Chapter 2

The next morning, the pain arrived on schedule.

I lifted the blanket. Silver scales had spread past my calves, reaching all the way to my knees.

The door creaked softly, and Beta Kane walked in carrying a steaming wooden platter.

On the platter was a whole spread of roasted venison, golden and fragrant, every slice cut to even thickness, the tough sinew trimmed away completely.

When I was eight, a piece of sinew had caught in my throat eating venison, and I nearly choked to death.

From that day on, for nine full years, any meat Kane handed me was guaranteed free of even half a strand of sinew.

"Eat something first, Evelyn."

Kane set down the platter, crouched before me, and deftly wrapped a warm sheepskin blanket around my legs.

Seeing the dense silver scales on my knees, he pursed his lips:

"Why are these little scales still growing? Did you drink the brew Aiden gave you last night? I'll go urge him to change the prescription to something stronger."

He took my cold fingers in his and gave a helpless, light laugh:

"Stop tormenting yourself, Evelyn."

"The whole forest is under my patrol. Without my permission, not a single bird can escape."

"The deep sea is separated from here by ten thousand fathoms of sheer cliff. You can't even climb down the precipice—where do you get the confidence to say you'll leave?

"I've fought with Lucas and Aiden for so many years, and each of us wants to bond with you. Could you bear to cast any one of us aside?"

Looking into his confident eyes, a chill spread through my heart.

They would always believe that the ancient clan law I kept repeating—"without a Tide Pearl, I will fully transform into a tail and leave the land forever"—was nothing more than a tantrum I threw to compete for their favor.

Just like the day the second Tide Pearl fell into the cold pool.

That was the day after Chloe took the first pearl. Kane had sworn he would bring me the second.

But Leo secretly took the leather pouch holding the pearl and ran all the way to the cliffside cold pool in the back hills.

When I chased after him in pain, I found him fiddling with the pearl.

I called out for him to give it back, but Leo, as if startled, let his hand go slack, and the second Tide Pearl rolled and slipped into the bone-chilling pool.

Ignoring the freezing water, I dove straight in.

The jagged rocks tore my calves, and blood spread through the icy water.

But just as my fingertips brushed the white gleam, the undercurrent mercilessly swept it into the bottomless abyss.

The second Tide Pearl was gone for good.

And when I climbed ashore, soaked through, the copper kettle by the pool had already tipped over.

Scalding water had spilled over Leo's calf, steam rising from it.

Chloe clutched the wailing Leo, weeping bitterly, and Leo pointed at me and screamed that I had pushed him.

Kane, who arrived in a rush, wrapped me in his cloak, but when he heard Chloe's account—that "Evelyn was so desperate to find the pearl that she accidentally pushed Leo and scalded him"—he froze.

No matter how I explained, he hesitated for a long time and ultimately chose to believe Chloe and her son.

"Evelyn... Leo is only five. How could he scald himself with boiling water?"

"We know the second pearl fell into the water, and you're anxious..."

"But no matter how upset you are, how could you take your anger out on a pup?"

To quell Chloe's tears and the pack's gossip, Kane still carried me, my legs covered in blood, into the healing room.

Before leaving, he reassured me carelessly:

"Evelyn, bear with it for one night. Once Leo calms down tomorrow, I'll come get you out right away."

"Don't be afraid. Lucas still has the last one. I will never let Lucas have it—no matter what, I'll fight to be the one to feed it to you myself."

"Tomorrow, apologize properly to Leo, and I'll shoulder everything else."

That night, I shivered in the freezing healing room, watching helplessly as scales crept up to my knees.

"Evelyn? Try a bite of the venison. I roasted it specially for you."

Kane speared a slice with a silver fork and held it to my lips.

I turned my face away gently:

"I'm not hungry. Take it away."

Kane's brow furrowed slightly. Clearly, he hadn't expected me to refuse him.

But he only assumed it was a fit of pique. With a helpless sigh, he set down the fork and patted my shoulder:

"Fine, rest for now. I'll come see you this afternoon. Don't let your thoughts run wild—you can't leave."

With that, he turned and strode out.

Watching his back, a mocking smile touched my lips.

Can't leave?

This land—I have no intention of staying.