Chapter 4

"No! No! This is impossible!"

Isla and her two assistants scrambled out of the ritual circle, their clothes spattered with blood, her perfect makeup a ruined mess.

Martha was the first to grab Isla's arm. "What happened in there? How is Damien?"

"I… I don't know!" Isla shook her head in terror. "The ritual was going perfectly, and then suddenly—"

"Get out of the way!"

Elder Thomas pushed through the crowd and rushed into the circle. A few moments later, he emerged, his face ashen.

"Prepare purification crystals and sealing runes! Now!" Thomas yelled at his assistants. "And get every senior healer here! Immediately!"

My heart hammered in my chest—not with fear, but with a dark, thrilling anticipation.

"Elder, what happened?" Martha asked, her voice tight with anxiety.

Thomas looked at us gravely. "A dark corruption has set into the Alpha's legs. It's spreading to his wolf's bloodline. If we can't contain it…"

He didn’t have to finish the sentence. We all knew what it meant.

All eyes turned to Isla. The blood pact was signed. She was the lead healer. The fallout was hers to own.

But Isla had no intention of taking the blame. She whirled, a shaking finger pointed straight at me, her voice shrill. "It's Elara's fault! She did this!"

"What?" I stared at her, stunned. "What are you talking about?"

"If you hadn't deliberately stalled on the road and let Damien's wound get worse, my healing would have worked!" Isla accused, tears streaming down her face. "You did it on purpose! You delayed him from getting treatment!"

Murmurs rippled through the uninformed crowd.

"It's true, the Luna didn't seem to be in much of a hurry…"

"I could tell she had it in for that Isla girl…"

"To harm her own mate out of jealousy… that's terrifying…"

I couldn't believe the suspicious glances being thrown my way. My entire body trembled with rage. "Isla! What are you talking about? You were the one who was late because you were drunk!"

"I wasn't drinking!" Isla shot back. "And even if I was a little late, it wouldn't have affected the outcome. But you—" she pointed at me, "—you were undermining my confidence from the very beginning, questioning my skills! A healer's mental state directly impacts a ritual's success. You sabotaged me!"

This woman… she was actually pinning all the blame on me?

Just then, a weak groan came from inside the ritual circle.

"Damien!" Martha rushed in.

I followed her and saw Damien weakly open his eyes. His face was pale as paper, his forehead slick with sweat. But the most terrifying sight was his legs. They were covered in black, twisting lines, and the lines were creeping upward.

"Damien, how do you feel?" I asked, playing the part of the dutiful mate.

He looked at me, his eyes filled with nothing but icy fury. "Elara… why? Why would you do this?"

I froze. "What?"

"You knew, didn't you?" Damien said, his voice strained. "You knew Isla was in no condition to heal today, so you deliberately pushed her into it. You wanted me to suffer..."

"I didn't!" I argued desperately. "Damien, how could you think that of me?"

"Because you're jealous of her," Damien closed his eyes, his voice laced with disappointment. "You're jealous of Isla's talent, jealous that I trust her. So you used this chance to force her to perform a healing when she was at her worst…"

I couldn't believe my ears. Even now, this man was still making excuses for Isla?

"Then what about the blood pact?" I asked coldly. "Did I force her to sign that, too? If she was so confident, why was she afraid to sign it?"

"Because you were pressuring her!" Damien's eyes flew open, glaring at me. "If you hadn’t been stirring up trouble, she wouldn't have been nervous! She wouldn't have made a mistake!"

A rage unlike anything I had ever known flooded me. In my past life, I died because I was defenseless. This time, I saw everything coming, and yet I still had to face these baseless accusations.

Just then, an assistant ran in, holding a detection crystal.

"Elder! Elder!" he shouted frantically. "The test results are in!"

Thomas took the crystal. As he read the result, his face went completely white.

"What is it?" Martha asked nervously.

Thomas shook his head, defeated. "The Alpha's legs are heavily infected with dark energy. His entire wolf's bloodline is contaminated…"

He took a deep breath and delivered the devastating sentence:

"To save his life… we have to amputate both legs. Immediately."