Chapter 1

Alex Darknight, my mate, grabbed my chin without warning and forcefully poured the shimmering silver champagne in his hand down my throat.

The champagne had a strange sweetness to it. I felt a burning sensation travel all the way from my tongue down to my throat. It felt like I'd swallowed a red-hot iron ball that seared through my stomach.

I doubled over and began coughing violently. My flailing hands knocked the champagne glass to the floor, shattering it into shards.

The pain forced me to my knees in front of Alex.

"Help me–"

I struggled to force the words through my swollen throat, but Emily Marsh immediately cut me off.

"It's started!" Her voice carried an unquestionable certainty. "This is the final desensitization therapy session. Her body is rebuilding its nervous system. Everyone, please stay calm!"

But my vision was already turning blurry. It felt like a burning wad of cotton had been stuffed into my chest, and it was impossible for me to breathe.

With the last of my strength, I clutched Alex's pant leg.

"A-Alex, please get a real healer. I can't breathe."

He looked down at me and frowned. "Why are you reacting so strongly?"

"This is normal." Emily crouched down and flipped open a notebook. "This is her final session, so the effects will be more intense. She might experience a sensation of suffocation and a rapid heartbeat at first. Alex, if you take her to the healer's den now, all our progress will be wasted."

Alex's frown eased a little.

He patted my back. "Elena, just hang in there. We won't let anything happen to you. Emily is the most professional healer around."

My vision had already gone mostly black. All I could make out was his blurry silhouette. "T-There's wolfsbane in the potion. H-Help me."

"Elena!" Emily raised her voice while conveying just the right amount of hurt and exasperation. "Do you have any idea how much effort I've put into your desensitization therapy over the past three years? Alex and I approved every single treatment plan together. Have you even considered how this makes us feel?"

Her words drew the attention of the surrounding guests.

Some began whispering among themselves. Others pulled out their phones to record me kneeling on the floor. They all shared the same expressions of disgust and impatience.

"It's her again." A woman in a dark green evening gown smirked. "She has to make a scene every single time. Then Alpha Alex and Emily have to clean up her mess."

Alex's expression immediately darkened. He yanked his pant leg out of my grasp and took a step back before looking down at me.

"Elena, get up. Look how many people are watching. How much more of a fool do you want to make of yourself?"

The pain in my chest left me unable to respond. My teeth were chattering, so I bit down hard on my lip until the metallic taste of blood brought me back to my senses.

'I want to live!'

Clinging to that desperate hope, I began crawling toward the exit. Maybe someone outside the banquet hall would believe me.

But just as I was about to crawl out, a tremendous force seized me by the hair.

It was Emily. She dragged me back to the center of the banquet hall like an old rag doll. She then tossed me onto the shattered glass.

She covered her nose in disgust. There was a hint of delight in her eyes. "You can't leave, Elena. Your desensitization therapy isn't finished yet. Besides, there's no way the potion I gave you could cause such a severe reaction."

Alex stared at me coldly. "Elena, have you had enough? Stop pretending and get up!"

But the next second, he froze.

The potion was tearing my body apart from the inside. I desperately tried to inhale, but my lungs sounded like broken bellows that wheezed with every labored gasp.

Alex finally realized something was wrong. He stumbled backward and pointed at me in alarm.

"Y-You're not actually dying, are you?"