Chapter 2

"Look here. Isn't this Ms. Elena Nightbloom? What? Hasn't the old bastard croaked yet?" Mia's lackey said, sneering.

I lowered my head and held out the coins. "I want to buy medicine. Please, just sell me a small potion. If my father doesn't get it soon, he'll die."

"Not selling," Freya Evercrest barked as she stepped forward.

She was the werewolf in charge of the healing center. Before, she would always be very respectful when she saw me, but now she stood there with her arms crossed, her face cold with indifference.

"The Alpha King has decreed that descendants of criminals are not entitled to the Kingdom's resources."

"My father isn't a criminal! He's the former Alpha King! He shed blood for this Kingdom!" I yelled.

"That was before."

Freya kicked the muddy puddle at her feet. "If you really want the medicine… The ground's a bit dirty. Lick it clean, then maybe I'll consider it."

The muddy puddle was mixed with feces from some unknown animal.

A crowd of curious onlookers had gathered—some of whom were orphans I'd sponsored before.

They pointed and jeered.

"Look at Elena. She used to be so high and mighty, but now she's just like a kicked mutt."

"Lick it, you worthless piece of trash!"

"Stop pretending to be so above it all!"

I clenched my fists until my nails dug into my palms. The sounds of Dad's agonized moans echoed in my ears.

I dropped to my knees, my kneecaps landing on the sharp gravel. Lowering my head, I stuck out my tongue and touched the filthy, murky puddle. The stench assaulted my nose. I wanted to throw up, but I held it back.

One lick. Then another.

The crowd erupted into laughter.

"She's actually licking it! What a cheap piece of trash!"

A high heel stepped on my hand. Mia had arrived.

She stomped down hard on my fingers until the skin tore and blood spilled.

"Ellie, seeing you like this really breaks my heart."

She crouched down and leaned in close to my ear. "It's a pity, though. Lucas just said that even if you licked every drop of water here, you still can't get the medicine. That's the punishment for traitors."

I jerked my head up. "You tricked me?"

"Yep," Mia chirped, standing up and dusting off her hands. "So what? You're going to hit me or something?"

She pulled out a potion vial. "Do you want this?"

But just as I reached for it, the vial fell from her hand, the liquid spilling everywhere.

"Oops. My hand slipped," Mia said, covering her mouth, pretending to be shocked. "You want to save your father? Sure."

She smiled, her eyes sharp and cruel as she patted my cheek.

"Go to Lucas' house tonight. He has something to say to you. If you behave well, maybe he'll show you some mercy."

…

For Dad's sake, I went to Lucas' house.

The moment I pushed open the door, warm air rushed over me, completely different from the icy lands outside.

Lucas sat on a leather couch, his gaze dark and cold, while Mia nestled against his side like a lazy cat.

"You came?" Lucas said, swirling the red wine in his glass. "Get on all fours and crawl over here."

I gritted my teeth, dropped to my knees, and crawled step by step until I was in front of him.

"Where's the medicine? You promised me."

Lucas planted his foot on my shoulder, pressing down so hard I thought my bones might break.

"You still want to use medicine to save your worthless father, Elena? His greatest crime in life was stealing my father's credit," he spat.

I shot back, "You're lying! In that battle back then, it was your father who betrayed us! To become the Alpha King, he colluded with vampires and nearly got all of us werewolves killed! It was my father who broke his leg to save us all!"

"Shut up!" Lucas snarled, slapping me hard across the face.

Blood trickled from the corner of my mouth, and my ears rang.

"You still dare argue? Mia's already investigated. Your father was the one who colluded with outsiders, got my father killed, and falsified reports to steal the position of Alpha King!"

He pulled a yellowed piece of parchment from his pocket and threw it in my face. "This is the evidence!"

I didn't even need to look to know it was a forgery.

Standing next to him, Mia giggled. "Lucas, why waste words on the daughter of a traitor? Since she wants the medicine, just give it to her. We wouldn't want to be called liars."

She picked up a vial of deep blue potion from the table and tossed it to the floor. The glass bottle rolled a few times before stopping at my feet.

"Take it. This dosage should be enough to save the old bastard's life."

I didn't have time to think. I just grabbed the vial and ran out of the house.

Back home, I carefully fed the potion to Dad. Watching him swallow it, the knot in my chest finally loosened.

"Dad, this is a special medicine," I said, holding his hand, a flicker of hope in my eyes. "Once you're better, we'll leave this place. We'll join a pack far away where no one knows us."

Dad gave a weak smile, his eyes full of guilt. "Elena, it's my fault. You're in this mess because of me."

"No, it's not."

I pulled out half a pizza I'd hidden earlier and boiled snow into a warm bowl of gruel. "Look, Dad, we can still survive. As long as we're alive, there's hope."

That night, for the first time in a long while, I had a good dream. In the dream, we escaped and built a new house for ourselves in a sea of flowers.

But the dream shattered at dawn, ripped apart by Dad's pained screams.