Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 1 - Chapitre 9

I curled up on my bed, my fingers and knees swollen with frostbite.I didn't even have the strength to hold a cup. All I could do was wrap myself in the blanket and try to get warm.Late at night, my mother pushed the door open.I lifted my head, ready to ask her for the medicine kit.She walked straight over and pulled the only cashmere blanket away from my bed."It's cold tonight. You can handle it. Susie's still young. She can't catch a cold."I opened my mouth to protest, but she was already walking away and shut the door tight behind her.I huddled in the corner and shivered through the night alone. For days afterward, no one came to check on me or bring me anything to eat.By the time the weather cleared, my wounds had festered.I went to the healing center alone for herbs.The healer frowned as she bandaged my wounds. "Why did you wait so long? If you'd waited any longer, you could've ruined your hand."I said nothing and paid the fee.Susie had sent me a photo."Look! Isn't the

But everyone rushed to comfort Susie instead.My mother promised to take her out the next day to buy the newest silk shawl. My father called me cruel and spoiled, while Damon promised to have ten servants help with her packing.No one cared that I was still lying on the floor, unable to get up.I dragged myself upright and slowly made my way back to my room.The manor was huge, yet my room had always been the tiny attic.Susie had an entire floor to herself, and so did Damon.The attic was poorly ventilated and infested with rats year-round.Its only window was a small skylight that let me glimpse the moon at night.My father always said there was no point in making a bedroom luxurious. Susie, however, was different. She would help manage the pack one day.According to him, poor living conditions might interfere with her wolf's awakening.Yet I'd spent eighteen years living in that attic.He knew exactly what it was like up there.That night, I couldn't sleep.Luna Maeve messaged me ag

The next day, I reached the Northern Pack.As soon as I crossed into their territory, I cut off the mind-link with my family.Luna Maeve came to meet me in person. Her eyes immediately fell on my bandaged fingers. "Your hand...""I'm fine."I smiled at her, and she didn't ask any more questions.Instead, she motioned for someone to take my luggage."You're hurt. Don't carry anything heavy," she said softly.I stared at her, caught off guard.For the first time, I realized that someone could hear me say I was fine and still care enough to worry.She gave me the finest guest room in her manor. It was bright and spacious, with silk bedding and fresh air flowing through the room.In all my twenty years at home, I'd never had a room this nice. Only Susie had.For a long moment, I simply stood there and took it all in.That evening, Maeve asked her personal healer to examine my frostbitten fingers.When the bandages came off, we found that the wounds had become infected.The healer frowned.

My father was furious, but there was nothing he could do.Susie, still struggling to come to terms with her failed awakening, immediately sank back into self-pity. "I failed my awakening, and she gets to run off and be happy with someone else."Why is my life so miserable while everything seems to work out for her?"She burst into tears.My mother pulled her into her arms, her heart aching as her resentment toward me grew. "We have to find her. How could she do something like this!"They went up to my room to look for anything that might tell them where I'd gone.The attic was tiny, with barely enough room for a bed and a few large wooden chests. It didn't even have a desk.I'd spent years doing my schoolwork hunched over those chests.My mother opened one of them. Inside were a few faded, worn-out clothes that Susie had outgrown.I'd spent the past two years wearing those clothes, even though none of them fit properly."Where did these clothes come from?" my mother asked, unable to re

I laughed coldly. It wasn't that I'd never liked dressing up. No one had ever given me the chance to.My parents had simply decided I wasn't interested without ever bothering to ask.They had never paid enough attention to know what I liked."I don't need it."My mother looked up in surprise. "Why not? Think of it as our way of making it up to you.""I don't need you to make anything up to me. I already have more than enough jewelry. And one more thing. Don't come looking for me again."I was ready to leave, but my mother reached out and grabbed my hand."Serena, are you still angry?"Her eyes were red and glistening with tears, something I'd never seen before."We're family, no matter what. Even if we were wrong back then, even if we neglected you, you can't just cut us out of your life forever."Besides, Susie has been getting worse ever since her awakening failed two years ago. Can't you forgive her and let the past go?"I pulled my hand free. "I'm not angry with anyone. I've just r