Chapter 5

Evelyn's POV:

Callum was worried that Iris still wanted to leave, so he quickly got the maids to bring Iris' suitcases into the largest bedroom in the house, which was the bedroom I shared with him.

"It's already late. What are you still doing, standing here like a dummy? Go and make dinner now! If you keep being a lazy bum then you won't even get to sleep in the maids' quarters!" Lily exclaimed haughtily as she pointed at me.

"Also, Iris likes venison, so you'd better choose the right amount of lean meat for her. Get it?"

In the clan, it was always the job of lowly maids to clean and prepare hunted prey for food. Yet, ever since marrying Callum, I had done everything by myself.

Callum was a very picky eater who would only eat my cooking. Even if he was a very hard customer to please, I still did everything to satisfy him even if I was dead tired.

However, this time, I just looked up at them faintly and said, "I can't."

They were understandably shocked, since this was the first time I had said no. Callum frowned hard and looked at me, displeased. I could tell that he was getting angry at me.

I was just about to explain myself when Iris suddenly turned red in the eyes and bit her lower lip.

"It's all my fault. I shouldn't even be here. I'm just causing trouble in the pack as soon as I get back. I shouldn't have asked Ms. Severa to make dinner for me. I should just leave…"

Then, she turned as if she wanted to go upstairs to retrieve her suitcases and leave, but Callum stopped her. "Don't leave. This has nothing to do with you."

Callum then turned toward me and said in a low, seething voice, "Didn't you just say that you were fine with her staying? What kind of attitude is this now?"

I lifted my bandaged arm and showed it to him. I still answered him calmly, "I hurt myself the last time I went hunting for you. I can't move my fingers at all."

Actually, I wasn't hurt. It was just that both I and my wolf were not in the best mood now, and we didn't want to make dinner for anyone.

Also, my contract with Callum was already up, so I didn't have to waste any more of my time and energy on him.

That was why I decided to bandage my arm up and use it as an excuse to get myself out of cooking for them.

At once, the tension in the air rose.

I had always been the one in charge of all the cooking and cleaning at home. So, the maids would all leave the house on the dot when they were done for the day.

As of now, I was the only one who knew how to cook. None of them knew how, and we were also out of fresh ingredients anyway.

Even if we were to get the maids to come back, it would be too late by the time they prepared dinner for us.

Lily frowned unhappily and said, "Why didn't you tell us earlier that you were hurt? You were trying to starve us on purpose, weren't you?"

Lily wanted to continue, but Iris pulled her back. "Lily, don't make things difficult for Ms. Severa," she said in an understanding voice. Then, Iris turned to Callum and said, "I'm not very hungry yet. Why don't we go out hunting together? Didn't you like bringing us out to hunt for prey when we were little?"

Iris' suggestion managed to ease the frown on Callum's face. He nodded before turning to me.

Then, he spoke in a demanding voice, "If that's the case, you will come along with us. You know which kind of deer would be the tastiest."

I scoffed inwardly. Callum was such a cold-hearted creature that he didn't even care that I had supposedly hurt myself.

We clambered into the car and set off together.

On the way, Callum held Iris by her waist and stayed close to her as they chatted about their memories of hunting together when they were young. Lily would chime in their conversation every now and then.

The three of them continued to chat excitedly among themselves, completely forgetting that I was also there with them.

Just as they were laughing about something, Iris suddenly looked back at me and said with a smile, "Sorry about that, Ms. Severa. It's not that we're ignoring you on purpose. It's just that you don't exist in our memories."

It wasn't just their memories that I didn't exist in. Soon, I wasn't going to exist in their future either.

I just hummed softly and closed my eyes.

We soon reached the wood, and Callum gave out directions for us to hunt.

I was told to go down a dark and narrow path on my own while the other three went together.

While passing by a brook, I looked at myself in the reflection of the water. My long hair was unruly and splayed all over my back. My face also looked tired and weary.

Iris had also been in another marriage for five years, but she still looked as fresh and lively as ever, while I only looked exhausted and done with life.

I just had to hold on a little more before I was finally free.

"Evelyn, this way! Now!"

Callum's low voice suddenly rang out in the dark of the night as he barked out an order at me.

They had managed to catch a deer and were summoning me over to cut it up for them. After all, this was a very bloody, messy, and tiring job, and none of them had ever done it before.

"Use that good arm of yours to cut up the meat for us. It's only lowly werewolves like you who know how to do it anyway," Lily added haughtily.

I thought that since I was going to leave anyway, I didn't want to get into an argument with them if I could help it. So, I bent down, getting ready to serve Callum his last meal before I left.

Suddenly, Iris seemingly stepped into a trap that the hunters set up to kill werewolves like us.

With a wish, countless silver arrows suddenly shot toward us.

"Callum, watch out!" I cried.

In the split second that I called out to him, Callum had already shot toward Iris like a dark shadow and pulled her into his arms, hugging her securely in his embrace. The silver arrow whizzed right past the both of them.

However, that left me right in the center of the arrow's trajectory.

Before I could even react, the first silver arrow pierced deeply into my shoulder.

"Ahh!"

The inexplicable pain began to spread.