The key to change the fate

Rudela,

"How is his condition? Male or female?" I asked softly, passing him the warm towel along with the potions for poison and fast healing.

Warner stepped out of the small restricted area reserved only for emergencies and took the towel from my hands. He had been treating the Lycan.

"Male, around twenty-eight or older. Still unable to shift back to his human form."

"Unconscious?"

He nodded. "Can you visit this address and ask them for an emergency supply?"

I looked at the paper he held out. It was the biggest medicinal herb shop in the city. My heart sank the moment I recognized the location. Kyle worked there.

But when I looked at the herbs' names. They were the rarest herbs and expensive. Could we afford them?

"It's for the Lycan. The silver has damaged his body badly." He explained when he noticed my expression.

"I understand. I'll be back as soon as possible."

He nodded once and returned to the room. I grabbed my shawl, locked the front door behind me, and climbed into the small van. I was grateful I had come to work today. If I had stayed home, my thoughts would have turned far darker.

The drive took thirty minutes. When I arrived, the shop stood empty, the lights dim behind the glass. I waited in the van, engine off, watching the street. People moved past with their ordinary lives, shopping bags, hurried steps, quiet conversations. Only yesterday I had dreamed of moving here one day, of raising children in a quiet house far from the noise of the slums. A life that felt almost possible.

Now every thought circled the same questions. Why had he marked me and allowed me to mark him if he never planned to acknowledge me before the Moon Oracle? Why had he lied about the job? Had he cheated? With someone whose face and name could stand beside his without shame? Why keep me near at all, only so I would keep paying debts I never knew existed?

The questions kept turning until a soft knock sounded against the window. I rolled it down and found an elderly man standing there, his expression calm and measured.

"I heard Warner sent you. Rudela, correct?"

I stepped out of the van at once and nodded. "Yes, sir. He asked me to give you this." I held out the prescription.

His eyes moved across the paper. Then they widened. "Are you certain?"

"Yes, sir."

He glanced up and down the street before speaking again. "Follow me inside."

The shop was larger than the entire shopping center back in the slums. Shelves rose to the ceiling, each one labeled with herbs I had only read about in Warner's oldest books. There were herbs that could only get after digging hundred feets, worms that were onlyb found in the cliff the mountains.

The air carried the sharp, clean scent of dried roots and crushed leaves. I could not help but stare. Warner's shop was full of herbs but this one was the heaven of healers.

"Come here." He opened a narrow door at the back. "Since Warner sent you, that means he trusts you."

The room beyond was small, lined with locked cabinets and a single worktable. My movements halted when I saw the herbs. My body moved before my mind did. Those were everything that I could only read after I snuck into Warner's library.

He moved with practiced speed, selecting roots, dried petals, and a dark liquid from different shelves.

"How long have you been working with him?" He asked between selecting the herbs.

"Eight years."

He paused and looked up. "Eight years? Warner has been keeping someone by his side for eight years? Interesting."

"Yes."

"Then you already know what kind of man Warner is."

"He is an excellent person."

The man chuckled softly. "Indeed. Did he teach you everything?"

"Not everything. But he has been patient. He teaches me whatever I can learn."

He shook his head as he folded the herbs into a thick paper bag. "Eight years. You should already be at master level. There is no need to hide your ability in front of me. Your eyes earlier told me everything. You recognized those rare herbs the moment you saw them."

I lowered my gaze. People like Warner and those who moved in his circle were not easily deceived. Over the past eight years he had given me more than knowledge. He had shown me how to gather what the woods offered, how to clean a wound, how to set a simple fracture. Because of him I had food on the table more nights than not.

It had never been much. Our little shop sat at the edge of the slums where most people could barely afford rice, let alone medicine. Still, it had been enough to keep us alive.

"Here. These herbs are extremely rare and expensive. Be careful with them."

"The payment?"

"Do not worry about it. Just tell Warner to be careful. We do not see patients like this every day."

I nodded, took the bag, and turned toward the door. Lycans were prideful creatures. They barely stepped into the werewolf territory. Even the owner looked taken aback.

I had not even crossed the threshold when a familiar voice reached me from the parking lot.

"Brother, can we just pre-order the car? It is one of the limited collection, available only in our pack. I cannot miss this chance."

Russell, Kyle's brother, spoke in the same spoiled tone I had heard for years. My head turned before I could stop it.

There they stood. Kyle wore an expensive tuxedo that fit him as if it had been made for this exact evening. Russell opened the door of a gleaming new car, dressed in branded clothes, his hair styled in a way that spoke of money and ease. They looked like men who had never known a single unpaid bill.

I remained still, watching the two people I had once called family. I watched the car that might have cost thousands. A bitter smile touched my mouth. What a carefully built double life.

"Rudela!"

The shop owner's voice called from behind me. Kyle and Mark both froze, as if they had been caught in the act of something shameful. They both slowly turned their head toward me. But before they could notice that I might have noticed,

I faced the older man. "Yes?"

"Here. This one is for your boss. I was going to send it by parcel, but since you are here it is better you take it."

I forced myself to maintain my composure, though a faint ache throbbed in my chest, "Of course. I will deliver it safely."

When I looked back, the car was already gone. I laughed once, sharp and quiet. It had not been a nightmare after all.

My mind settled into a strange clarity. The night before I had refused to believe any of it. Even this morning, staring at the screenshots, part of me still hoped for some other explanation. Now I knew what I had to do. I would leave this marriage, this mate bond, and the life that had been built on lies.

I turned to the shop owner again. Something inside me grew quieter with every second that passed.

"Sir..."

He looked up. "Do you need anything else?"

"Is there any way to dissolve the mark without rejecting our mate?"

His brows drew together. "You mean without a verbal rejection?"

I nodded.

"In that case you can seek a Moon Priestess. I have heard they prepare a highly effective Moon potion. It can dissolve both the mark and the mate bond without requiring your mate's acceptance."

My eyes widened. "How much does it cost?"

He considered for a moment. "Probably four thousand dollars."

The number landed like a stone. Four thousand dollars. I could never save that much.

I thanked him and returned to the van. My phone vibrated in my pocket. I ignored it. There were more important matters waiting.

It was almost past lunch time when I arrived at the shop. When the wind chime above the clinic door sounded again, Warner stepped out with a serious face. "Did you bring everything?"

"Yes."

"Come with me."

I washed thoroughly, disinfected my hands and arms, and followed him into the restricted room. The Lycan lay stretched across the reinforced table, nearly seven feet of dark black fur. The wounds still seeped slowly despite the earlier treatment.

"Are you going to your second job?" Warner asked as he arranged the herbs and tools on a clean tray.

I paused. I had held three part-time jobs outside these six hours at the clinic, all of them taken to cover debts and keep the household running.

"No," I said quietly. "I am going to quit them."

"Because of your husband's job?" he asked, voice softer than usual.

I did not answer.

"Rudela, this recipe... Watch closely. If you can prepare the potion without a single mistake, you will never have to live in that slum again."

"What?"

He smiled, though something careful remained behind his eyes. "Clear your head and watch what I do. The person you are helping me save is someone who can change your life. Do not let this chance pass."

Something about his tone felt wrong. Warner had looked frightened the moment the Lycan arrived. I still did not know who this man was, only that the silver had nearly killed him. I hoped the cost of saving him would not be higher than either of us could pay.