Until My Love Fades

I was chosen by the Moon Goddess to be Alpha Ryan Larson's mate, but he never acknowledged it.On my birthday, a group of rogues dragged me into an underground cellar. I was tossed onto a floor covered in wolfsbane.The toxic fumes ate into my lungs and organs. The pain was unbearable."Start a mind-link with your Alpha." The rogue leader kicked me in the ribs. "Let him hear how much it hurts."I clenched my jaw and shook my head.He grabbed me by the hair and pressed my face against the wall.In the shattered mirror, I saw a bloodied, barely recognizable face staring back."Start the link," he whispered into my ear. "Or I'll cut open your stomach right now and see if that little mutt inside you survives."My whole body trembled as I activated the mind-link.The moment it connected, I heard Ryan's irritated breathing."Ryan." I broke into sobs. "I'm in the lake cabin's underground cellar. Rogues kidnapped me. I've been poisoned with wolfsbane. Please he–""Jennifer Scott." H

Edgar carried my body into the underground healer's den.It was late at night, and no one else was there. Only the moonstone lamps on the walls cast a faint, bluish glow."Dr. Hanks," Edgar said softly. "I need a full autopsy, but don't file it in the official records."Steve Hanks was the most respected healer in the pack. He also watched me grow up.The moment he lifted a corner of the cloak, his hand trembled violently."Oh Moon Goddess!" he murmured. When he turned to Edgar, his eyes were filled with shock and grief. "Is this Jennifer?"Edgar looked away. His jaw clenched tightly.Steve fell silent for a long while before finally putting on his gloves."The fatal cause was internal organ failure due to wolfsbane poisoning," he said solemnly. "But she suffered prolonged abuse before death, and her body was deliberately mutilated afterward."He paused. When the scanner passed over my slightly rounded abdomen, it suddenly stopped.A faint trace of life flickered on the scree

A long, suffocating silence filled the room.Fiona was the first to lose her composure. "Ryan and I saw the body ourselves! That wasn't Jennifer at all! Edgar, what are you trying to pull by fabricating evidence like this?"Edgar shot her a cold glance and looked at Ryan. "Whether it's fabricated or not, the Alpha can judge for himself."Ryan reached for the necklace fragment, but Fiona snatched it first."Things like this are everywhere on the market!" she cried shrilly. "Edgar must have had feelings for Jennifer! That's why he made up this whole corpse-and-evidence story. It's so you'd reject her and he could have her for himself!"Ryan's hand stopped midair.Slowly, he lifted his gaze to Edgar. Something dark and dangerous churned in his eyes."You." His voice was terrifyingly deep. "Do you like her?"Fiona seized the moment. "He admitted it before! Right beside Jennifer's body! He said he felt sorry for her!"Edgar clenched his jaw. Veins bulged along his neck. "Yes. I lik

Steve's prediction proved accurate.Three days later, Fiona was supposedly attacked on her way to pray at Moon Goddess' Shrine.When the news reached Ryan, he was sitting alone in his study. He had been staring at the broken necklace fragment in silence for three days."Alpha! Ms. Jones has been kidnapped by rogues! She's at the edge of Moonlit Forest!"Ryan snapped back to reality. He shot to his feet, grabbed his coat, and ran out.Edgar followed close behind. His expression was grim.At the forest's edge, Fiona was being held by three rogues. Her wrists were bound, her clothes were torn, and there were dried tears on her cheeks."Ryan! Don't come any closer! They're using me to threaten you!""Shut up." Ken pressed a blade against her neck. "Ryan. If you want her alive, come here alone."Ryan stopped.Edgar grabbed his arm. "It could be a trap.""I know." Ryan's voice was hoarse. "But Fiona's in his hands."He stepped forward anyway.Fiona struggled and cried, "Don't! T

Edgar reached out and gently stroked the mound of earth. Tears slipped down in silence.Ryan, who was like a hollowed-out shell, walked straight into the freezing lake until the water swallowed him whole.Edgar charged forward and dragged him back to shore. Ryan trembled violently, be it from the cold or pain. He kept muttering the same thing repeatedly. "It won't wash off. These hands. It won't wash off–"My soul observed him quietly.Did I hate him?Perhaps that feeling had already been worn away through countless disappointments.All I felt now was that his misery looked like a belated, meaningless performance.The days that followed became Ryan's slow, deliberate self-torment.He dismissed all the servants and locked himself in the side chamber where I had once lived, the very place he had never bothered to enter before.He read the diaries I left behind. He touched the unfinished werewolf doll I had been sewing for our unborn pup. In a single night, his hair turned gray.