Chapter 6

Rose Murdock's POV

Adrian looked at me. As the first rays of morning light spilled into the room, he slowly nodded.

Suddenly, I felt as though my life had a purpose. I had taken on the mission of finding him a new heart.

One evening, just before Christmas, I was in the kitchen helping Adrian prepare dinner when a call came in. The number was from faraway Northvale.

It was the hospital.

In that instant, I could hear my deafening heartbeat in my own chest. When I hung up, I burst into tears, laughing and crying all at once, and ran straight into Adrian's arms.

"Adrian, they found one! A perfect match—we found it!"

He staggered back a couple of steps, nearly hitting the fridge. Then, he slowly wrapped an arm around me.

With a trembling smile, he whispered, "Thank you, Rose."

Tears still in my eyes, I looked up at him, catching that flicker of hope reawakening inside him. "Thank you, too."

Northvale Hospital urged us to come as soon as possible to prepare for the transplant. There was a catch, though. Adrian's condition was so critical that he would need the very best heart specialist alive.

The best of the best was Daniel Warren, a renowned healer working in Central City of Southern Territory.

After weeks of digging, I finally learned that Daniel would return north at the end of the year, spending the holidays with his elderly mother in his original pack.

Unable to reach him by phone, I decided to go in person. Sincerity would come across better face-to-face.

Snowstorms swept across the Northern Territory for days. I landed in Central City and drove the rest of the way, only to find the road leading to Daniel's home blocked off by ice.

I got out of the car and walked for five hours in the freezing cold until my body turned fully numb.

In the yard, a middle-aged man was clearing snow.

When I stumbled closer and recognized his face—Daniel himself—relief surged through me. My body gave out, and I collapsed to my knees in the snow.

Startled, he threw aside the broom and hurried forward to catch me. "Miss, who are you looking for? What happened to you?"

Before I could answer, two people walked up.

I froze.

Raymond and Jenna Kramer, the daughter of his latest business partner.

"Who's this?" Jenna asked while walking over.

Raymond appeared right after. "Here, put this on before you freeze."

But when his eyes landed on me, crumpled in the snow, his expression darkened. He stormed over.

"Rose, are you out of your mind? I told you I'm not your brother, and you still stalk me here in the middle of a blizzard?"

It wasn't that he wanted to misunderstand me—but in a border pack like this, who would believe I just happened to be passing by?

His expression hardened. Without wasting another word, he threw his coat over my shoulders and snapped, "Inside. Now."

He grabbed my arm and tried to drag me along, but I shoved him off.

"I'm not following you." I turned to Daniel. "Daniel, I came here for you."

I pulled the file of Adrian's medical records from inside my coat. My hands were trembling, and my voice cracked with desperation as I pleaded, "Please, I'm begging you. The risks are high, but this is my brother's only chance at a new heart."

Raymond stared at me, stunned, opening his mouth several times but unable to form words. He couldn't understand why I would go this far to do all this for a wolf I wasn't even supposed to know.

Then, his expression turned to one of fear. He stared at me.

"Rose, don't tell me your memory loss was real…?"