Chapter 4

"Nia!"

Garrett shouted in horror and scrambled to the side of my bed.

Even Lucas's eyes widened in shock, his hand instinctively reaching out to steady the swaying figure before me.

From behind us, Lidia suddenly let out a dramatic sob.

"Nia, why did you hide blood packs in your mouth to trick us? Is it because you don't want to help me?"

Garrett whirled around, his voice dark.

"What did you say?"

Lidia blinked nervously, explaining in a halting voice.

"I overheard you on the phone yesterday. Nia said... she said today she'd have to stage some injuries to make you feel sorry for her.”

“She also said that she had blood packs hidden on her when she pretended to kill herself, that she'd just look scary when popped. I didn't believe it at first, but...

Before she could finish, Garrett cut her off in a rage and shouted to me.

"Think this is funny? A woman with such a malicious heart, you still have the nerve to ask for love? You're not fit to hold a candle to Lidia at all!"

The hand Lucas had extended froze in mid-air.

The flicker of panic in his eyes was quickly replaced by deeper disgust and contempt.

"I should've known. There's nothing beneath you. Nia, listen up—nothing you say from now on will ever be worth believing again!"

The churning pain and despair in my chest somehow calmed in that moment.

I looked at them, at the slight triumphant curve of Lidia's mouth beneath her concerned expression, and suddenly realized all the arguing was pointless.

I raised my hand and slowly wiped the blood from my lips, my voice completely flat.

"I agree to donate my kidney."

Then I called out silently to the Moon Goddess in my heart.

[Goddess, if I die on the operation, would that count as accidental death?]

The goddess's sigh echoed in my mind.

[It would.]

I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding.

That's all I needed.

Because I suddenly thought of my third target.

Damine.

He was the most skilled healer in the entire werewolf world.

Given how much they valued Lidia, the surgeon for this transplant would undoubtedly be Damine.

A dark thought crossed my mind.

What if Damine discovered that the girl he'd grown up with had died on the surgeries he was in charge of? Would he be so filled with regret that he could never pick up a scalpel again?

Then again, based on his current feelings toward me, he might just applaud my death.

I couldn't understand it.

I could accept Garrett and Lucas hating me, but why did Damine have to despise me too?

His favorability rating was even lower than the other two's.

Before I was brought back to the Ironwood Pack, he valued me more than his own life.

He became a healer because once, I accidentally ingested silver poisoning and nearly died.

Damine had gone through hell and high water to find the antidote. His burning tears fell on me as he begged the Moon Goddess to trade his life for mine.

After I recovered, he made up his mind to become a healer—so he'd never feel helpless watching me suffer again.

After returning to the Ironwood Pack, his feelings toward me hadn't changed.

In fact, he would stand up to Garrett and Lucas for my sake.

But after I donated my kidney to Lucas, something changed.

When I woke up from the surgery, the warmth was gone from his eyes.

I had spent the last thirty thousand dollars of my savings to help him, but he was blind to that and assumed Lidia had given it to him.

It wasn't until Lidia gloated in front of me that I learned Damine had needed money urgently to save a patient's life.

Since I was the biological daughter of Alpha, he figured I could easily spare some.

His project wouldn't pay him for another month, so he hoped I could help him—even if he paid me back later.

But I was in a coma.

Desperate, Damine had turned to Lidia.

She agreed readily but laughed at him behind his back, calling him a fool.

If she couldn't stand me, why would she help him?

Yet the next day, I woke up.

Seeing Damine's plea, I transferred the money to him without hesitation.

He mistakenly believed it was from Lidia and lost all faith in me.

And Lidia, when Damine thanked her, claimed she had been the one all along.

Now, Garrett and Lucas seemed surprised by my sudden agreement of donation .

"This better be real. If you try any funny business on that donation surgery, you know the consequences!"

I lowered my lashes, hiding all emotion in my eyes.

"I won't. Don't worry. But when the surgery is done, could you wait in my hospital room? I have something for you."

Garrett gave me a strange look but just grunted in acknowledgment.

He probably thought it was another gift I'd made to please him.

Before leaving, Lidia hung back, waiting until they were alone.

She whispered in a voice only I could hear.

"You see? Garrett, Lucas, even your kidney... they'll all be mine. What makes you think you're good enough to take what's mine? Just die already, you bitch!"

To prevent any delays, they scheduled the surgery for the next day, despite my body not being fully recovered.

The bright overhead lights flickered on, cold and harsh.

Damine entered in his surgical gown.

The anesthesia quickly took effect.

In my daze, I thought about how he had been the one to transplant my kidney to Lucas before.

Now, he was the one who would take my other kidney.

A surgery like this wouldn't require his full attention.

As he removed the organ, he was already thinking about how to make it up to Lidia afterward, as surgery this size would be draining.

As for me...

He considered.

Since I was willingly donating a kidney to Lidia, maybe he could find it in his heart to forgive me.

If I promised never to harm Lidia again for the rest of my life, he would be good to me.

After all, we had grown up together. Even if I had become twisted these past few years, it didn't matter. Over time, he could help me become good again.

Just then, the assistant, who had been monitoring the equipment the entire time, turned deathly pale after Damine removed the organ.

In a trembling voice, he yelled:

"Damine, wait! We can't take the kidney—she only has one left!"