the panther killed her, the Alpha would never blame you.”

Their voices faded into the distance.

All I could see was blood.

“Eileen?”

Someone lifted me into his arms.

“Annie, open your eyes.”

I thought I was dreaming.

I was back at Firefly Lake behind the Moonshadow territory.

On my sixteenth birthday, Kael had rowed an old wooden boat to the center of the lake.

Thousands of fireflies rose from the reeds and reflected across the dark water, as if the stars had fallen beneath our feet.

His palms were damp with nerves when he pulled a roughly carved wooden wolf from inside his coat.

It was supposed to be him.

One ear was chipped, and it looked awkward and foolish.

“I spent two months carving this,” he said, his ears turning red. “Annie, when we complete our mate bond, I’ll bring every firefly in the forest here to celebrate with you.”

I closed my fingers around the little wolf and laughed.

“What if we bond in winter? The fireflies will all be asleep.”

He thought about it, then answered with complete seriousness.

“Then I’ll wake them one by one.”

The fireflies were still glowing in my dream.

Back then, I still had my parents and my brother.

Then Kael took them all from me.

When I regained consciousness, the familiar taste of bitter medicine filled my mouth.

I opened my eyes with difficulty.

Kael’s face was close to mine.

One hand supported the back of my neck as he held medicine in his mouth and slowly passed it into mine.

I froze, then turned my head away.

The medicine spilled from the corner of my mouth.

Kael went still.

Dark liquid stained his lips, and the panic in his eyes had not yet disappeared.

Then anger covered it.

“You’re awake. Drink it yourself.”

He shoved the bowl into my hands.

“I fed you myself, and you still dared to turn away?”

I looked at him and almost laughed.

There had been a time when I was sick and wanted nothing more than for him to visit me.

But he never came.

Now he was finally willing to hold me and feed me medicine himself.

Not because he could not bear to see me in pain.

Only because he refused to let me die.

If I died, I could no longer repay the blood debt he believed my family owed.

I forced myself upright and swallowed the rest of the medicine.

Kael’s expression eased slightly.

As though everything would continue as it had for the past ten years.

No matter how much blood I lost or how long I remained unconscious, I would always wake again.

Then my stomach suddenly twisted.

I bent over the side of the bed and vomited everything back up.

Black blood splattered across the floor.

Several small worms writhed inside it.

They twisted for a few seconds before going still.

Kael’s face changed instantly.

“What is that?”

He grabbed my shoulders, confusion and fear flashing in his eyes.

But he refused to believe what he was seeing.

His voice quickly hardened into the familiar accusation.

“What kind of trick are you playing now, Eileen?”

I knew my time had come.

“Kael, I’m going to die.”

“No.”

He denied it immediately.

I gave a faint smile.

Ten years ago, he had been just as stubborn.

He did not know that I had truly loved him.

He did not know that I had swallowed the blood worms to save his life.

But I no longer wanted to explain.

Kael opened his mouth, ready to threaten me with the silver cage again.

Then all sound left him.

Blood poured from my nose and the corners of my mouth.

Something warm ran from my eyes.

Kael looked down and saw the red marks covering my neck.

They spread beneath my collar and down toward my heart.

The final sign that the blood worm curse had reached its end.

“Annie?”

His voice shook.

“Annie, open your eyes.”

Kael pulled me tightly against his chest.

For the first time, there was real fear in his voice.

“I order you to open your eyes!”

But this time, I did not obey him.