Chapter 5
"Arthur Greywolf, are you out of your mind? Forcibly extracting Heartblood will kill her!" David cried out in alarm, attempting to intervene, but the high-ranking Wolf Guards brought by Arthur held him back firmly.
"This is werewolf business. Humans should keep out of it," Arthur's voice was icy, devoid of any former warmth.
He stood at the base of the city wall, watching me writhe in agony. His eyes held nothing but worry for Lily.
"Cecilia, you brought this on yourself," he said. "If you play along and let me take three drops of your Heartblood, I'll stop."
I clenched my jaw so hard it hurt, determined not to let out a single scream.
The metallic taste of blood flooded my mouth, and my fingernails scraped desperate, bloody lines across the stone floor.
The Symbiotic Pact's markings twisted violently beneath my skin, like countless razor-sharp blades slowly tearing my veins apart, inch by inch.
A drop of Heartblood, glowing faintly gold, was wrenched from my chest and hung suspended in the air.
Lily let out a greedy gasp from below. "Arthur, this Healing Essence is so pure. My inner wolf is purring with pleasure."
She nestled in Arthur's arms, but her gaze smugly met mine over his shoulder.
Her eyes seemed to say, 'See? The man you nearly died to save is now bleeding you dry, just to nourish me.'
"Keep going," Arthur said. Seeing Lily's color return, he didn't hesitate to tighten the Symbiotic Pact's grip.
The second drop of Heartblood was torn from my chest.
My vision blurred, and the wind in my ears became a deafening roar.
I knew I couldn't hold on much longer.
A healer's Heartblood was the essence of life itself. Losing a single drop would leave a normal person devastated, let alone having it ripped out by force like this.
"Arthur," I whispered, using the last of my strength to look at the man I'd loved for two years. "Is there really not a shred of feeling left for me?"
Arthur's movements faltered for a split second. A flicker of emotion crossed his face, but it was quickly interrupted by Lily's soft whimper.
"Arthur, it hurts so much. I need the last drop, please." Lily clung to his arm, her eyes brimming with tears.
Arthur took a deep breath, his gaze turning cold and hard once more.
"Cecilia, once Lily is well, I'll make it up to you. You can pick whatever healing herbs you want from the Wolf Court's treasury," he said.
He called that making it up to me? Trading my life for some worthless herbs?
The absurdity of it all hit me like a punch to the gut.
I couldn't believe I had given up my old life for a man like him and spent two years in that filthy Wolf Court.
"I don't want you to make it up." I laughed bitterly, my voice barely more than a whisper lost in the wind. "All I want is to take back what's mine."
Arthur's brow furrowed; he obviously had no clue what I was talking about.
Without another word, he suddenly forced the Symbiotic Pact to its limit.
The third drop of Heartblood, the most vital strand of my Healing Essence, was wrenched from my chest.
As that last bit of Healing Essence left me, the dark red Symbiotic Pact line connecting us couldn't withstand the strain of such brutal extraction.
With a sharp crack, the pact line snapped in midair, bursting into a shower of glowing lights that faded away.
Arthur let out a muffled groan as the mark on his wrist burst open, blood streaming down his arm.
He didn't care about his own wound at all. Instead, he gently placed the three drops of Heartblood into Lily's mouth.
The instant Lily swallowed the Heartblood, her aura exploded. Her patchy half-wolf fur melted away, and the unmistakable glow of a high-ranking Moonwolf began to shine through.
"It worked. Arthur, I made it." Lily hugged him, her voice trembling with excitement.
Arthur's face finally broke into a smile of relief.
After soothing Lily, Arthur finally looked up at the city wall. "Cecilia, it's over. The punishment's done. You—"
His words stuck in his throat.
By then, I was sprawled on the wall, lying in a pool of blood.
With my Healing Essence gone, my body shriveled up like a dead leaf, turning gray and lifeless right before his eyes.
My breathing stopped. My heart stopped beating.
Beatrice rushed over, checked for any sign of breath, then glared furiously down at Arthur. "Prince Arthur, are you satisfied now?"
Her voice was thick with barely contained rage.
"She's dead," she said.
Arthur's smile froze on his face.
He stared in disbelief at my lifeless body sprawled atop the city wall. Suddenly, an agonizing pain tore through the wound where the pact mark had ruptured on his wrist.