Chapter 3

Ethan put his gloves back on and returned to the autopsy table. He picked up a cleaning sponge and began scrubbing the grime from my body.

Cold water streamed over my badly wounded body.

When he was cleaning my right hand, his movements suddenly stopped.

At the base of my thumb was a thick, yellowed callus. It was not something ordinary life could leave behind.

Five years ago, when Ethan had just taken over the pack, he lost the Alpha's heirloom ring which was the symbol of his authority. He panicked like a child and cried himself hoarse.

I kept it from him and went to an abandoned scrapyard. I carried scrap metal with my bare hands for three days.

Sharp edges sliced my palms open. They healed before splitting again repeatedly. In the end, that ugly callus formed. Only then did I find the ring buried deep in the trash.

I polished it until it shone. When I handed it to him, he looked at my oil-stained hands with disgust.

"You're filthy. Stay away from me."

Now, his fingers brushed gently over that same callus, and his brows furrowed slightly.

The sensation felt eerily familiar.

"This callus–" He murmured softly. There was a look of hesitation in his eyes.

My heart started racing.

'Ethan, do you remember? Do you remember these hands?

'When you were running a fever, I used these hands to replace cold towels for you all night.

'When werewolves from other packs bullied you, I used these hands to grab stones and chase them away.

'Please recognize me. Please. Just recognize that it's me.

'If only so I could be laid to rest. If only so I would not lie here like a nameless ghost.'

Ethan's fingers trembled. He slowly lowered his head, as if trying to see my face more clearly.

That was when his phone vibrated in his pocket. A name appeared on the screen.

[Aunt Catherine.]

Catherine Earnhart was a leech who treated Ethan and me like personal ATMs.

The doubt in Ethan's eyes vanished in an instant. It was replaced by irritation.

He answered the call. Catherine's shrill voice came through immediately.

"Ethan! Where the hell did Elina run off to? Why hasn't this month's allowance come through?

"You're a famous Alpha now. You wouldn't let your aunt starve, would you? Tell her to cough up the money right away!"

Ethan's expression turned ice-cold. He snorted.

"Money? She's drowning in gambling debt. Where would she get money for you?

"Don't worry. She even faked her own death to dodge debt. She's very much alive."

He hung up. When he looked back at my right hand, there was nothing left in his eyes but contempt.

"A whole family of leeches. Elina, this is all you amount to as well.

"You ruined your life on purpose. Are you trying to remind me of those pathetic little things you did back then? Too bad. I won't fall for that."

He flung my hand away roughly. With a loud clang, the hand that had grown callused for him slammed hard against the cold stainless-steel table.