Chapter 3

I ran straight into Selina again.

"Sylvia, have you started preparing to leave?"

There was a hint of mockery in her voice.

She stepped in front of me, a venomous smile playing openly on her lips. "You won't be coming back for the rest of your life. I hear the Alpha of the Snow Wolf pack is an expert at torture. I wonder how many winters you'll survive in an ice cavern?"

Then, she leaned close to my ear, whispering in a voice meant only for us: "Perhaps you'll be reuniting with your short-lived mother very soon."

A loud buzz erupted in my head. I grabbed her collar in a frenzy, my nails already extending into the sharp points of wolf claws.

"Selina! Say that again!"

She looked at me with utter contempt, her fingers reaching for my necklace.

I was about to dodge, but she was faster. She yanked the necklace off my neck.

It was my mother's remains; I had worn it every day and never taken it off.

"Give it back!"

"I wish you less torment in the Frostlands."

Smiling, she let the emerald gem slip from her fingertips.

Crack. The gem shattered into several pieces.

Rage surged to my brain. "What did you just do?!"

I raised my hand, my fingers transforming into wolf claws, ready to slash Selina’s face.

Suddenly, a large hand seized my wrist and hurled me to the ground.

Lucien didn't even glance at me. He stepped right over me, bending down to carefully scoop Selina, who was still pressing down on me, into his arms.

"Selina! Are you hurt?" His voice was thick with panic and anxiety.

Selina sobbed in his arms, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably. "Lucien, I'm so scared... Sylvia tried to kill me..."

Lucien gently laid her on the sofa. Channeling his wolf power, he meticulously checked her over. Only after confirming she was merely frightened and unharmed did he turn his head to look at me.

I struggled to sit up, but a dull throb pounded in my brain.

"Lucien, she..." I tried to explain.

"Enough!" Lucien snapped, cutting me off harshly. "Sylvia, will you only be satisfied if you drive Selina to her death?"

Clutching my wound, I stared at him in disbelief. "I didn't... she did it on purpose... "She smashed my mother's keepsake!

"Shut up!"

His condemning gaze pierced my heart all over again.

Selina leaned weakly against Lucien’s chest, her eyes brimming with tears. "She said that as long as I died, you would return to her side."

Looking at Selina’s provocative gaze, I suddenly felt profoundly exhausted.

Even if I explained, Lucien wouldn't believe me. Besides, I had already planned to enter a marriage of convenience in the Frostlands; I had no need to explain anything to him.

Selina continued her sickeningly sweet act of framing me. "I won't blame Sylvia. I am willing to enter a marriage of convenience in the Frostlands."

His eyes were ice-cold, as if he were looking at a heinous murderer. "How did you become so vicious? You have deeply disappointed me! If your mother knew you had become like this..."

"Shut your mouth!"

Smack!

Gathering the very last ounce of strength in my body, I struggled to my feet and slapped Lucien hard across the face.

"You are not worthy of mentioning my mother.The one who was supposed to go to the Snow Wolf pack wasn't Selina. It was..."