Chapter 3

The slap came from my mother.

My head snapped to the side and the taste of copper filled my mouth. The bakery spun around me as I tried to steady myself.

"How dare you try to walk away when we're talking to you?" Mom's voice was sharp and cold. "It's one picture, Kira. One picture for your sister's birthday. Is that really too much to ask?"

I pressed my hand against my burning cheek and tried to speak, but my throat felt like it was closing up. The scratchy feeling had gotten worse.

Before I could get a word out, Maeve let out a strangled gasp.

Her body went rigid and she collapsed onto the bakery floor.

"Maeve!" Archer caught her before her head hit the tiles, lowering her down carefully. "Someone call the healer!"

Mom dropped to her knees beside Maeve. "Sweetheart, what's wrong? Talk to me!"

Maeve's eyes rolled back and her entire body began to convulse. Her limbs jerked violently as foam appeared at the corners of her mouth.

Dad's face went white. "It's the curse. She needs a blood transfusion now or she'll die."

Damien was already sprinting toward the door. "I'll get the emergency blood bag from the car!"

Everyone gathered around Maeve while I stood there forgotten, my throat growing tighter with every breath I took.

Damien burst back through the door less than a minute later, his face panicked. "The blood bag isn't there! We must have left it at home when we rushed out this morning!"

"What?" Dad's voice cracked with fear. "Check again!"

"I already did! It's not there!"

The baker stepped forward nervously. "There's a storage room in the back with a clean table. You can use it if you need privacy. It's better than doing this out here in the open."

Mom looked up at the baker with gratitude. "Thank you. That would be perfect."

Archer scooped Maeve into his arms and carried her toward the back of the bakery. Everyone followed him except me.

Dad turned back and his eyes locked onto mine. "Kira. Now."

I opened my mouth to tell them about the aplastic anemia, about how weak Aurora was, about how my bone marrow was failing.

But my father's Alpha command washed over me before I could speak.

"Get in there and donate blood to your sister right now."

My wolf whimpered and my body moved on its own, following them into the storage room.

The baker had cleared off a metal table and Archer laid Maeve down on it. She was still seizing, her body trembling violently.

Dad's eyes went distant for a brief second — the faraway look of someone reaching through a mindlink. 'I've contacted the pack healer,' he said tightly. 'She's on her way.' The healer arrived less than two minutes later, pushing through the door with her medical bag already open.

"I need to try—" I started.

"Sit down and hold out your arm," the healer ordered without looking at me.

"Please listen—"

Damien grabbed my shoulders and shoved me into a chair next to the table. "Stop being difficult! Can't you see Maeve is dying?"

"I have aplastic—"

"Enough excuses!" Mom's voice was shrill with panic. "Your sister is having a seizure and you're worried about a few needles? Do you want her to die?"

The healer was already tying the tourniquet around my arm and wiping down my skin with an alcohol pad.

"This is different," I tried again, my voice coming out hoarse and weak. "The healer at the clinic said—"

"I don't care what anyone said." Dad's face was red with anger and fear. "Maeve needs blood and you're going to give it to her. That's the end of this discussion."

Archer knelt beside Maeve's convulsing form, holding her hand. "Please, Kira. I'm begging you. Save her."

I looked at all of them and realized that nothing I said would matter. Maeve was dying in front of them and I was healthy and standing.

They would never believe me.

The needle pierced my skin and I watched my blood flow through the tube into the collection bag.

Almost immediately, I felt the room start to spin.

Aurora whimpered in my mind. 'We can't do this. We don't have enough left.'

'I know,' I whispered back silently.

But the healer kept the needle in my arm, filling bag after bag as Maeve's seizures slowly began to calm.

My vision started to blur and dark spots appeared at the edges. I could feel my heart struggling to pump what little blood I had left through my body.

The allergic reaction from the nuts was making everything worse. My throat was almost completely closed now and each breath was a fight.

"That's enough," the healer finally said, pulling the needle from my arm.

She immediately started transfusing my blood into Maeve.

Within minutes, Maeve's eyes fluttered open. The color returned to her cheeks and her breathing steadied.

"Maeve!" Mom burst into tears and threw her arms around her. "Thank the Moon Goddess you're okay!"

Archer pressed his forehead against Maeve's hand. "You scared me so much."

Maeve's voice came out weak and soft. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin my birthday."

"You didn't ruin anything, sweetheart." Dad smoothed her hair back gently. "Everything's fine now."

I tried to stand up but my legs wouldn't support me. I collapsed back into the chair, my entire body trembling.

Nobody noticed.

They were all crowded around Maeve, crying and hugging her and telling her how brave she was.

I pressed my hand against my throat. I couldn't breathe properly anymore. Each inhale felt like dragging air through a straw.

"I need..." I tried to speak but only a whisper came out.

Damien finally looked over at me and his expression hardened with disgust. "Look at her. She donates a little blood and acts like she's dying."

"I literally watched her hesitate before agreeing to save Maeve," he continued. "She actually had to think about whether to let her own twin sister die."

Mom's face filled with disappointment as she glanced at me. "Kira, I'm ashamed of you. What kind of person hesitates when their family member is dying?"

"That's not—" I couldn't get the words out. My throat was too swollen.

"You've always been jealous of Maeve," Dad said coldly. "But I never thought you'd sink low enough to withhold help when she was having a seizure."

Archer wouldn't even look at me. "I thought you were better than this, Kira."

Maeve's weak voice cut through the room. "Please don't be mad at her. I'm sure Kira was just scared. She didn't mean to hesitate."

Her words made everything worse.

Now I wasn't just heartless. I was also a coward.

Damien grabbed my arm and hauled me to my feet. "You need to learn that this family doesn't tolerate selfishness."

He dragged me out of the storage room where Maeve lay and pulled me toward a different door at the back of the bakery.

"What are you doing?" I tried to pull away but I was too weak.

"Teaching you a lesson."

He shoved me hard and I fell to my knees inside a small supply closet.

Before I could turn around, the door slammed shut and I heard the click of a lock.

Archer stood up slightly as Damien grabbed my arm, his eyes narrowing like something wasn't sitting right with him. For just a second, I thought he was going to say something. Then Maeve let out a small whimper and his attention snapped away from me instantly. He knelt back down beside her, and just like that, and I was forgotten again.