Chapter 2

Inside the bag were property deeds, bank cards, and several pieces of expensive jewelry.

“After I’m gone, please give all of this to Ivander on the day of his bonding ceremony.”

Eric was Ivander’s closest friend. He was also the only person I trusted to do this for me.

“Have you lost your mind?” he demanded. “How are you supposed to live without any of this?”

Thirty days was the healer’s most generous estimate. I might not survive even that long.

“Maybe I’ll die tomorrow. Maybe it will happen tonight.” I lowered my eyes with a faint smile. “Whenever it happens, I won’t need any of this. It should go to someone who still has time to use it.”

I rested my hand on the bag.

“Ivander gave me a home for eight years. This is how I want to thank him.”

As if accepting my fate had unlocked it, a memory suddenly returned.

Six months earlier, when I still couldn’t accept Ivander’s sudden coldness, I had sat outside his door every day. I cried while waiting for him to come home, hoping he would finally let me explain.

Whenever he saw me, however, his expression only hardened.

“When are you going to grow up, Lina? Crying outside my door won’t change anything. Stop humiliating yourself and go home.”

At the time, those words had shattered me.

Now they no longer hurt.

Wolf Spirit Decay was taking my memories, but it was also loosening the hold those memories had on me. The pain was fading, and the love I had buried so deeply was disappearing with it.

Perhaps that meant I could leave without regret.

The memory slipped away again. I pushed the bag into Eric’s arms.

“Ivander’s bonding ceremony is in one week. Please keep these safe until then.”

Everything inside was the second surprise I had prepared for him.

After dinner, I returned to Ivander’s estate and received a mind-link message from Helen. She had arranged everything I had sent to my parents’ house. All the house needed now was me.

Most of the tasks in my journal were complete. For the first time since my diagnosis, I felt at peace.

Over the next few days, I stayed at the estate and repainted the walls. Ivander was busy preparing for his bonding ceremony and didn’t return.

Before I left, I wanted to see him one last time. We didn’t have to speak. I only wanted one final memory of him.

The day before my departure, fate granted me that wish.

Ivander came home.

Before I could feel happy, pain tore through my body. My knees buckled, and I struck the floor hard enough for the sound to echo through the room.

The crash brought Ivander to my door.

I reached desperately for the pain-relieving potion the healer had given me, hoping to hide it before he came inside.

My fingers had just closed around the bottle when the door opened.

Ivander stepped into the room.

Startled, I lost my grip. The bottle fell, shattered against the floor, and spilled the potion across the glass.