Chapter 4

When the main house door closed behind me, the blizzard had already sealed off the courtyard.

My father ordered the patrol guards not to arrange a car for me.

They opened the side door and watched me walk out alone.

Brooks stood at the second-floor window.

Through the glass, his gaze stayed on me.

Maybe he was waiting for me to turn back.

To be unable to walk, to cry, to finally admit I was wrong.

My mother pushed open a crack in the window.

"Nora, don't stand outside putting on a show! You don't need to come to tonight's winter solstice charity banquet either. Don't let the other packs laugh at our family!"

The window shut.

In the warm yellow light, Ethan carried a hot drink toward Lily.

My father pulled the blanket up around her shoulders.

I turned and walked slowly into the snow.

My nose was bleeding again.

It dripped onto the snow, drop by drop, quickly covered by fresh snow.

My wolf didn't come out.

In the past, no matter how cold the weather, she would urge me to shift.

She said, run, and you'll be warm.

Now there was only silence deep in my consciousness.

After leaving the main house, I walked for a long time.

By the time I reached the seaside cabin, it was already dark.

The landlady, Martha, was a retired healer.

When I booked the room, I told her I was sick and wanted to stay quietly by the sea for a while.

But she clearly hadn't expected me to look like this.

The moment the door opened, the smile on her face vanished.

"Child—"

I wanted to apologize for dirtying her porch.

But the moment I stepped inside, a mouthful of dark red blood choked out of me.

My knees hit the floor hard.

Martha caught me immediately.

She wiped the blood off my face, wrapped me in a thick blanket, and called the night line at Northshore Healing Institute.

After they asked for my name, there was a pause.

Martha listened, her eyes slowly reddening.

She didn't insist on sending me away.

She just followed the comfort care arrangements left by the healing institute and stayed by my side.

After a while, she knelt by the bed and held my hand.

"Give me a family member's number, okay? At least let them come be with you."

I grabbed her wrist.

"Don't call."

"Nora..."

"They said I'm acting."

Martha didn't speak.

Her palm was very warm.

So warm that I suddenly remembered, long ago, the old wolf who took care of me at the shelter would also warm my frozen hands on blizzard nights.

So I hadn't never been treated well.

It was just that those people had never been my family.

As the night deepened, the fever wouldn't come down.

The firelight in the fireplace blurred into double images.

Outside the window, the waves kept crashing against the rocks.

I barely managed to find my phone and put it by the pillow.

At eight in the evening, the screen began to light up nonstop.

The first voice message was from Brooks.

In the background were strings, clinking glasses, and the laughter of guests from other packs.

Tonight's charity banquet was at the mountain hot spring lodge.

They could spend the winter solstice there and let Lily rest in peace.

"Nora, why are the original manuscripts Grandma donated to the border shelter locked in the safe in your annex?"

"Lily is representing the family in the handover tonight. Everyone is waiting. Send the code."

A moment later, another message.

"Stop playing dead. I'm giving you ten minutes."

I looked at the screen. My fingers moved slightly.

I couldn't lift them.

Those manuscripts were left by Grandma to the shelter.

She said we couldn't let other lost cubs wait over a decade for someone to find them, like me.

So tonight, even that didn't need my name anymore.

Then my mother called.

Martha looked at me, pressed answer for me, and put it on speaker.

She probably still hoped the people on the other end would hear my breathing.

But the moment the call connected, my mother said:

"Haven't you had enough? Everyone from the other packs is here. Lily's health is so poor, and she still has to complete the donation for you. You're hiding out there—who are you trying to embarrass?"

I opened my mouth.

"Mom..."

The sound was barely there.

On the other end, someone laughed and applauded,刚好 drowning out my breath.

Lily spoke next.

"Don't blame Nora. She did bleed today... Even though Ethan said it might just be the heater making the air too dry and she broke her nose again, she must be feeling awful."

Brooks sneered.

"She brought it on herself. Dad already said no one is allowed to go pick her up. Let her stay out there for a couple of days. Then she'll know what it's like without the pack's protection."

Martha gripped my hand tighter.

Finally, Ethan took the phone.

"Nora, I know you're listening."

His voice was steady.

Just like countless times before, after he had decided who was right and who was wrong.

"I've treated hunter silver wounds. I've saved dying patrol guards. That little bit of blood today doesn't prove anything."

"Lily is running a fever again because you scared her. Be back at the main house by eight tomorrow morning to apologize."

He paused.

"Otherwise, the spring marking ceremony is off."

I looked at the phone screen.

So he hadn't even taken my cancellation seriously.

The call ended.

The room went quiet again.

Martha lowered her head, tears falling onto the back of my hand.

"How can they treat you like this..."

I wanted to comfort her, tell her not to grieve for me.

But blood surged from the corner of my mouth again, soaking the pillowcase.

Deep in my consciousness, there was a faint stir.

My wolf finally lifted her head.

She was very weak. Her fur was no longer as bright as before.

She walked to my side and gently touched my palm.

Just like the first time we met under the bed at the shelter.

Back then, I was terrified.

She was terrified too.

But from then on, no matter where we were sent, we were never truly apart.

Are we done waiting? she asked.

Outside the window, the first tide of the winter solstice struck the rocks.

From the distant harbor came the midnight bell.

I touched her head one last time.

No more waiting.

My fingers slid from the edge of the phone.

This time, no one needed to save a seat for me.

Dozens of miles away, in the banquet hall of the hot spring lodge, Ethan had just put down his phone.

Lily leaned back in the soft chair and asked quietly:

"Did she agree to come back?"

Before he could answer, the screen lit up again.

It was an urgent message from the chief physician at Northshore Healing Institute.

[Ethan, I just received the report from the comfort care point. Nora has entered terminal hemorrhage. Her wolf spirit is fading.]

[She was diagnosed with silver blight three months ago. Why has no family member ever come to the institute? Isn't her emergency contact listed as you?]