Chapter 2

Alex turned to face the crowd and shouted desperately, "Healer! Where's the healer?"

Before he could get far, Emily stopped him.

"This is what happens in the final stages of the desensitization therapy." She leisurely took a sip of champagne. "Once she makes it through tonight, her sensitivity symptoms will be cured. I guarantee she'll be a completely different person!"

Alex glanced down at me. He then helped me onto a nearby chair. He reached out and brushed the sweat-soaked hair away from my forehead.

His touch was so gentle that, for one foolish moment, I felt a flicker of hope in my heart.

He said, "Just hang in there for another hour. Emily said it'll all be over in an hour."

That tiny flicker of hope disappeared instantly.

"This isn't treatment–" I used the last of my strength to weakly clutch his sleeve. "It's wolfsbane. She poisoned me with wolfsbane–"

"What kind of nonsense are you talking about?" He pulled away, and his expression darkened. "Emily has spent the past year treating you. When has she ever done anything that wasn't for your own good?

"Now you're accusing her of poisoning you in front of all these people? Do you have any idea how much this could damage her reputation if word gets out?"

"Alex is right." Emily set down her champagne glass. "Elena, I know you've never liked me very much, but I thought that after a year of treatment, you'd at least acknowledge my sincerity."

She lowered her head and gently dabbed at the corners of her eyes with a napkin.

Alex looked down at me and clenched his jaw. Anger was written all over his face.

"Apologize!" he ordered.

When I didn't respond, he slammed his hand against the table. Every glass and plate rattled.

"I said apologize!"

The entire hall fell silent for a moment.

"No," I said.

My voice was faint, but in the sudden silence, every word carried clearly through the hall.

Alex's expression turned completely cold.

He stared at me for three seconds, then turned away, picked up his glass, and said to Emily, "I'm sorry, Emily. I'll apologize on her behalf."

"It's fine, Alex." Emily looked up. Her eyes were slightly red with tears, but she forced a smile. "I don't blame her. She's just in too much pain–"

The guests' expressions shifted from disgust to anger when they looked at me.

Soft sighs and words of comfort filled the banquet hall. Everyone was comforting Emily.

No one paid any attention to me.

I leaned against the cold back of the chair as the lights in my vision began going out one by one.

Just before I slipped into darkness, my fingers found the Silvermoon insignia against my chest.

It was the beacon badge Dad had given me before I left my original pack. He'd told me that as long as I pressed it, he would come to me no matter how far away I was.

For the past three years, I'd endured 21 such treatments. Each time, I told myself to give Alex one more chance.

I thought he would eventually come to his senses. I thought he would eventually see what was happening.

I never imagined that the 22nd time would hurt this much.

My fingers settled against the edge of the insignia. At last, I pressed it.