Chapter 4

Rhaine clutched a handful of golden light fragments in his fist, issuing commands as he always had.

"By my authority as your mate and Alpha, I command you to stop this nonsense and stay by my side!"

The wolf spirit within him let out a tortured growl as the black plague marks spread across his entire body.

"Whatever you want, we can talk about it. Just don't pull another prank and scare me like this!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, another part of my body dissolved into golden specks of light.

Rhaine finally lost his composure. He carefully laid me back on the bed before turning to the physician and roaring,

"I want Selene awake within the hour! Do whatever it takes!"

After examining me, the physician could only drop to his knees, too terrified to raise his head.

"Selene's heart stopped beating a long time ago. She died... last night."

"That's impossible!"

Rhaine seized the physician by the collar and dragged him toward the bed.

"Keep trying! Selene has pulled people back from the jaws of death! You can bring her back too!"

The physicians could only take turns trying to save me. However, the medicine would not go down, and even their healing spells had no effect on my body.

The disintegration continued. Rhaine clutched my wrist, but beneath his palm all he could feel was an increasingly weightless shell.

"The dragon scales... If I hadn't set up that deception... If she still had those scales, I could've saved her! But I... I only did it because I loved Selene too much! Was I really wrong?"

Vivian grasped his hand, struggling to maintain her composure.

"This must be another one of her tricks to make you give in. If you believe her now, that's when we'll truly fall into her trap."

However, Rhaine suddenly grabbed her wrist, his eyes bloodshot with fury.

"Didn't you tell me an hour ago that she'd smashed everything in the bedroom and refused to see me?"

Under the crushing pressure of the Alpha's dominance, Vivian finally lost her composure.

"She really wasn't breathing! I... I only said she was throwing a tantrum because... I just wanted to put your mind at ease!"

"Get out!"

Rhaine shoved her away and staggered back to the bedside, gathering my body into his arms.

By then, the plague had already ravaged every inch of his body. Agonizing pain twisted his features into a grimace, yet he still refused to let go of me.

That was when the dragon's spectral form appeared before me.

It lowered its familiar head and spoke gently.

"My child, I've come to take you home."

I reached out and wrapped my arms around its neck.

The final thread connecting my soul to Rhaine snapped.

The wolf spirit inside Rhaine let out a mournful howl.

The body in his arms dissolved completely, leaving behind nothing but an empty dress.

"Selene!"

He roared desperately at the dragon.

"Selene is my Luna! You have no right to take her away! She loves me! Even in death, she belongs by my side!"

The dragon cast him a look of utter disdain.

"The three scales I gave Selene represented her three lives. Once they were gone, so was she. You set a trap that cost her life. What right do you have to keep her here now?"

Then the dragon lowered its head, allowing me to climb onto its back.

Just as it had once carried me away from the frozen wasteland, it now bore me away from the pack that had repaid all my love with betrayal and deceit.

Upon learning the truth, Rhaine seemed unable to believe what he had just heard.

He stood frozen for a long moment before suddenly coughing up a mouthful of blood.

Then he collapsed to the ground unconscious.