Chapter 2

I set the empty bowl on the table and said evenly, "Take your time. I'm going to bed."

With that, I turned and went back to my room. Behind me, I could faintly hear the two of them chatting joyfully. I unconsciously picked up my pace.

In the end, I still didn't tell Arthur that I was leaving.

He probably wouldn't care where I was going anyway. I was entirely dependent on him. If not for him, I would've been homeless to begin with.

Since that was the case, I didn't want to make things harder for myself.

In seven days, I would leave the Starfall pack and Arthur.

Back in my room, I looked at the bookshelf filled with books, a flicker of sadness passing through my eyes.

If I were leaving, then some things needed to be packed away.

Some of the books were old, others new, but they were all carefully preserved.

Before I turned eight, I lived with Leah Walker, who had adopted me, in the slums of this city. For us, survival was the only goal.

School was a privilege meant for children from ordinary families. I had never gone to school, not even for a day, and I couldn't read.

After Arthur brought me home, I started learning everything from scratch at school.

Because I was older than my classmates and came from the slums, they mocked me to my face and behind my back. For a long time, I hated going to school.

When Arthur found out, he bought me fairy tale books. Every night, he sat with me and read stories, teaching me how to recognize words and spell them.

I always had strange questions back then, but he answered every single one of them seriously.

"Arthur, why didn't Cinderella's glass slipper change back after midnight?"

"I don't know. Maybe the fairy godmother wanted the prince to find her."

"Arthur, didn't the ugly duckling turn into a swan because its parents were swans?"

"The story's trying to say that if you're different from others, it might be because you're better, so there's no need to feel insecure."

…

I improved quickly. A year later, I was sitting in the same classroom as children my own age.

Even after that, Arthur kept buying me books, one after another, from childhood into adulthood. I wrote the date on the title page of every single one.

I took the books down from the shelf one by one and placed them into a wooden box. As the shelf grew emptier, my vision gradually blurred.

The last book was the one he gave me on my 18th birthday.

It was blank.

On the title page, he'd written, "I hope your life will be like this book, full of endless possibilities, and you can do whatever you want to do. From the brother who loves you most, Arthur."

I closed my eyes. My lashes trembled as a tear fell onto the page, blurring the ink.

I'd already done what I wanted to do. It didn't turn out well, but I didn't regret it.

Now, it was time to explore life's endless possibilities.

As I placed the blank book into the box, a faint sting spread across my forearm. The mushroom soup had taken effect quickly, as rashes bloomed across my skin.

I took an antihistamine pill and lay back down on the bed.

Exhaustion pulled me under, and I soon fell asleep until an unbearable wave of heat jolted me awake.

The heat surged violently. I tried to move, but my limbs felt weak and sore, as if my body had been torn apart and pieced back together.

Worse still, I could feel my body beginning to shift against my will.

My nails lengthened. My spine let out a grating crack as my bones rearranged themselves, and my wolf released an agitated, restless growl.

I was going into heat!

It was a side effect of the antihistamine. The odds were so low, yet I'd still managed to run into it.