All Chapters of The Apologies Came Too Late: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

I woke up in the pack clinic after my ninety-ninth blood donation for my twin sister, Maeve. She’d been cursed by an evil witch since birth—a dark curse that could only be sustained by the blood of her twin. My blood. But this time, the repeated donations had come with a cost. The healer said the years of constant blood donations had finally broken my body down, causing me to develop a rare blood disease, Aplastic anemia. And my wolf's healing couldn’t fight this because she's too weak and drained.I called a cab to go home and tell my family about the diagnosis, but then I decided to stop at Sweet Dreams Bakery first to buy a birthday cake or both of us since today was our eighteenth birthday.When I walked through the glass door, I froze.My family was already there, gathered around the counter, laughing and pointing at cake designs in the display book.My mate-to-be, Archer Kane, had his arm wrapped around Maeve's shoulders, and gently tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Th

The slap came from my mother.My head snapped to the side and the taste of copper filled my mouth. The bakery spun around me as I tried to steady myself."How dare you try to walk away when we're talking to you?" Mom's voice was sharp and cold. "It's one picture, Kira. One picture for your sister's birthday. Is that really too much to ask?"I pressed my hand against my burning cheek and tried to speak, but my throat felt like it was closing up. The scratchy feeling had gotten worse.Before I could get a word out, Maeve let out a strangled gasp.Her body went rigid and she collapsed onto the bakery floor."Maeve!" Archer caught her before her head hit the tiles, lowering her down carefully. "Someone call the healer!"Mom dropped to her knees beside Maeve. "Sweetheart, what's wrong? Talk to me!"Maeve's eyes rolled back and her entire body began to convulse. Her limbs jerked violently as foam appeared at the corners of her mouth.Dad's face went white. "It's the curse. She needs a blood

Third-Person POVArcher had ordered enough pastries and sweet things to cover the entire dining room table.Maeve's eyes lit up the moment she walked into the room. "Oh my moon goddess ," she breathed, pressing both hands to her cheeks. "Archer, this is way too much. I can't possibly finish all of this.""You said you wanted to try everything," Archer said, pulling out her chair for her. "So I made sure everything was here. We can always box what's left."Maeve smiled at him. "You didn't have to do all this for my birthday.""Of course I did." He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Nothing is too much for you."The table was beautiful. There were almond croissants dusted with powdered sugar, little fruit tarts lined up in a perfect row, a tower of cream puffs, slices of lemon cake on a white platter, and a bowl of fresh strawberries.At the center, a whole chilled seafood spread: king crab legs, buttered scallops, smoked salmon rosettes fanned out on a marble board. The kind of sp

Third-Person POVMom and Dad pushed past everyone to get a closer look.The moment they saw her face, Dad stepped back. "That's Elder Mara." Dad said. "What happened to her?"Elder Mara had been our pack's oldest female elder. She visited our home every winter solstice without fail and always smelled faintly of pine and dried herbs. She had held me as a baby."But then where is Kira?" Mom turned around slowly. "If she isn't here, where did she go?"Maeve was disappointed when she realized the dead person wasn’t me.A mocking smile appeared on her lips. " She staged it.” Maeve said. “Think about it. She's probably hiding somewhere, laughing at us. She knows how worried everyone gets, so she's pretending to be dead just to see all of you cry for her!" She let out a small, disbelieving laugh. "That's so like her."Dad's grief curdled instantly into anger. His jaw tightened. "If that is true, she's gone too far this time! Doesn't she know how worried we'd be?" He exhaled hard. "She knows h

I exhaled slowly. "Somewhere they'll never think to look."The train arrived four minutes later. I picked up my bag and got on without looking back.********Veranth was loud.That was the first thing I noticed stepping off the train. Horns, voices, construction, music bleeding out of open windows — all of it layered on top of each other like the city had never learned to be quiet.Nobody looked at me twice. In a city this size, one girl with a single bag and tired eyes was nobody's concern.I found a room in a shared apartment two blocks from the transit line. Small — a bed, a window, a narrow shelf. I paid the first month upfront with cash and sat on the mattress for a long time after the landlord left.Aurora shifted quietly in my chest.It's ours, she said."Yes," I said. "It's ours."I built a routine slowly and deliberately. Morning medication with food. Eight hours of sleep — Aurora had made that non-negotiable. I kept a small notebook where I tracked everything: what I ate, my