Chapter4
When I finally fluttered my eyes open, the maidservant huddled by my bedside let out a sharp, piercing wail.
The very air in the Frostbitten Asylum seemed to tremble with her despair
“You’ve been lost to us for over ten days, my lady” she choked ou.
“In that time, Snow brought the Alpha’s son into the world, and the entire pack has been in a frenzy of celebration. But this place… this Frostbitten Asylum is a realm apart, cloaked in isolation and reeking of death. None but the pack’s healer, with his muttered incantations and vials of mysterious potions, dared to venture near.”
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She then revealed that the Alpha himself had deigned to visit on occasion.
But his visits were not borne of concern or kindness. Oh no. He came merely to inquire if I had finally succumbed.
The palace, he had said, had no place for the sick and weak.
If I did not rouse soon, I would be cast into the wilds, to be torn apart and devoured.
“Thank the mighty lunar spirits you’ve returned to us!” she exclaimed, her hands clasped together in a fervent prayer.
I reached out to brush away the tears that streamed down her cheeks like rivers.
But my body betrayed me.
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My arm hung limp and useless.
I was now a cripple.
The maidservant, her eyes widening in sympathy and alarm, quickly rushed to my aid, gently propping me up into a sitting position.
Her eyes, which had just begun to dry, welled up once more, and she suddenly dropped to her knees before me.
“Wizard Muna, you may not recall, but you saved my life in a time long past. Now, as you face your own trials, please, let me accompany you. Allow me to care for you.”
I could barely fend for myself, let alone protect another.
“No,” I whispered weakly, my voice hoarse
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from disuse. “You mustn’t.”
But she was resolute.
“If you deny me, Wizard Muna, I will kneel here until my legs give way and my body fails me. I will not be deterred.”
I let out a weary sigh, the weight of the world pressing down on my shoulders. “Very well. I will do what I can.”
At once, her face lit up with a radiant smile. She helped me to my feet.
As the sun began to set,the Alpha entered the Frostbitten Asylum with a menacing swagger.
I immediately dropped to my knees, my head bowed low in submission.
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The Alpha’s hand shot out like a striking snake, his fingers digging into my chin as he forced me to meet his cold, calculating gaze.
“Recovered?”
“Your humble servant is feeling much improved, my Alpha“.
He released me with a disdainful shove and
took a seat at the table.
I knelt lower, my forehead touching the cold, hard floor.
“Alpha, the sacrifice has been made. I have paid the price. Please, in your infinite mercy, allow Moony to leave the palace with me.”
In an instant, his face contorted with ragel.
“Leave the palace? Are you so depraved,
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so insatiable, that you long to return to the squalor of the Red Den, to spread your legs for those lowly, mongrel wolves?”
Suddenly, his gaze fell upon my limp arm, and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. “What happened to your arm?”
“Alpha!” The pack steward burst into the room, his face pale and flushed with urgency.
“Luna Snow is gravely ill. She requires your immediate presence.”
The Alpha’s expression shifted in an instant.
Without a word, he rose to his feet and started towards the door.
Panic surged through me as I realized that this was my last chance.
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I scrambled to my feet and rushed forward, falling to my knees once more in front of him.
“Alpha! Please, have mercy! Let Moony leave with me!”
“Filthy wretch!”
With a swift, powerful kick, he sent me flying across the room.
I crashed into the table leg with a sickening thud.
I coughed up a mouthful of blood.
I crumpled to the ground in a heap.
“Your body is a vessel of corruption, a stain upon the purity of the palace,” he sneered
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“I will not have you defiling these sacred halls. If you are so eager to return to the Red Den, then so be it. You will serve there day and night, without rest, until you draw your last breath.”
Before I could respond, he added, “Or, you can grovel at my feet and beg me to let you stay.”
“Alpha!” I interrupted him, forcing myself to prostrate on the ground once more.
“I accept my fate.”
“You will regret this defiance,” he hissel.
“Alpha…” The steward’s voice, trembling with fear, broke the tense silence.
“Luna Snow is waiting.”
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–
The Alpha took a deep breath, his body visibly trembling with barely controlled rage. “Fine. You may leave the palace in three days‘ time. But mark my words, Muna. You will pay for your insolence.”
With that, he stormed out of the rooml.
Moony rushed to my side.
I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth with my left hand, a bitter smile playing on my lips. Regret? I felt none.
My own fate was of little consequence. All that mattered was saving Moony.
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