Chapter 2
I stumbled, barely managing to steady myself.
My gaze fell to my hands.
The knuckles were swollen and ugly.
This was the result of washing clothes every winter morning, my hands soaked in icy water day after day.
The rough calluses were thick and unyielding.
This was what I earned from learning to chop wood and start fires, the skin breaking and bleeding until it hardened.
The three years at Moonlight Monastery had indeed worn down my spirit.
In the beginning, I regretted it.
At night, I would curl up in the cold, dark corner, tears silently streaming down my face.
I pleaded.
I wrote letter after letter, trembling hands sending them to the Hansen Pack, but no one cared.
I resisted.
"The future Alpha's orders," the Delta said coldly, restraining me. "Miss Hansen must attend the pack run for Miss Allen every day."
It was then I truly realized.
Here, I was no longer the niece of the Alpha’s family. There was no one to take my side.
No one would help me, indulge me. Instead, most were waiting to kick me while I was down.
I had been weak and sickly since childhood. My brother, Ocean, had studied healing just to take care of me.
For that, our father had beaten him, yelling across the yard that the son of a Gamma should never abandon combat for medicine.
But Ocean had secretly continued his studies, and our father had turned a blind eye.
After my brother and father were gone, no one took my pulse or brewed medicine for me daily.
Living under the Hansen Pack’s roof, they had treated me with more than enough kindness. I didn’t want to cause them any more trouble.
So I endured and never mentioned it.
Over the years, my health had deteriorated.
At Moonlight Monastery, it only worsened.
Kneeling in the chapel for hours, washing, cooking, sewing, and cleaning became my daily routine.
My illnesses grew more frequent, severe and minor ones coming one after another.
Nikolas had ordered that I not leave the monastery, and the Deltas and Omegas wouldn’t call a Healer for me.
Sometimes, late at night, when I had a high fever,
Vincent would peek his head through the window, secretly bringing me medicine.
Vincent was a new rogue at the monastery. He would sneak over after morning training to chat with me, sometimes helping me clean the yard or do odd jobs.
It seemed like, in this world, no one was left by my side except Vincent.
==============================
When Amari first arrived, he didn’t like her.
He hated everything his parents had forced on him, including the arranged mate bond with Amari.
He always gave her a cold look, never treating her with kindness.
But this girl was a little carefree, he thought.
No matter how he treated her, she always smiled at him.
Every day, she brought him food, even when he turned her away.
Every night, she stayed by his side in the training hall, even when he barked at her.
There seemed to be nothing wrong with her, and for the first time, he felt like accepting her.
But soon, he realized that Amari didn’t love him.
Her kindness, her care for him, was just gratitude for the Hansen Pack taking her in.
He couldn’t accept it. Why was he the only one struggling? Why was he the only one lying awake at night?
So he used Elina to provoke her, to test her, again and again.
He wanted to see her jealous, angry, unwilling.
He told himself that if she would just give in once, he could forgive her indifference and convince himself to accept her.
But she remained calm, never backing down.
Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore. His pent-up anger exploded, and in a moment of rage, he banished her from the pack.
After she left, he regretted it immediately, but his pride wouldn’t let him chase after her.
He thought, where else could she go? She would have to come back eventually.
But three years passed, and she never returned.
It wasn’t until he found the letters Elina had hidden that he realized.
He was wrong.
All this time, he hadn’t learned how to lower his head.
You may also like
