Chloe POV:
I stood beside the altar, forcing my facial muscles into a stiff, painful smile.
Hazel stood opposite me, looking beautiful in the repaired white dress.
But her inner wolf was restless, whining softly and pulling away every time Hunter tried to hold her hand.
Hunter shot me a cold, warning glare.
I leaned in and whispered to Hazel, my voice dry. "It's fine, Hazel. Hunter is merely on edge from the moon phases. He has forgotten his manners."
Hazel's eyes cleared for a brief second, and a dark, victorious gleam flashed in her pupils.
She knew exactly what she was doing.
The crystal projection above us shifted to a new set of memories.
It showed Hunter, the proud and arrogant Alpha, doing things he considered beneath him.
He was walking through dirty human markets, eating leftover food, and even bowing his knees in front of a Moon Goddess statue to pray for Hazel.
He had broken all his own rules for her.
The crystal overhead gave a hiss, like an overcharged wire, and the clear edges of the projection began to fray, the image tearing itself into a thousand glaring white fragments.
The romantic music stopped, replaced by the steady, terrifying beep of a heart monitor.
The screen changed.
It showed the inside of the Pack's exclusive hospital.
My Elder Grandmother's pale, wrinkled face filled the massive screen.
She was awake, staring at the live feed of the altar.
Her eyes widened in absolute horror as she saw Hunter holding Hazel's hands, with me standing to the side like a servant.
"No..." Grandmother gasped through the screen.
She clutched her chest, her face twisting in agony.
The heart monitor flatlined into a long, endless scream.
Beep-
The connection to her mind vanished, and the screen went black.
"Grandma!" I screamed, the sound tearing my throat apart.
I ran toward the control panel, but the technicians had already cut the power.
Panic consumed me.
I turned and sprinted out of the grand hall.
As I ran, my body began to shift.
My bones cracked and reshaped, thick white fur bursting from my skin as I entered my half-wolf form.
I reached the heavy wooden doors, but a massive figure blocked my path.
Hunter stood there, his muscles bulging, his Alpha aura pressing down on me like a mountain.
"You aren't leaving until we finish the final toast," he demanded, grabbing my shoulders with bruising force.
Deep inside me, something ancient and powerful snapped.
My eyes, usually a soft brown, suddenly ignited with a brilliant, glowing white light.
It was the hidden bloodline of the White Wolf, the rarest and most powerful descendants of the Moon Goddess.
A low, vibrating growl ripped from my chest, carrying a threat of absolute destruction.
Hunter's hands flinched.
His inner wolf whimpered, sensing a predator far greater than an Alpha.
He let go of me, stepping back, but his pride made him yell, "You'll regret this, Chloe!"
I didn't look back. I ran on all fours through the dark streets until I reached the hospital.
The Healer nurses were gathered outside the emergency room, their faces grim. "She is critical, Chloe," one of them whispered, handing me a clipboard. "We need your signature."
My hand trembled so violently I could barely form the letters as I signed the Do Not Resuscitate form, a document that felt as heavy as a tombstone.
I slid down the wall to the cold floor, the warmth draining from my fingertips until my hands felt like blocks of ice.
As I waited, a commotion erupted down the hallway. A patient, half-mad with his own wolf's degeneration, was screaming at the staff. "The letters! She faked the letters! A traitor in our midst!" His ravings were nonsensical, but the words struck Hazel, who had followed me, like a physical blow.
Footsteps echoed in the hallway. Hunter and Hazel walked in, their fingers locked together. They had changed into matching dark red celebration outfits.
I turned my head away, shuttering my senses, feeling nothing but a vast, hollow space inside me.
"The letters..." Hazel began to babble, her eyes wide with a terror that had nothing to do with the madman. "The recommendation... I didn't want you to leave me, Chloe! I did not mean for them to catch you!"
The words struck me like lightning.
She stumbled backward, her face turning pale as snow.
"No... no!" Hazel babbled, her mind fracturing under the stress. "I didn't mean to! I just... I intercepted the recommendation letter! I changed it! I didn't want Chloe to pass the Healer exam and leave me!"
The hallway's fluorescent lights seemed to flare to an unbearable brightness, and the sound of the distant monitors became a single, piercing whine in my ears.
My ears rang loudly.
Years ago, a fake report letter had accused me of treason.
Because of that letter, I was banished to the borders, where I was kidnapped by bloodthirsty Rogues.
"You ruined me because you were afraid of being alone?" I whispered, staring at the woman I had called my sister.
Hunter stepped in front of Hazel, shielding her.
I didn't answer him. My fingers brushed the wolf-tooth necklace at my throat-the last thread of our bond.
Tonight, I would snap it. And before dawn, he would understand what loss truly meant.
