At her wedding, Aveline witnessed Alpha Logan—her fiancé—being dragged away by kidnappers. Without hesitation, she gave chase. They clawed at her, scratched her. Though staggering, she continued to fight for Logan. Until they pierced her stomach with a silver dagger. Hot blood stained her white dress. Aveline fell to the ground and was left alone in the forest, nearly dead.
When she opened her eyes, a mocking voice pierced her ears.
“How pitiful. You’re dying, while your fiancé is partying.”
Alpha Caleb—her first love who had once betrayed her.
Aveline clenched her teeth. “You’re delusional.”
“You’re the one dreaming, Aveline. Let me bring you back to reality.”
Despite her refusal, Caleb dragged her into a large hall. Her breath caught as she gazed at the scene on the stage.
Logan.
The man she had saved with her own life. Now standing tall, without a single scratch. And not by her side—but tenderly holding hands with Rose, her younger sister. Between them stood a five-year-old child.
“Daddy,” Olivia said cheerfully. “I thought you were busy.”
Logan smiled gently. “Nothing is more important than your birthday, dear.”
Rose turned to him, a triumphant smile clearly etched on her face.
“What about Aveline?” she asked innocently.
Logan’s voice turned cold. “She thought she was saving me, but she was just blocking my way here, so I told the wolves to hurt her more brutally. In the end, she gave up following me.”
Aveline froze. Her trembling hands reflexively pressed against her bleeding stomach. There, her secret was torn apart. The little baby she hadn’t even had the chance to tell Logan about—had died because of it.
As she was about to move forward to charge at them, her mother’s voice paralyzed Aveline’s legs.
“The right choice, Logan. Besides, from the start, Aveline was just an adopted child. All we needed from her was her bone marrow, which matched Rose’s.”
Her father added coldly, “Rose is healed. And thank you, Logan. You pretended to love Aveline for three years. That’s enough repayment. Now let her die.”
Their voices echoed loudly, announced before the entire Darkvenom pack.
Aveline’s world crumbled. Tears streamed down her face, blurring her vision. The entire pack knew, all conspiring, only she was blind.
Caleb pressed his lips to her ear, whispering cruelly. “Everything in your life is a lie, Aveline. You were betrayed, abandoned, stabbed in the back. So… will you come back to me?”
—
Aveline clenched her fists until her nails pierced the skin of her palms. Her chest felt tight, but she refused to break down in front of Caleb. With all her strength, she burst out of the hall.
Heavy rain greeted her. Her white dress clung to her skin, torn, mixed with mud and blood. Her breath was labored, her steps unsteady. But a rough grip seized her wrist, halting her escape.
“Still not ready to wake up, huh?” Caleb’s voice was low, piercing.
Aveline turned with red, wet eyes, both angry and desperate. “Don’t you have any sympathy?”
Caleb laughed softly, sarcastically. “Sympathy? None. Until you come back to me, I won’t let you go. Who guarantees you won’t crawl back to Logan? Aren’t you madly in love with him?”
Her hand flew reflexively to Caleb’s cheek—a wet slap echoed loudly in the rain. Aveline’s breath quickened. “I’m not that low!”
Caleb merely smiled crookedly. In an instant, his fingers wrapped around Aveline’s neck. The pressure was so strong it choked her. Aveline glared, punching his chest, but his body was as hard as iron.
“Don’t act so pure,” Caleb hissed. “Since you were a child, you’ve been nothing but my omega toy. Your life was tied to mine. But once you found out I had another female, you got angry and ran away. You were arrogant and thought you’d found your true family. Darkvenom? Just a fraud. Now look at the result.”
Aveline’s tears flowed, mixing with the rain. It wasn’t just the pain from her inability to breathe, but also because his words were a bitter truth: she had escaped Caleb’s prison only to enter a deeper hell.
The last bit of oxygen nearly vanished as another voice froze the air.
“What did you do to my mate?”
Caleb instinctively loosened his grip. Aveline staggered, coughing harshly, her lungs desperately gasping for air.
Logan stood there. Cold, arrogant.
“Alpha Caleb,” he said calmly, “can’t you really move on from her?”
Caleb opened his mouth, but Logan cut him off sharply. “Make sure your pack is safe before you dare to disturb Darkvenom.”
A signal from Caleb’s pack made him mutter a curse, then leave without another word.
Aveline was still trembling. Her body was soaked, blood still dripping, as Logan approached and grabbed her shoulder.
“Darling,” he said softly, full of pretense. “I managed to fight them off. I came back to save you… sorry I’m late.”
The word “darling” stabbed like a dagger. His embrace was cold, soulless. Aveline wanted to push him away, wanted to vomit, but her body was too weak. The world spun, then went dark.
And when she awoke, Aveline found herself in the Darkvenom healing chamber. Her body was limp, her stomach still aching. She tried to rise, but voices from behind the curtain stopped her.
“I didn't know Rose would relapse suddenly,” her mother’s voice sounded anxious, trembling with tears.
“Calm down, Mom.” Logan’s voice—gentle, soothing, but piercing Aveline’s heart. “I’ve brought Aveline back. She’s still alive. She just needs one more bone marrow donor, the healer said Rose will recover completely.”
Her father’s voice trembled with relief. “Thank you, Logan. You’re our family’s savior.”
“I did it all for Rose. I love her so much."
Aveline fell silent. Her blood boiled all the way to her brain. So that was why he had brought her back? Just to perform a bone marrow transplant. They were just waiting for her body to recover... so they could squeeze the rest of her life out of her for Rose.
Her hands clenched beneath the blanket. Her breath came in gasps. Love, family, fiancé—all lies.
Once everyone had gone into Rose’s room, Aveline reached for the necklace around her neck. The black crystal given to her by an enemies of the Darkvenom pack. She pressed it to communicate.
A heavy voice echoed from within. “Aveline?”
Her hands trembled, but her resolve was firm. “You once offered me a place to join. If it still stands, then I will say yes this time.”
