The Shadows 3

Chapter 3 

It wasn’t until dusk that Evric finally came to my ward. 

He looked at me and, without even a greeting, said flatly, “Celeste wants some of your soup. Go back and make it.” 

I scoffed, lips curled. “She’s not afraid of me poisoning it with wolfsbane anymore?” 

“Nerina, drop the sarcasm when you’re talking with me,” Evric’s voice carried a shred of seriousness. “After all the 

punishment you’ve been through, do you still think you can get away with playing tricks in secret?” 

He snapped, frowning. 

“I’m tired. I’m not going,” I rejected, closing my eyes without hesitation. 

“Nerina, don’t forget you’re a contracted servant. Do you think you have any right to reject?” 

The moment the words left his mouth, he roughly yanked me out of bed again. “Don’t force me to make you go.” 

His eyes were dark and cold, sending a chill down my spine. It seemed if I said no again, I might not live to regret it. 

In the end, I had no choice but to drag my weakened body back to the pack house. 

As I passed the garden, I saw the remaining bellflowers, my beloved flowers, scattered across the ground, trampled and 

broken. 

Their petals were withered and stained with mud. Just like me, crushed and ruined in this place called Ebonhart Pack. 

But Evric had promised me yesterday he’d let me take them. Why did I find them like this today? 

The pain and helplessness welled up in my chest, and tears spilled uncontrollably down my face. 

“Nerina,” Alden’s voice came softly behind me. “Celeste got hurt in the garden yesterday. To vent her anger, Evric had all the bellflowers destroyed.” 

Seeing me like this, Alden let out a sigh and began to explain. 

I stood there silently for a moment, then murmured, “I understand.” 

It was because of Celeste again. 

Evric was an Alpha. If he had wanted the truth, it would’ve taken nothing for him to command his Beta to investigate. But instead, he blindly believed Celeste’s every word. 

I wiped my tears and, heart hollow with despair, stepped into the kitchen to make the soup. 

“Alden,” I said, “after I deliver this, I’m going back to pack my things. Please tell Evric I’ve taken a day off. If he asks again, then tell him I’m not renewing the contract.” 

An hour later, I reminded Alden while holding the thermal flask. 

I was afraid he’d try to use the contract to keep me here. This was the only way I could leave a little sooner. 

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Alden agreed, out of the kindness of years past. 

When I arrived at the hospital, I placed the soup respectfully by Celeste’s bedside and immediately stepped back. 

“What’s that supposed to mean, Evric?” Celeste complained, glaring at me. “Does she act like I have the plague or 

something?” 

“I was just afraid,” I said calmly. “Afraid Celeste might throw the soup at me again. If that happens, I don’t think there’s a single spot left on me that can take another burn. I hope you’ll forgive me, Celeste.” 

At my words, Evric finally looked at me with a flicker of guilt in his eyes. 

But Celeste saw it too, and tears immediately welled up. 

“Evric,” she said pitifully, “do I really seem like some unreasonable, petty woman to everyone? Nerina was the one who 

messed up, so why am I the one being blamed?” 

The moment he saw her cry, Evric’s brief sympathy for me disappeared entirely, transferred to Celeste like it always did. 

“Nerina!” he shouted. “Know your place. If you can’t even serve my Luna properly, then whatever she throws at you, you 

deserve it!” 

His slap sent me crashing into the wall. My head hit it hard, and a wave of dizziness surged through me. 

“Don’t cry, Celeste. It hurts me to see you upset. Let me punish her for you, okay?” 

He murmured, cupping her cheek tenderly. Then he turned and kicked me hard in the stomach, forcing bile up my throat 

and out of my mouth. 

He muttered, voice thick with disgust and contempt. “Get out.” 

Celeste whimpered behind him, “Evric… she threw up. It smells horrible in here. Is she doing this on purpose to gross us out?” 

Evric glanced at the yellow mess on the floor with a look of disgust. “Lick it back up. Then get the hell out.” 

I stayed where I was, curled on the ground, humiliated beyond words. But my stomach and head hurt so much I couldn’t even speak. 

Evric assumed I was resisting. He grabbed me by the hair and forced my face down toward the vomit. 

“I told you to lick it clean. Are you deaf?” 

The sour liquid smeared across my face and into my mouth. The stench made my stomach churn even more. 

Only then did Celeste purse her lips and pout. “That’s enough, Evric. Let her go. I’m not angry anymore.” 

At her words, Evric tossed me out the door like garbage. 

I couldn’t stand. Tears streamed down my face as I crawled slowly toward the hospital entrance, until a nurse’s voice rang out behind me in alarm, 

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“Miss! What happened to you?!” 

And then, I blacked out again. 

This time, I blamed my own weakness. Because of it, I had missed another chance to escape. 

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