Chapter 4

Celine Anderson woke with a violent gasp, her body drenched in sweat despite the cool air filling her apartment. For several seconds, she could not remember where she was, because the darkness around her looked exactly like the freezer that had nearly taken her life.

She clutched the blanket around herself and struggled to breathe as the memory returned. The locked metal door, the freezing floor, her numb fingers, and the sound of laughter outside all came rushing back at once.

You're home, Liana whispered inside her, her inner wolf filled with concern. That door is not around us anymore.

Celine pressed a trembling hand against her chest and answered softly, “I know, Liana, but my body doesn't seem to understand that yet.”

She closed her eyes and tried to lie back down, but another nightmare dragged her straight back into the freezer. In the dream, she was pounding desperately against the door while her voice grew weaker and weaker, yet nobody came to save her.

“Cedrick!” she screamed in the nightmare, beating her frozen fists against the metal. “Please open the door! I'm freezing!”

Celine suddenly woke again, gasping as tears rolled down her cheeks. Her forehead felt dangerously hot, her body shook beneath the blankets, and the pain in her injured hands made it difficult to even hold her phone.

She reached for the phone and immediately called Keira Ballinger, the only person she knew would come without asking questions. When Keira answered, Celine tried to hide how badly she was shaking as she whispered, “Keira, I think I have a fever, and I keep dreaming about the freezer.”

Keira's sleepy voice instantly disappeared, replaced by alarm. “Don't move, Celine; I'm coming over right now, and don't even think about telling me you're fine because I know you too well.”

Before Celine could argue, Keira ended the call.

Less than thirty minutes later, someone pounded urgently against Celine's apartment door. Celine forced herself off the couch and opened it, finding Keira standing there with a worried expression and a bag of medicine and supplies in her hands.

Keira immediately placed her palm against Celine's forehead and gasped. “You're burning up! Celine, why didn't you call me the moment this started?”

Celine stepped aside weakly and answered, “I thought it would pass, and I didn't want to wake you.”

Keira entered the apartment and immediately looked at Celine's hands. The sight of the swollen, damaged fingers made her face twist with anger.

“Look at your hands!” Keira exclaimed as she carefully reached for them. “Cedrick nearly killed you, and you're still worried about disturbing me?”

Celine winced when Keira accidentally touched a sore spot. “Please be careful. They still hurt.”

Keira immediately loosened her grip, her eyes filling with tears. “I'm sorry, but seeing you like this makes me furious. How could Alpha Cedrick stand there and call what happened a joke?”

Celine lowered her eyes and answered quietly, “I don't want to talk about Cedrick anymore.”

Keira sat beside her and shook her head sadly. “You don't have to talk about him, but you don't have to pretend you're okay with me either.”

Celine stared at her friend for a long moment before reaching toward the folder sitting on the table. She placed it in Keira's hands and quietly said, “There's something else I need you to do for me.”

Keira looked down at the folder before opening it. “What is this?”

Celine watched her carefully as she answered, “It's a body donation agreement, and I want you to witness it.”

Keira's face immediately drained of color.

“Celine, why are you giving me this?” Keira asked, her voice trembling as she looked up from the papers. “Are you thinking about dying?”

Celine immediately shook her head. “No, Keira. That's not what this means, and I need you to understand that before you become frightened.”

She took a slow breath and explained that the agreement wasn't a desire to die or an intention to hurt herself. It was her decision about what should happen to her body if she ever died, because after what happened in the freezer, she no longer wanted anyone else deciding what happened to her.

Keira listened silently, but tears were already gathering in her eyes.

Celine looked down at the agreement and continued, “For years, I allowed other people to decide things for me because I thought love meant trusting them. Cedrick decided when I deserved attention, Veronica decided how much humiliation I should endure, and I kept telling myself that being his mate meant accepting it.”

Her voice became unsteady.

“But that freezer made me realize something,” Celine continued as she pressed her injured hand against the document. “My life is mine. My body is mine. Even if something happens to me one day, I want that final decision to belong to me.”

Keira wiped her cheeks and asked, “But why does this matter so much to you after what happened?”

Celine looked toward the window, where the moon hung above the quiet city. “Because they treated my life like it was worthless, and I refuse to believe that it was.”

She looked back at Keira with tears in her eyes and said, “If my life means so little to them, then at least I want to let it mean something.”

Keira covered her mouth as another tear slipped down her cheek. After a moment, she reached across and squeezed Celine's shoulder.

“You've changed,” Keira whispered, her voice filled with both sadness and pride.

Celine gave a faint smile as she answered, “I had to change. The woman who kept forgiving Cedrick almost died believing that love meant sacrificing herself.”

Keira looked down at the agreement again before asking, “And this woman?”

Celine gently took the pen from the table and answered, “This woman wants to decide her own future.”

She signed the necessary section and handed the document to Keira.

Keira carefully signed as the witness, then placed the pen down. “Whatever happens next, Celine, I'll stand beside you.”

Celine looked at her friend with gratitude. “Thank you, Keira. I don't know what I would do without you.”

Keira immediately pulled her into a careful hug, making sure not to hurt her injuries. “You don't have to find out, because I'm not going anywhere.”

Celine rested her head against Keira's shoulder and finally allowed herself to cry. The tears were not only from fear or pain anymore; they were also from the strange relief of knowing that, after everything Cedrick and Veronica had taken from her, one thing still belonged completely to her.

Her choice.

Her life.

Her future.

Liana's voice softened inside her as Celine finally closed her eyes. You survived the cold, Celine. Now you can learn how to live.

Celine breathed slowly and answered in a whisper, “Yes, Liana. This time, I'm going to live for myself.”