Chapter 2

At night, Erwin knocked on my door.

"Alyssa wants stew. Go make some."

I looked down and silently walked to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, I prepared the ingredients mechanically. Cold water ran over my hands. My fingertips felt numb from the chill.

Suddenly, I recalled how Erwin used to love the stew I made.

Back then, he liked to wrap his arms around my waist from behind and say, "My future mate is such a good cook."

The steam blurred my vision.

I raised a hand and wiped the liquid from the corner of my eyes. I didn't know if it was from the steam or my own tears.

Three hours later, I stood outside their door with the finished stew.

"Come in." Erwin's voice came from inside.

When I pushed the door open, I saw Alyssa leaning against the headboard while Erwin sat beside the bed. He was peeling fruit for her.

He had a very particular way of peeling fruit. The peel came off in one long unbroken strip. It was something he had once learned specially for me.

"The stew is ready." I set the bowl on the nightstand.

Alyssa lazily picked up a spoon and took a sip. She immediately frowned.

"It's too salty! What on earth were you thinking?"

I pursed my lips. "I'll make it again."

When the second bowl was brought over, Alyssa only tasted a mouthful before pushing it away.

"It's as bland as water. Make it again!"

When the third bowl arrived, Alyssa had barely touched the rim before she shrieked.

"How am I supposed to drink something this hot?"

She suddenly raised her hand. The entire bowl of boiling stew splashed all over me.

"Ahh!" I cried out. My chest turned red instantly.

"Erwin!" Alyssa held up her slightly reddened fingers. "It hurts!" She cried out tearfully.

Erwin's expression darkened. He kicked me aside. "Do you have a death wish?"

The kick sent me stumbling backward. My back slammed into the wall and my vision went black with pain. "It wasn't me. She knocked it over–"

"Shut up!" Erwin snapped with a cold gaze. "How dare you talk back to me?"

He pressed the call bell. Two guards immediately appeared at the door.

"Lock her in the dungeon for a day," Erwin ordered coldly. "Watch her closely. Don't give her a chance to kill herself."

As I was dragged away, the last thing I saw was Erwin carefully holding Alyssa's hand while gently blowing on it.

The moment the dungeon door slammed shut, the biting wolfsbane seeped into my bones.

I curled up in the corner and trembled uncontrollably.

The wolfsbane slowly spread through my limbs, and I began to lose consciousness.

"Lara! Lara!"

In a haze, I thought I heard Erwin's voice. It was filled with a panic I had never heard before.

It had to be a hallucination.

The werewolf he was now would never be that worried about me.

When I woke up again, the strong smell of herbs told me I was in the healer's den.

I heard the healer's stern voice nearby.

"Alpha, Lara is in an extremely bad condition. She only has a few days left–"

"Healer." I suddenly spoke in a hoarse voice. "I know my own body very well."

The room instantly fell silent. Erwin stood by the window. With the light behind him, I couldn't see his expression clearly.

"As long as she doesn't die, that's enough," he said coldly. "You don't need to tell me anything else. I don't care."

The moment he finished speaking, his phone rang.

I saw his expression soften instantly.

"Alyssa, be good. I'll come and keep you company right away."

After ending the call, Erwin left without looking back.

With difficulty, I picked up my phone and opened the pack's message feed.

Alyssa had just posted an update. The picture showed Erwin sitting beside her bed.

"It's just a tiny burn, but someone got so nervous he stayed by my side all night without sleeping. If it weren't for paying medical fees for that burdensome shewolf, he wouldn't even have left!"

Looking at the gentle expression in Erwin's eyes in the photo, I understood everything.

The reason I was sent to the healer's den was purely incidental.

I pressed a hand to my chest. My wolf spirit let out a mournful cry.

There were only six more days until the life-exchange curse placed inside me eight years ago activated.