INICIAR SESIÓNPercy’s POVRue did not leave after I told her to. She stood behind me for a long moment, and I could hear her breathing. I kept my back to her because I knew one look at her face would make it harder to refuse her.“I heard you,” she said quietly. “But I’m not leaving tonight.” My hand tightened beside me. “Rue, do not test my patience.”“I’m not testing you,” she said. “I came all this way because I’m worried about you.”I turned around slowly. “Do not call this worry.”“Then what should I call it?” she asked. “You love me. You want me here. But you keep using cruel words because you think they will protect you.”Her words made me angry because they were too close to the truth. “You do not know what I want.”“I know what you are doing,” she said. “And I know I hurt you when I could not answer you before. I will not pretend I did not.”I was surprised by how directly she spoke to me. She did not defend herself. She did not blame me. She only stood there with red eyes and refused to g
I looked at her sharply. “Because that was safer.”“For whom?” she asked. “Not for you. Not for me.” I had no answer.Rue came closer until only a few steps remained between us. “Percy, listen to me. I am not here because I am grateful. I am not here because I owe you. I am not here because I feel guilty about the donation.”She looked straight at me. “I am here because I love you. The blood pact may have connected us when we were young, but my choice now is mine. I choose you because I want you, not because I have to repay anything.”For one moment, I almost reached for her. My hand moved, then stopped. I remembered the lounge. I remembered asking if she trusted me and hearing no answer.I stepped back. Rue saw it, and her eyes filled with hurt. “Percy.”“No,” I said. Her lips parted. “No?”“No,” I repeated. “I will not reconcile with you.” She went still.I forced myself to keep speaking. “You heard about the pact, the donation, and my condition. You are afraid. That does not mean w
Percy’s POVThe room was quiet when the door opened.I did not need to turn around to know who had entered. My wolf sensed Rue before I looked at her. My fingers tightened around the glass of water on the table, and I forced myself to stay seated.Rue closed the door behind her. She did not call my name at once. She only stood there, and the silence between us became tense. “You should not be here,” I said.Her footsteps stopped. “I know you told everyone to keep your location hidden.”“Then you should have respected it.”“I couldn’t,” she said. I turned and looked at her. She looked tired from travel, and her face was pale. The ruby necklace rested against her neck, and seeing it made me feel pain.I stood up slowly and asked, “Did Virel bring you here?”“He helped me travel,” she said. “But I chose to come.”“Because you heard about the donation,” I said. Rue’s eyes changed. “Yes. I heard about it.”I let out a short laugh, but there was no joy in it. “Then I was right. You came be
When I finished, he stepped back and pressed his hand against his forehead. “So Percy has been dealing with all this alone?”“Yes,” I said. “He thinks protecting me means leaving me out of every decision.”Cole looked angry, but he did not blame Percy. After a few seconds, he lowered his hand and looked at me. “You’re going after him,” he said.“Yes,” I answered. “I won’t let him use his life as payment for Amelia or for me.” Cole nodded at once. “Then I’ll help you.”“You support this?” I asked.“You’re my sister,” he said. “And Percy is trying to save Amelia. I cannot sit here and let him die for us.”His voice shook when he mentioned Amelia, but he controlled himself. “I’ll activate cross-border werewolf passage assistance. It will move faster than normal travel approval.”Dr. Virel stepped forward. “I can handle the medical clearance. Rue is still recovering, so she can travel under emergency werewolf medical passage.” Cole looked at him. “Can you get the documents approved today?
Rue’s POVDr. Virel’s words stayed with me after he finished speaking. Percy had not only loved me in silence. His blood pact had been connected to me for years, and I had saved him long before I understood what had happened.I sat in the consultation room, holding the ruby necklace in my hand. My fingers shook so badly that the chain slipped against my palm.“Miss Rue,” Dr. Virel said carefully. “You need to breathe slowly.” I tried, but my chest felt tight. “He knew all this and still left?”“He did not know the full truth until today,” Dr. Virel said. “But he knew enough to believe he owed you a blood debt.”I looked up at him. “So he decided to give his blood-forming marrow to Amelia, go into a dangerous Blood Pact mission, and hide everything from me?”Dr. Virel did not deny it. “Yes.”For a moment, I could not control myself. Tears came before I could stop them. I covered my mouth with one hand, but the sound still came out.Percy had been in pain for so long. I had thought he w
Rue’s POVI went looking for Percy the next morning, even though my body was still weak. Cole had wanted me to rest, but I could not stay still after everything I had learned.Percy had refused to see me. He had hidden his route. He had chosen silence again, and this time, I refused to let silence decide for us.I went to his medical wing first because Dr. Elias Virel was the only person who might know the truth. When I arrived, a healer tried to stop me, but Dr. Virel stepped out of the inner room and saw me.“Miss Rue,” he said. “You should still be resting.”“I need to see Percy,” I said. “Where is he?” I asked. Dr. Virel looked at the healers nearby. “Leave us.” After they left, he led me into a small consultation room and closed the door. My hands tightened. “He left, didn’t he?”“Yes,” Dr. Virel said. “He has gone to Blackridge Territory.” I became afraid. “Blackridge? Why would he go there?”“To complete the Blood Pact mission,” he said. “And to carry out the donation procedur
Aiden’s POVTwo days. That’s all it took for the news to reach me—Marcus had been discharged.I slammed the newspaper down on my desk, and quickly reached for my phone. This was the opening I have been waiting for. If Marcus had been discharged from the hospital, that meant that he was ready to mak
Rue’s POVThe lecture hall was still buzzing with conversations when I slipped my books into my bag. Life at Golden League University was everything I had once dreamed of: the challenge, the high standard of education. It has only been a month and we were already preparing for an exam.As I steppe
Aiden’s POVThe square had gone deathly silent after the assistant’s trembling finger pointed straight at Haven.“She told me to block Rue,” the man blurted, his voice cracking under the weight of everyone’s stares. “She said Alpha Marcus must never see her. I only followed orders!”The guards shif
Rue’s POVPercy is my second chance?The answer came in an instant when I questioned my wolf. Yes. He was wounded. His wolf was injured when the outbreak struck. That’s why you didn’t feel him before. But now you do.My hands shook under the table. I excused myself quickly, murmuring something abo







