Chapter 2
The courtyard fell silent once more.
Anna looked at me with a bitter smile. "I used to think Alijah had been away for so long, fighting so many battles, that he no longer cared for matters of the heart. But now I see it wasn’t that he didn’t care—it was just that he didn’t care for *me*."
"I truly believed I had won his heart."
My thoughts drifted back to two years ago. Alijah had defended the pack against rogue attacks, earning the admiration of many. The new Alpha, wary of his influence, sought to strip him of his authority and often summoned Anna to the pack house. But this move stirred the jealousy of the Luna, Adelyn.
Adelyn had heard that Anna once performed on the streets before joining the pack, and she demanded a performance. A towering structure of hollow copper rods and sharp edges was erected—a cruel imitation of a climbing tree. Beneath it, a fire was lit. The heat would make the copper unbearable to stand on, forcing the climber to either endure the searing pain or leap into the flames below.
Adelyn called it "the trial of strength."
She invited us all to watch.
I still remember Anna standing at the top of that structure, giving me a reassuring smile. Before she climbed, she had whispered to me, "We’ve been through worse. A little fire won’t break us." But her trembling body and pale face told a different story.
Alijah had held his silence for what felt like an eternity. Just as I was about to rush forward to save her, he finally surrendered his position as Gamma to the Alpha in exchange for Anna’s safety.
Later, as I tended to the burns on her skin, I couldn’t stop my tears. She comforted me instead, saying, "We came into this with a purpose. If we didn’t give our hearts, wouldn’t that make us liars?"
"And he gave up his position as Gamma to save me. These wounds are worth it."
Back then, her face had been filled with the joy of finally breaking through to him.
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