I Was Born Fragile

"Eleanor Malone, stop pretending to be dead! Get up!" Frank Martin shouted.

Everyone in the climbing group was a friend of Henry, Henry Malone. Frank, who was closest to Henry, was kicking my shoulder. "Do you think lying in the mud and pretending to faint will make Henry carry you home like he used to? Stop being so dumb!"

The force of his kick sent my body rolling a few feet forward. My face turned pale.

The werewolves around us immediately burst into laughter.

"Oh my God, she's even holding her breath! She's acting way too well! If I didn't know werewolves couldn't possibly be this weak, I'd almost believe her!" someone exclaimed.

Someone else took the opportunity to mock me even further.

"I bet she's just trying to slack off. She was dragging her feet the entire way up the slope. Henry is the strongest warrior in our pack. How could he have a biological sister who's this weak?

"Ella is so much better. Even without sharing the same bloodline, she's a hundred times stronger than Eleanor."

One insult followed another, but none of them knew the truth.

After spending years lost out there on my own, my wolf spirit had been severely hurt. Not only had I developed asthma, but I had also lost the ability to shift into a wolf and the power to heal myself.

Frank stared at my tightly shut eyes and pointed at the sky before cursing out loud. "How much longer are you going to hold us up? A downpour can happen without warning up here in the mountains. If something happens, don't expect us to help you!"

After hearing their complaints, Henry's expression darkened.

Ella Malone quietly moved closer to him. She put on a look of pure innocence and asked, "Henry, is Eleanor mad at me?"

This was happening again.

Ever since I had been brought back to my family, Ella had targeted me at every opportunity. She was wary I would steal all the love and attention she had always enjoyed, but I had never wanted to compete with her for anything.

She blinked and spoke in a wounded tone. "I only threw her medication away because I wanted to push her a little, help her break her dependence on it, and get her to awaken her wolf spirit sooner. How could she retaliate against us by throwing a tantrum?"

Henry frowned and walked toward my body. He seemed irritated.

Seeing the disgust in his expression, I instinctively shivered.

Henry hadn't always been like this.

When I first returned to the pack, he'd draped a warm cloak over my shoulders. He'd held me gently and promised that, even if our parents had passed away, he would make up for all the love I had missed during the eighteen years we'd been apart.

Back then, I thought I had finally found the family I had always dreamed of.

Everything changed two days ago when he caught me using my asthma inhaler.

He stared at the medication in my hand, and his expression shifted from shock to profound disappointment. "Eleanor, you have the blood of werewolves running through your veins. How can you rely on medication to survive like some fragile human?"

From that moment on, every time he frowned, I trembled in fear.

I was terrified he would despise me and send me away.

So I pushed myself to the limit in every test he arranged for me. I desperately tried to prove that I wasn't useless.

But hadn't I already died?

Apparently, even the dead could still feel afraid.

Henry stopped in front of my body and stared at my bluish face.

A flicker of doubt crossed his eyes, but it disappeared almost immediately.

"Eleanor, I'm running out of patience. I'm counting to three. You'd better get up!" His voice was cold and had an unmistakable menace to it.

"One!"

A cold gust of wind swept past, turning my lips even more purple.

"Two!"

Ella chimed in to urge me on. "Eleanor, come on. We still have a long way to go. The world doesn't revolve around you."

No one answered her. The silence was eerie.

"Three!"

The countdown ended, but I remained motionless.

The werewolves in the group burst into laughter. They cast curious looks at Henry.

"Henry, this loser doesn't even listen to you anymore. What are you going to do?"

Henry thought I was deliberately defying him and trying to humiliate him in front of his friends.

Fury surged through him, and he suddenly lost his temper. "How long are you going to keep this up?"

He bent down abruptly and lifted my entire body off the ground, but it went completely limp and slipped right through his fingers.

The moment my body fell, Henry's movements suddenly halted.