Chapter 2

I didn't hesitate. I drove the blade deep into my flesh and twisted hard.

Instantly, agony tore through my nerves.

I ripped out a piece of flesh, marked with a dark red totem, and tossed it into the bottomless abyss.

As I tore that flesh away, Lily's voice in my Sea of Consciousness abruptly vanished.

Finally, the whole world was quiet.

I collapsed onto the Skywing's back, letting cold sweat soak my clothes.

Almost at the same moment, the Message Crystal at my waist started flashing wildly.

It was Arthur's signature dark gold glow.

The Symbiotic Pact hadn't broken yet, but ripping off the Bondmark must've made him feel the sting of the backlash.

I coldly watched the crystal flash for a full fifteen minutes before I finally, lazily, sent a thread of my spiritual energy into it.

Arthur's voice, barely holding back his anger, came through the Message Crystal. "Cecilia, what's your problem now?

"Delaying the Blood Moon Day ritual for a few days isn't the end of the world. Lily's inner wolf is frenzied. It's dangerous. I can't leave her right now.

"Do you have any idea how much turmoil you caused in my spiritual energy by forcefully severing the Bondmark? When did you become so selfish?"

Not once did he ask if I was hurting. All he cared about was how my actions affected him.

As I listened to his familiar deep voice, he suddenly felt like a stranger to me.

"Arthur," I cut him off, my voice surprisingly calm. "The ritual isn't delayed. It's canceled."

There was a brief pause on the other end, then Arthur sneered.

"Canceled? Cecilia, don't try to threaten me with this," he said. "You're a human with no werewolf blood. Without the Wolf Court, without my protection, where else could you possibly go?

"I'm giving you three days to think it over. After that, come back to the Wolf Court and apologize to Lily. Otherwise, you'll suffer the consequences."

I didn't keep listening.

With a slight squeeze, I crushed the precious Message Crystal to powder.

The dust drifted away on the wind, like my two absurd years.

I wished Arthur and Lily happy ever after.

I closed my eyes, letting the Skywing carry me away toward Silvermoon, the neutral territory of humankind.

By the time the Skywing touched down atop the cliffs outside Silvermoon, I was already slipping into semi-consciousness from severe blood loss.

Silvermoon was humanity's last safe haven, where the Hunter's Guild and Sanctuary made their home.

The air here wasn't thick with the heavy, animal musk of werewolves. Just a hint of incense and sea salt lingered.

The priests guarding the city found me collapsed in a pool of blood.

They saw the deep wound at the back of my neck, cut down to the bone, with the lingering marks of the Symbiotic Pact left by the werewolves still visible around the edges.

I heard someone sigh softly next to me, "Looks like a Blood Servant cast aside by the werewolves. How pitiful."

I didn't have the strength to argue.

For two years in the Wolf Court, I carried the so-called title of "Alpha Prince's savior," but never got any real recognition.

Now that I'd hit rock bottom, of course they'd treat me like a Blood Servant.

*****

I lay in the Sanctuary's shelter for five whole days.

For those five days, my fever never broke. To patch up my wound, my Healing Essence was almost used up.

Every breath was painful, like someone was working a bellows inside my lungs.

But I didn't shed a single tear.

The pain made it brutally clear that I was out of that cage for good.

On the sixth morning, I finally managed to get out of bed and walk around, though it was a struggle.

A nun from the Sanctuary brought me a bowl of hot soup, along with news that sent shockwaves across the entire continent.

She whispered, her tone dripping with gossip, "Have you heard? That arrogant Alpha Prince from the Wolf Court actually postponed the Blood Moon Day bonding ceremony, all because of some half-werewolf woman.

"Word is, that half-werewolf woman awakened some crazy bloodline. The Alpha Prince hasn't even bothered to show up for court these days. He's been hiding out in her chambers, using the werewolves' sacred artifact to cleanse her mixed blood."

My hand paused as I held the wooden bowl.

The werewolves' sacred artifact was the Tear of the Moon.

Two years ago, when Arthur was dying, the Council of Elders refused to use that sacred artifact to save him. In the end, I used up half my Heartblood to pull him back from the brink.

Now, he didn't hesitate for a second to use the artifact on a half-werewolf woman, just so she could stand by his side openly.