Chapter 4 Scars That Would Remain

I had no clue how I had been brought to the healing center, but several healers rushed over and quickly cut away the long robe that had been soaked through with blood and reduced to tatters.

The moment they saw the large patches of blistered, charred skin covering my body, one of them gasped in horror. "Injuries this severe are extremely rare."

"Her vital signs are dropping rapidly. Get her to the high-risk healing ward!"

The burns caused by the intense light, compounded by a secondary infection, had left large areas of my skin necrotic, and one organ after another began to fail. That very night, the healing center issued my mother a critical condition notice.

My mother rushed over. The moment she saw me lying there, barely alive, she collapsed unconscious in the hallway, sobbing.

When she came to, she had completely forgotten about her composure. She dropped to her knees and repeatedly begged the healer in front of her. "Please, save my daughter. I don't care how much it costs. I'll find a way to pay every cent!"

I lay in the high-risk healing ward for three full days, somehow clawing my way back from the brink of death. By the time I was transferred to a regular ward, my entire body was wrapped in bandages.

The healer carefully removed the dressings to change them, revealing scars that twisted across my body like countless centipedes.

The healer's eyes reddened at the sight. "Young lady, you have to try to look on the bright side. Your injuries were too deep. Even with restorative healing later on, it will be very difficult to get rid of these scars completely."

I stared blankly at the ceiling, my voice flat. "It's fine. I think I'll keep them."

These scars would remind me every moment of every day not to be foolish enough to love someone who had never been worth it again. After all, for three entire days, Stephen had not sent me a single message. It was as though I had never existed in his life.

…

On the fifth day of my hospitalization, my mother went to pay my healing expenses. When she returned, her face was deathly pale, and her whole body was trembling.

My throat was hoarse. "Mom, what happened?"

She quickly composed herself and forced a faint smile. "Nothing. We still have enough money. Just focus on getting better."

The next second, her phone buzzed.

Afraid that I would hear, my mother hurried out into the hallway to answer the call. But her disbelieving voice still drifted into the room in broken fragments.

"What? Elder, how could this happen… My daughter has never harmed anyone in the pack! Just because she's a hybrid, you're going to banish both of us from the pack… I've lived here for decades. Please reconsider…"

Her voice grew quieter and quieter until all that remained was her muffled sobbing.

Many pack members at the celebration banquet had witnessed the moment I collapsed to the ground, covered in blood. Before long, all sorts of outrageous rumors began circulating in secret. Some pack members claimed I was a forbidden hybrid, an omen who would bring disaster upon the pack.

Yet Stephen had never once stepped forward to defend me.

He was an Alpha of exalted status, and his words carried tremendous weight. As long as he remained silent instead of stopping the rumors, the panic within the pack only grew worse. At the pack members' pleas, the Elder Council formally issued an expulsion order.

It was not long before the administrator in charge of the healing center entered my room with a stern expression, clutching a lengthy bill. "Family of Aveline Steinberg, the high-risk healing ward, anti-infection treatment, and restorative procedures have brought your outstanding balance to 200 thousand. You must pay the full amount today. If you can't pay, we'll have no choice but to stop all healing arrangements and ask you to leave."

My mother hurried forward. "We paid 50 thousand just a few days ago. How could it have been used up already?"

The administrator frowned impatiently. "The high-risk healing ward costs a fortune every day. Fifty thousand won't last long. If you can't afford the treatment, don't occupy a hospital bed."

After the administrator left, one of the healers who was usually very kind to my mother came over and whispered, "Mrs. Steinberg, I'll tell you this quietly. Someone gave instructions to this place and specifically ordered them to pressure you into paying the fees as quickly as possible."

My mother froze where she stood. The last trace of color drained from her face.

Expulsion from the pack, a massive healing bill hanging over our heads—only Stephen had enough power to manipulate such events. He wanted to cut off every possible escape route and force me to go crawling back to him, begging for mercy.

I bit down hard on my lip. Trembling, I picked up my phone and dialed the number I knew by heart.

The call connected, and Stephen spoke in a casual, indifferent tone. "So you finally decided to come to me on your own? Couldn't keep up the self-pity act anymore?"

My cracked, parched throat struggled to force out the words. "You did this, didn't you? You stood by and let those rumors spread, then ordered the healing center to pressure me for the money. Stephen, why are you treating me like this? Do you have any idea how close I came to dying?"

There was a brief silence on the other end.

Stephen's breathing suddenly grew strained. When he spoke again, there was an unmistakable trace of pain and hesitation in his voice. "Aveline, I never intended to put your life in danger. There was no sun at the celebration banquet that night, yet you were injured so severely. Could there be something else wrong with your body? I've already brought in the best healer in the pack. I intend to have you thoroughly examined and treated.

"But Aveline, you can't keep acting this way forever. You went too far in the way you treated Rosalind. She was only trying to help you, yet you treated her like that."

He sighed. "All you have to do is sincerely apologize to Rosalind in front of everyone. I'll immediately pay off your 200-thousand healing debt."

I could not believe it. The audacity he had to reduce my dignity, my right to remain in the pack, and my mother's right to remain there with me to bargaining chips.

Listening to the sheer entitlement in his voice, I suddenly laughed. Tears slipped through the gaps between my bandages.

How ridiculous.

For all these years, I had given him every ounce of my love and sincerity, only to realize I had given it all to the wrong werewolf.

I spoke each word slowly, my voice icy. "Keep your money. Keep your precious connections, too. I don't need either anymore."

With that, I hung up and blocked every way he could contact me.

…

That afternoon, I forced myself to leave the healing center despite the pain coursing through my battered body.

When I returned home, I dug out the pack identity documents belonging to my mother and me. Then I turned to look at my mother, who had aged and withered visibly overnight. "Mom, this pack has no place for us anymore. Let's go somewhere else and start over."