Chapter 5

Stella POV

"James, how can you say that? Stella's injured."

She crouched beside me, trying to help me up.

"Stella, don't blame James. He just cares about me too much."

I braced myself with my good right hand and slowly climbed up from the ground, pulling out the silver spike from my left arm.

The previously healed wound tore open again, starting to burn with pain.

I didn't acknowledge Grace's outstretched hand and didn't spare James a single glance.

I kept my head down and limped toward the infirmary on my own.

As I passed him, I left him with just one sentence.

"Putting dangerous things like this in places like that could easily hurt Pack members!"

James was furious.

"Look at her!"

He said coldly to Grace.

"Always like this, acting like the whole world owes her something. It was her own carelessness, and she still has to blame me?"

Grace sighed softly, leaning into his embrace, her voice weak and aggrieved.

"Don't say that. It's all my fault. She must hate me now."

James held her tighter, his chin resting on top of her head.

"It has nothing to do with you. She's the one with twisted thoughts. She deserves it."

I hadn't gone far.

Their conversation drifted into my ears, every single word.

I didn't stop walking. I just smiled.

They really were a perfect match.

One stupid, one cruel.

When I got back to the infirmary, Brian saw my disheveled state and exploded.

"What happened? Where's James?"

I calmly told him what happened.

Brian's eyes went red with rage. He was about to shift and charge out.

"I'm going to kill him today!"

"Brian."

I stopped him.

"There's no point."

"Fine. We won't deal with him."

Brian took a deep breath, suppressing his anger.

"Stella, I've finished the paperwork for going abroad. The flight is on the eighteenth of next month. Once your arm's a bit better, we're leaving. We're going to Paris, far away from these terrible people."

The eighteenth of next month.

I remembered. That was exactly the date of James's ceremony.

I nodded.

"Okay."

For the next few days, I focused on healing.

James never came again. Grace, however, kept sending food over every few days.

I didn't even look at it. Threw it all away.

A week later, the wound on my arm finally healed completely, and I went home.

The Pack's pups came specifically to see me.

So I took them to play in the forest.

But Grace tracked me down.

"Stella, I'm so glad to see you've recovered well. That puts my mind at ease."

I couldn't be bothered with her.

Grace didn't mind and kept talking.

"You know what? For our mate ceremony, James had tons of roses flown in. He said he wants to give me the most spectacular ceremony the Pack has ever seen."

I still didn't respond.

I knew about those roses. They cost a fortune.

I guessed James had diverted some funds from the Pack's accounts.

This would mess up the Pack's cash flow, but no one cared. The Alpha didn't care. James didn't care either.

Grace was losing her patience. She leaned forward slightly and lowered her voice.

"Stella, stop pretending. I know you're not willing to accept this. You followed him around for two years, and in the end, the future Luna position is mine. I'd go crazy too if I were you."

I glanced at her.

"Are you done? Then get lost."

Grace's smile vanished completely.

"You!"

She bit her lip, then smiled again.

"Stella, do you think you're so noble? You think your love is some precious thing? Let me tell you. In James's eyes, your two years of pestering disgust him more than wolf shit on the side of the road."

She stood up, looking down at me from above, her eyes full of a victor's smugness and contempt.

"You'll never win against me. Because you're too weak. James could never love you."

With that, she turned around, swaying her hips as she prepared to leave.

The place where we were playing had a pond.

In summer, I'd bring the kids here to swim.

Well, they swam. I couldn't swim at all and could never learn.

I was hopeless in water.

Grace walked to the pond's edge and gave me a strange smile.

Then her body tilted backward, and she fell straight into the pond behind her.

"Help! Stella, why did you push me!" Grace flailed in the water, screaming for help.

I didn't react in time.

"I didn't..."

Just then, a tall figure rushed out.