Chapter 2

"Vera, what's wrong?"

"Move — everyone move!"

Liam shoved through the crowd, reaching for me with alarm in his eyes.

But Rain stepped in front of him, smiling.

She glanced down at me with contempt. "Vera, your next role must be a wolfsbane victim, right? No wonder the performance is so convincing. You almost fooled all of us."

She held up her phone — my upcoming play's promotional poster.

Liam glanced at it. His concern twisted into anger.

Rain looked at me on the ground, smug. "But no matter how good you are, you missed one thing — there's no wolfsbane in my soup. If there was, why am I the only one who feels nothing?"

The others chimed in immediately.

"Exactly! I had the soup too — if it was poisoned, why am I fine?"

"She's just trying to frame Rain!"

The amount of wolfsbane in the soup was tiny. Only someone like me — who still carried traces of the old poisoning — would react to it. Everyone else was unaffected.

But the burning and the suffocation left me no strength to explain.

Liam stared down at me, his voice ice-cold. "Vera, this is Rain's celebration, not your stage. Get up. Now. otherwise… "

I was in too much pain to even hear the rest. My face contorted.

The wolves watched me with open disgust as I lay curled on the ground.

"She's not giving up the act. Liam, teach her a lesson. You're the Beta — how can you let her ruin the party, slander Rain, and humiliate herself like this?"

Liam said nothing. His eyes turned to ice.

Rain's friends grabbed my hair, forcing my head up.

"Listen. Rain is tonight's guest of honor. Like it or not, you're going to apologize and drink another bowl of soup to prove her innocent."

Liam scooped up a bowl and held it in front of me.

"Get up. Drink it. And I'll forget what you've done today."

Tears slid down my face — not from sadness, but from the pain.

I looked at that cold, merciless face, and forced out one word: "No."

Rain drained the bowl herself, then turned to me with a look of practiced pity. "See, I drank it. I'm fine. You really are narrow-minded, Vera. Poor Liam — always bending over backwards to defend you."

"But since you love performing so much, let me help you with an encore."

Rain grabbed the bowl.

Her friends understood instantly. They pried my jaw open and pinched my nose shut.

"No — "

I struggled, but could only watch helplessly as they poured the soup down my throat.

My wolf could barely hold on. The wolfsbane tore through me again, and every nerve screamed.

I clutched my chest and reached for Liam with a shaking hand. "Help me — please — my wolf can't take another dose — "

Liam knocked my hand away.

"Stop faking, Vera. It's just soup. It can't hurt your wolf. I've known you for years, and you never once mentioned wolfsbane. No wolf survives chronic wolfsbane poisoning unless they find the legendary spring — and that's a myth. I kept quiet because I love you. I wanted to give you a chance. But you've disappointed me."

I closed my eyes in despair.

The truth was, my father had prayed to the Moon Goddess for the spring water that saved me as a child.

Three years ago, I ran away from home to pursue my dream of acting, unwilling to inherit the pack. One day, a group of rogues had me cornered — and Liam appeared out of nowhere and saved me.

We fell for each other instantly.

To live with him in the Crescent Pack, I hid my past and my identity, becoming just another outsider.

Later, I learned that Liam's parents had both died from wolfsbane.

So I kept my own history a secret, to spare him the grief.

I never imagined that kindness would one day be the thing that nearly killed me.

Liam turned away, refusing to look at me again.

Rain's grin widened.

She leaned close to my face, her voice a vicious whisper. "Liam is young, strong — the most promising warrior in the pack. I spent eleven years trying to win his heart. What makes you think some rogue who wandered in off the road deserves to be his mate?"

She shoved me to the ground.

"A rogue?" A bitter, frozen smile touched my lips.

If my father knew what I'd endured after leaving home, it would destroy him.

And I was afraid I'd never see him again.

Then — faintly — my weakened wolf sensed him. My father, far away, desperately tracking me, racing toward me.

If I could just reach the cave entrance,my father and his warriors might find me.

Survival instinct overtook everything.

I clenched my teeth and dragged myself toward the opening with every last ounce of strength.