Chapter 4: The Price of Derek's Cruelty

When I opened my eyes again, cold water hit my face.

The iron door was open. The light burned my eyes.

The butler stood at the entrance with two guards, his face grim.

"Luna, Miss Camilla has been poisoned. The Alpha requests your presence."

I could barely stand. The guards half-dragged me upstairs.

The master bedroom reeked of medicine. Camilla lay pale in bed, her lips tinged an unnatural blue. She was barely breathing.

Derek stood beside her, his eyes so red they looked like they'd bleed.

"Why did you do this to Camilla? You know wolfbane is lethal to werewolves. How could you poison her?"

"I didn't!" I said, my voice sharp.

He threw a bundle of wolfbane leaves at my feet. "The guards found this in your room. The evidence is right here. How much longer are you going to lie?"

The healer was urging him from the side. "Alpha, we can't wait any longer. Miss Camilla is in critical condition. The only option is to fight poison with poison, but the antidote might be harmful to werewolves. We need to test it on someone immediately."

Derek walked over to me slowly. He looked down at me, his voice cold and deliberate.

"Chloe, you're human. You're going to test the antidote."

"You hurt Camilla. You have to pay for it."

I was trembling all over. "Derek, please. I can't take that medicine—"

He didn't listen. He waved the guards forward.

They dragged me to the treatment room. I watched the healer walk toward me with the bowl.

I begged him. "Please, go tell the Alpha! Tell him I'm pregnant!"

"I'm barely two months along. It's his child! The antidote is harmful to werewolves—my baby has werewolf blood. I absolutely can't drink it!"

But the healer just sneered. "Luna, you're human. There's no way you could be carrying the Alpha's child. And even if you were, the Alpha wouldn't care. Miss Camilla is the one he cares about."

He gestured to the guards to hold me down.

The bitter liquid was poured down my throat.

At first, nothing happened.

A few minutes later, a sharp stabbing pain tore through my abdomen. Something hot and wet ran down my legs.

I collapsed on the floor, blood soaking through my clothes...

I woke up in a hospital room.

The doctor hesitated when he saw I was conscious. Finally, he lowered his eyes.

"Ms. Chloe, I'm so sorry. By the time you were brought in, the baby was already gone."

I lay there in silence. No tears. No screams.

I'd learned that when pain is absolute, there are no words for it.

Two days later, I was discharged.

I went through the D&C procedure alone. I handled all the paperwork alone.

When I returned to the villa, it was empty. Derek had sent everyone to the hospital to take care of Camilla.

I didn't pack any of my things. I didn't take a single valuable item.

I just placed the yellowed termination contract and the miscarriage report side by side on the nightstand in the master bedroom.

When I walked out through the front gate, the first light of dawn was breaking over the horizon.

I walked away from the cage that had held me for six years. I never looked back.

As the plane lifted off, I said my final goodbye to Derek in my heart.

Goodbye, my Alpha.