Chapter 2

She screamed until her voice gave out. She sobbed until she couldn't breathe. Her whole body felt ripped open. But Damon didn't look at her again. He shielded Selene, turned, and walked out of the ward.

To stay alive, Wren had to take it. To wait. To keep waiting. But on the last attempt, Selene backed out again. Wren never made it to that surgery. She died in the pre-op room.

Three hours later, the door opened. Damon walked in carrying Selene. Her face was pale, her eyes red, her voice cracking with tears.

"Wren… I'm sorry. I ate something bad. I missed the surgery again…"

Damon looked heartbroken. He laid her on the companion cot with great care, poured water, adjusted the bed, tucked the blanket around her.

This time, Wren just nodded. "It's fine. I'm used to it."

Damon's face darkened at once. "Wren. What's that supposed to mean?" "Do you know what Selene has gone through to be your match? Don't you have any gratitude?"

Lying in bed, Wren laughed. From the day Selene agreed to donate, Wren had been dragged along, worn down, a little at a time. Pre-op tests and strengthening her body alone took half a year.

At first, Selene even knelt at her bedside, tears streaming. "Wren, just wait a little longer, please?" "I have two months until graduation. If I start tests and treatments now, it'll affect my exams…" "If I fail, my whole life is over. Please. A little more time."

Back then, Wren had still been grateful for this "kindness." She had pushed her discomfort down and nodded.

Half a year later, Selene finished her exams. But a new excuse came fast. This time, Damon stepped forward. He rubbed Wren's arm and explained in a gentle voice.

"Wren, the Healer just looked at Selene's report. Her system is too weak right now. She doesn't meet the threshold for donation." "She needs more time to recover. She should eat more, put on weight." "She's forcing herself to eat right now, especially fatty meat. She just cried to me that she couldn't keep it down and threw up several times. I can't stand to watch her suffer like that."

Three more months passed. Selene barely scraped by on the basic pre-op checks. Then she got scared.

"Wren, Damon, I'm so afraid…" "Every time I think about the extraction, I shake all over. I can't eat during the day. I can't sleep at night…" "If I go into the ritual in this state, I'll die…"

Damon held Wren's hand to comfort her, but his eyes never left Selene. "This is a big deal. She deserves time to prepare herself." "Don't rush. Take it slow." "Wren and I will both wait for you."

During the two weeks of Selene's "mental preparation," Wren's condition crashed. Her gums kept bleeding. Large bruises spread under her skin. She could barely hold herself together. In front of Damon, Elias handed down a critical-condition notice.

When the news reached Selene, she called on her own, sobbing, promising she wouldn't back out again. Clinging to the last thread of hope, Wren gritted her teeth and made it through that crisis.

But it was still another excuse. One week before the procedure, two plainly dressed old wolves showed up at the Infirmary. The moment they saw Wren, they dropped to their knees and would not get up, wailing that she was going to drive their daughter to her death. In the end, Wren paid out $500,000 before the scene was over.

Selene herself stayed outside the whole time. She never showed her face.

Damon didn't feel sorry for Wren — she had just survived the crisis, had just been squeezed for money. He ran off to Selene to soothe her. He took her to a high-end restaurant, bought her nineteen birthday gifts, and wrote, "To make up for the hard years of your youth."

Wren was on a blood-cleansing infusion in the Infirmary, kept alive by the machines. And her mate was celebrating another woman's birthday.

The next day, Damon came back to stall again. Wren finally asked him the question. "Does she… actually not want to donate her blood at all?"

Damon's face went dark, angry. "Wren. How can you think that?" "For you, Selene gained weight, fell behind in school, stood up to her parents, and went through every test she could even though her body hurt." "And now you say this about her? Don't you think that's going too far?"

In that moment, Wren understood. He had changed.

The memory faded. In this life, Damon was repeating the same promises. "Next time, I'll carry her in myself if I have to."

Wren smiled. This time, she would not stake all her hope on those two wolves' consciences.

The Infirmary quickly set a new date for the Blood Bond Infusion. Elias came in to comfort her personally. "Once the infusion works, you'll slowly get better. You'll have a life again."

Wren nodded. But something else came first. The night before the procedure, Selene backed out again. She stood in the room, her voice sharp.

"Wren, you know there's risk in this, right?"