Chapter 4

My eyes went wide, and my body started trembling with rage.

I wanted to lunge at her. I wanted to tear apart that beautiful but vile face.

But I knew I couldn't.

I was nothing more than a useless werewolf who couldn't even shift, while she could turn into a wolf with claws and fangs whenever she wanted.

My helplessness pleased her.

Her smile grew wider.

Suddenly, she reached out and grabbed my chin. Her nails dug deep into my skin as she forced me to lift my head and meet her gaze.

"What's with that look? Resentment?"

She leaned closer, nearly brushing her lips against mine as she whispered each word slowly.

"Don't think I don't know about your filthy little feelings. What, a mute girl thinks she deserves the Alpha King?"

I was drowned by humiliation and pain.

Tears filled my eyes, but I stubbornly refused to let them fall.

"Heh. Can't even cry? You really are a boring defect."

She shoved my chin away in disgust and stood up. She then brushed her hands together as if wiping off dirt.

"Enjoy your last night.

"The rogues in the Forbidden Forest love soft little things like you."

She turned around and left. The stone door shut once more, locking me back in the endless darkness.

I wrapped my arms around my knees and buried my face against them.

My jaw throbbed where she had grabbed me, but that pain was nothing compared to the ache in my heart.

It had been sixteen years.

Since that night, I had never truly communicated with him again.

He became the Alpha King, and I became someone who had to carefully admire him from a distance.

But I always believed he remembered.

Last winter, I got caught in a blizzard while gathering herbs near the edge of the Forbidden Forest and ended up getting lost.

When I was nearly frozen to death, I woke to find myself lying in the healer's den.

The healer said a patrol team had 'happened' to find me.

But I knew it wasn't a coincidence. Before I lost consciousness, I had caught the faintest trace of his scent.

Last month, one of the maids who bullied me deliberately spilled boiling soup onto my hand.

The next day, she was reassigned to a border outpost.

Everyone said she had made a mistake. I was the only one who noticed Jamie's gaze lingering on her for a second.

He never said or did anything obvious enough for others to realize, but I remembered it all.

That was why his verdict hurt so much earlier that day.

It wasn't because I was sentenced to death, but because the teen who once told me not to give up had finally given up on me.

I didn't know how much time had passed before exhaustion kicked in, and I started feeling dizzy.

Suddenly, I heard an unusual sound outside the cell.

It didn't sound like guards' footsteps on the stone floor when they patrolled.

It was a heavy, dull, and powerful breath.

It almost felt like a massive beast was lurking silently outside the door.

The breath blew against the stone door. Even through the thick stone, I could hear it, and it instantly made my heart race.

I froze on the spot and nearly forgot to breathe.

Where were the guards? Where had the patrol gone?

I soon heard two men speaking in lowered voices. They sounded like creepy perverts.

They were the two guards assigned to watch me.

"What a waste. She's pretty, but too bad she's a mute."

"Heh. She's getting thrown into the forest tomorrow anyway. Might as well let the two of us have some fun first–"

"Are you crazy? The Alpha King gave direct orders–"

"The Alpha King? Do you think he cares whether a defective half-blood lives or dies? We'll make it quick. Who's going to know?"