Chapter Three

Alice's POV

Three days left. I was shoving my last coat into the suitcase when the door exploded open.

Bryan stood there, gripping the burnt photo. His knuckles were white. "You burned it?"

"Who else?" I didn't look up.

Ronald appeared behind him, eyes locked on my half-packed bag. "You're really leaving?"

"Three days from now." I zipped up the case. "On the full moon."

Bryan threw the photo at my feet. "Together forever—you said that! Ten years ago in the secret cave, you held mine and Ronald's hands and carved those words!"

"So you do remember it was ten years ago." I looked up. "Last full moon, you both swore to me in that cave, saying 'we'll only acknowledge Alice for life.' What about now? How many times have you taken Maggie to that cave?"

They both went dead still.

Ronald broke first, voice rough. "That's different. Maggie just arrived, she needs someone to show her around!"

"Show her around until midnight?" I cut him off. "Last night, I woke up from the pain in my wound and saw you three returning from the back mountain. Maggie was wearing your jacket, Bryan."

Silence.

Bryan swallowed hard. "She's afraid of the dark."

I actually laughed.

Afraid of the dark. Last year when I was jolted awake by nightmares, running to him barefoot, he'd held me and said "come to me whenever you have bad dreams," never letting go all night. Now he watched stars with someone else because "she's afraid of the dark."

"Fine." I picked up my suitcase. "Get out of my way."

"No." Ronald blocked the door. "We still don't know about that watch. Who did you contact?"

"My father's friend."

"What kind of friend needs you to 'call with blood'?" Bryan stepped closer, his Alpha energy making my wound throb. "Alice, tell the truth."

I looked at them. These two men I once thought I'd marry.

Just then, Maggie's voice came from the hallway. "Alice? Are you there?"

She walked in with a plate of roasted meat, still steaming—the silver fox from the last hunt, every werewolf's favorite, the kind of delicacy only Alpha mates got to eat.

She held the plate out to me, her eyes red. "Alice, I roasted this myself. Please try some, consider it... accepting my apology."

The aroma was appetizing. Instinctively, I knew something was wrong.

"You poisoned it." I looked up at her. "Maggie, you want me to embarrass myself on the full moon?"

Tears spilled down her cheeks. "Alice, how could you think that of me? I just want to apologize. I spent all morning roasting this meat..."

"She's trying to help." Bryan's voice was cold and hard. "Alice, don't push it."

Ronald grabbed a fork, speared a piece of meat. "I'll eat first. If it's poisoned, I'll die first. Satisfied?"

He took a big bite, chewed, and swallowed. Then stared at me. "Nothing happened. Now you."

I looked at Maggie. Tears still hung on her lashes, but the tiniest smirk tugged at her lips.

"I'm not hungry." I said.

"Eat." Bryan commanded.

"I said, I'm not hungry."

Ronald threw down the fork. "What exactly do you want? Maggie has done this much, you want her to grovel?"

I remembered last year. When I had a fever and couldn't eat, Bryan spent an hour coaxing me with porridge, finally tasting it first himself and saying "see, no poison, be good and take a bite." Ronald told me jokes from the side until he cracked up first.

Now they wanted me to eat what might be poisoned.

"Fine." I took the plate. "I'll eat."

I picked up the knife and fork, cut a piece of meat. As I brought it toward my mouth, my wrist was suddenly grabbed.

It was Bryan. Something flickered in his eyes. "Forget it."

"Didn't you want me to eat?" I asked.

He snatched the plate away and smashed it on the floor. The porcelain shattered, meat pieces scattered.

"If you won't eat, forget it." His voice was hoarse. "Don't look at me like that."

Maggie's sobs rang out. "Sorry, I messed up again."

Ronald pulled her against his shoulder, shouting at me, "Happy now that she's crying?"

"Get out." I said.

Three days later, on the full moon.

As the moon climbed higher, fire shot through my bones—a sign of werewolf shift. But quickly, agony ripped through my stomach, like needles stabbing through my veins.

I collapsed to my knees, convulsing all over.

The entire pack had gathered in the square. Under the moonlight, bodies started shifting and growing, fur tearing through clothing, howls rising one after another.

I was the only one still human.

Cold sweat soaked my clothes. I tried to trigger my bloodline, but every try sent worse pain shooting through me.

"She can't shift!" someone cried out.

The gray wolf that Maggie had become walked up to me and transformed back to human form. Wearing Bryan's jacket, her voice rang across the square, "Because she's not a pureblooded werewolf at all! She's half-human! A mongrel!"

Chaos erupted.

"You're lying!" I gritted my teeth trying to stand, only to fall again.

"I have proof." Maggie held up my pocket watch. "She's been secretly communicating with vampires, planning to betray the pack! This watch is a communication tool!"

Bryan and Ronald shifted back to human form and rushed over.

"Alice..." Ronald's voice trembled. "Is this true?"

I wanted to say "Maggie is the vampire," but my throat closed up, no sound coming out.

"She also lied to everyone about having special bloodline," Maggie's voice was full of pity. "It was all made up. She just wanted to enjoy special treatment in the pack. Now that she can't fake it anymore, she wants to join the vampires!"

"I didn't..." I managed to whisper, but even I could barely hear it.

Ronald knelt down and grabbed my wrist. His eyes were bloodshot. "Speak up! Say this isn't true!"

I looked into his eyes. The same eyes that used to look at me with love, now cold with suspicion.

"Let's vote." The pack leader's voice rang out. "Exile, or execution?"

"Exile!"

"Burn her!"

"Traitor!"

Their voices swallowed me whole. I saw Bryan clutching the watch, knuckles white. I saw Ronald release my hand and stand up.

"Exile." Bryan's voice was decisive.

Ronald glanced at me once, then looked away. "I... agree."

I was dragged to the pack's border and thrown onto the cold ground.

The poison spread through my bloodstream. I could feel myself dying.

Footsteps approached.

Maggie crouched in front of me, wearing a victorious smile.

"Why..." I managed my last whisper.

"Because you don't deserve it." She said softly. "Those two Alphas, that pack, and the legend of 'special bloodline'—they should all be mine. You just got here first."

"The poison..."

She laughed. "You thought I put it in the meat? Too obvious. I coated the rim of the plate. I knew you wouldn't eat, but you'd always touch the plate. One touch was all it took to stop your shift. As for me, I took the antidote first."

She stood up and dusted off her skirt. "Goodbye, Alice. Go die."

She left.

I lay on the cold ground, feeling the warmth leave my body.

Then, everything faded to darkness.