Chapter 5

Damon stood in the doorway.

His gaze flickered to the red handprint on Vera's face, and his expression darkened instantly.

"Who hit you?"

Vera trembled, looking even more wronged, as if his question had hit her where it hurt.

"It was me." Yuna leaned against the headboard, her voice calm and flat. "She deserved it."

Damon whipped his head toward her, rage flaring in his eyes, barely contained.

"Yuna, are you insane?"

She looked at him and felt the absurdity of it all.

In the past, he could always sense the slightest hurt she felt. Now, he didn't even ask and assumed she was the perpetrator.

Vera kept her head down, sobbing quietly.

"It's not Ms. Yuna's fault. I shouldn't have come. I knew she had lost her pup and was weak, so I wanted to bring her some soup to help her recover. Maybe I said the wrong thing and upset her..."

Damon immediately stepped forward, shielding her with a smooth, practiced motion that was almost painful to watch.

"Vera came in good faith, and you humiliate her like this?"

Yuna pursed her lips.

"Good faith?" Her gaze dropped to the talisman hanging around Vera's neck. "She's wearing something you gave her and comes here to show me how much you love her. That's your idea of good faith?"

Damon froze, instinctively glancing at Vera.

Vera shook her head, eyes red-rimmed. "No, I didn't. I just wanted to tell her not to be sad anymore."

Yuna had no interest in watching this charade.

She leaned back against the bed, closing her eyes.

"Both of you, leave."

But Damon felt a tight knot form in his chest at the sight of her cold, indifferent expression.

She wasn't crying, she wasn't yelling, she wasn't arguing, and she didn't grab him like before to demand answers.

That was exactly what made him so inexplicably frustrated.

He forced his anger down into a low growl, "Yuna, who do you think you're scaring with that face? I hurt over the pups too. But when Vera lost hers, she didn't lash out like this."

Yuna opened her eyes at last, looking straight at him. "So in your eyes, my loss isn't worth feeling pain?"

Damon's breath caught.

Before he could answer, Vera tugged lightly on his sleeve, like she feared they would fight.

"Damon, forget it." Her voice trembled with emotion. "Ms. Yuna isn't in a good place right now. I don't blame her. Don't fight with her on my account."

The more Vera retreated, the sharper Yuna seemed. Damon's expression darkened further.

"Have I spoiled you too much?" he asked, his voice low, heavy. "So much so that you don't even care about keeping your own dignity anymore."

Yuna stared at him, silent for a long moment.

Her mind drifted back to years ago, the first time he had brought her to a full moon raid with the pack. That night, some of the wolves whispered behind her back, calling her nothing more than an orphan living under Fendon Pack's protection. Damon slammed his glass down in front of them, his face cold as ice, forcing every one of them to kneel and apologize to her.

He had said then that anyone who dared let her suffer would pay the price.

Now, the one making her suffer was him.

She said softly, "Damon, do you remember what you said all those years ago, at the Frostveil Pack cemetery?"

Damon froze.

She didn't give him a chance to avoid her question.

"You said you would always stand by me. You said I had nothing to fear, that as long as you were there, I wouldn't suffer a single wrong."

Her voice was quiet, calm, almost like she was telling someone else's story. "Have you forgotten those words?"

Damon's jaw tightened, and something flickered in his eyes. But in the end, he still avoided her gaze.

"I haven't forgotten." His voice dropped, colder than before. "But Yuna, I also said I don't love you anymore."

The room became so quiet that even their breaths seemed loud.

"Now, Vera is the one I want to protect."

The words had barely left his lips before his hand shot out, slapping Yuna across the face with brutal force.

The sound of the slap echoed sharply, sharper than the one before.

Her head snapped to the side. Blood welled at the corner of her lips, the metallic scent spreading in the air instantly.

The room went completely silent for a moment.

Vera flinched as if scared. She covered her mouth with trembling hands, but the flicker of triumph in her eyes was impossible to hide.

Damon's hand froze in midair, as if even he hadn't expected to hit so hard.

But the next second, his voice stayed cold as he added, "That slap is for Vera."

Yuna slowly turned her face back, her cheek burning with sharp pain. But when she looked at Damon, there were no tears or hatred. There was only a hollow emptiness where everything had finally burned out.

"I see," she said quietly.

The words landed with a weight that made Damon's chest tighten for reasons he couldn't name.

Yuna didn't argue or fight. She simply stayed silent, as if not a single extra word was worth speaking anymore.

Damon felt a tightness in his chest, the first time he'd been hit with this strange mix of irritation and helplessness. But with Vera leaning against him with red-rimmed eyes, he forced the feeling down and wrapped her in his arms, turning to leave.

The moment the door clicked shut, the last glimmer of light in Yuna's eyes finally went out.

It didn't matter. In three days, she would be gone from here and leaving Damon.