“Madam Freya!” The maids were terrified, then bowed in front of Madam Freya.
One of the maids replied anxiously. “Mia has tarnished the name of our pack. She seduced and slept with the heir to Alpha Moonstone, even though she is Alpha Logan's woman. Luna... Luna asked us to drown her as punishment. That is the punishment that should be given to a shameless adulteress.”
Madam Freya slapped the maid's face. “I raised Mia, I know exactly what she is like. She is not what you accuse her of! You... Go to the barracks to receive your punishment!”
The maids were terrified, then hurried away.
I felt Madam Freya cover me with her coat, hugging me as I shivered from the cold.
“Mia, my dear child... why have you become like this?”
I grabbed Madam Freya's hand and whispered pleadingly, “Madam Freya... ah, Auntie, please let me go. This place will consume me if I stay here any longer.”
“I know, everything will be fine...”
“No, no, nothing has been fine for the past five years. I...”
Madam Freya nodded reassuringly. “It's all my fault for forcing you to become a ‘breeder’ for the sake of the Alpha bloodline. You've suffered so much. But please hang in there. You still have to have a fifth child. I will make sure you get the best care and recover quickly so you can get pregnant again.”
I shivered, not because of the cold from being submerged in the icy pool, but because of Madam Freya’s soft, soothing words, which felt like a knife slicing through my heart.
In the end, Madam Freya was just like her son.
“Mia, do you understand?”
I forced a smile on my face.
“I understand, Madam Freya.”
Madam Freya smiled softly and stroked my hair. “Good girl, stay a little longer, the freedom I promised you, you will get it. I promise.”
Madam Freya escorted me to my room, then angrily called the maids.
“Call Olivia!”
Olivia was summoned immediately. I heard them arguing outside my room. I closed my eyes, ignoring their argument, and waited for the Moonlight Birth Fest to arrive.
But someone pulled me out of bed and choked my neck in the middle of the night.
My eyes opened, my breath almost cut off, then Logan released his grip and dragged me out of bed.
“Just because my mother is back, you complained to her and enjoyed having Olivia whipped in front of the maid!”
Logan didn't give me a chance to defend myself and dragged me out of my room.
In the middle of the night, wearing only thin clothes and still shivering from the cold, I was dragged to the main building and forced to kneel in front of Olivia's bed.
“Apologize to Olivia now!”
Olivia was lying in bed, her face pale and sobbing in pain. Her white nightgown had red streaks running down her back.
“Logan, it's not necessary... it's my fault for wanting to teach Mia not to tarnish the good name of the Pack and our pack,” she whispered weakly, her voice breaking as if she were dying.
I gave him a cold stare. “Why should I apologize? I didn’t do anything to her! Everything she says is a lie.”
”What did you say?!“ Logan snapped. ”Mia, if you don't kneel down and apologize to Olivia, I will forbid you from ever seeing your mother again and withdraw medical support for your mother!"
Logan's cold words made me panic. I gritted my teeth and knelt in front of Olivia.
“I'm sorry, it's all my fault. Please, let me see my mother. My mother can't live without medical care.”
Something flashed in Olivia's eyes. She coughed violently until blood spurted from her mouth.
“Olivia!” Logan ran anxiously to her bed. “Are you okay?”
“Logan,” Olivia called softly. "I'm in so much pain. So much pain... this is the first time I've felt whipped.“ She sobbed, leaning against Logan's chest.
Logan stared at me with a cold gaze. “Stay on your knees there until Olivia feels better.”
I took a deep breath, then replied, “Yes, Alpha.”
Olivia glanced at me with a sly smile from Logan’s chest. “Logan, stay with me tonight. I’m begging you... the full moon is coming soon.”
Every time the full moon arrives, Olivia feels pain from the silver poison she received five years ago.
“Alright, I’ll be by your side.” Logan sighed, then lay down on the bed and held Olivia tightly.
I lowered my head to look at the floor.
Just imagining my mother’s face is what’s keeping me going through all of this.
Logan finally let me go a few hours later after Olivia fell asleep.
I ignored the pain throughout my body and forced myself to go see Logan.
“Logan, can you take me there now? I need to see my mother….”
Logan shot me an annoyed look. “Fine, I’ll also take Olivia for a checkup at the hospital downtown since Dr. Joseph is on leave. Her wound got infected from those lashes.”
Beta Philip was standing guard outside. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves before opening the door to the hospital room.
One summer day, the window was open, and the breeze blew through her shiny black hair. The woman turned her head, waved from the bed, and smiled brightly.
“Mia, my little star, where have you been? I was so worried about you.”
Tears streamed down my face.
The woman in the bed was a shadow of the woman in my memory.
Her hair had turned white. Her body was much thinner than it had been five years ago.
She had fallen into a vegetative state after shielding me from the impact during that car accident.
Since then, her eyes have never opened. She has survived by relying on the medical devices attached to her body.
I knelt beside the bed and held my mother’s hand, pressing my cheek against her palm, feeling the warmth of her skin that I had longed for.
“Mom, how are you? I’m sorry I haven’t visited you for the past five years,” I whispered, filled with longing, as tears streamed down my cheeks.
“Mom, I couldn’t fulfill my dreams—are you angry? I’ve let you down and am no longer a source of pride for you.”
Silence.
I kissed the back of her hand. “I promise, Mom, one day I’ll take you to see a beautiful place.”
Suddenly, Mom’s hand moved, her fingers stroking my cheek. I blinked, looking at my mother’s face with hope.
“Mom, are you listening to me? Can you hear me?”
“Ah, so this is your mother, the one who made you survive as a breeder.”
Olivia's voice suddenly sounded behind me. I wiped my tears and stared at her sharply.
“What are you doing here?”
"I'm just curious about what your mother is like. Your mother has been like this for fifteen years. Don’t you feel sorry for keeping her alive in a vegetative state?” Olivia walked toward the EKG machine, her hands casually touching the medical equipment, while my heart pounded with alertness and anxiety.
I stood up and growled at her. “You've never experienced the loss of someone important, the only family member in the world, so you won't understand.”
"Ah, unfortunately, I don't want to understand. But I hate one thing... I hate that you're a breeder and cling to Logan like a parasite." She glanced at me with a cold look in her eyes as she held the ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) cable that was keeping my mother alive. She suddenly yanked the cables, knocking over other medical equipment and causing a sharp, deafening sound.
“What are you doing!” I rushed toward her in a panic, trying to stop her.
The alarm blared in the treatment room. My mother's body convulsed on the bed.
“Olivia!” I growled, pushing her aside and trying to reattach the medical device, then pressing the emergency button. “Mom, please hang in there...”
Olivia smirked, took the syringe, and stabbed her wrist.
“Arghh! Philip! Logan! Help me!”
The door burst open with a loud slam, Philip and Logan appearing at the entrance.
“What’s going on here?”
Olivia cried, running into Logan's arms. “Logan, I don't know what happened to Mia. I just told her to let go of her mother, but she suddenly went crazy and stabbed me with a syringe…”
