Love Only in My Ashes

I was dying.

People have premonitions when death is near.

When Lina pushed my wheelchair to the seaside, I knew this was the end.

A month ago, I was poisoned by wolfsbane. The witch doctor told me my time was short.

I didn't want to die in that cold house. Lina packed our bags without a word and left the Vaelgorr Pack with me. We traveled aimlessly until we reached this coastline.

In recent days, the pain gnawed at my nerves. The painkillers from the witch doctor had long since lost their effect. My skin had taken on an unhealthy grey pallor; even the thickest foundation couldn't hide the dark circles under my eyes.

My legs had completely lost sensation; I could only curl up in the wheelchair, letting Lina push me along.

I knew I would die.

"Don't say that!" Lina suddenly crouched down, grabbing my withered hand, her eyes red-rimmed. "You're still so young! We can find other witch doctors—"

I shook my head weakly. "It's no use, Lina. I can't hold on anymore... Tell Chris to be gentle when he dissects me. You know how afraid of pain I am."

Chris was Lina's mate, a sorcerer skilled in memory extraction magic.

The Alpha had assigned him to study the brains of fallen werewolves, attempting to mine battlefield intelligence from the memories of the dead.

But this technique required a large number of experimental subjects, and werewolves willing to donate their bodies were scarce—after all, who didn't have secrets they wanted to take to the grave?

The day I was diagnosed with wolfsbane poisoning, I signed a donation agreement with Chris. This was the only way I could repay him and his wife.

Lina's tears fell onto the back of my hand. I wanted to wipe them away, to tell her that death was a release for me.

But my arms felt heavy as lead.

My eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and finally, darkness swallowed my vision.

I had thought death would either be eternal nothingness or the legendary cycle of reincarnation.

But I never imagined my soul would neither dissipate nor ascend to heaven. Instead, it drifted eerily to my father's side.

He was in the pack's tailor shop, accompanying Jasmine and Colin as they tried on wedding attire.

Through the shop window's reflection, I saw Jasmine twirling in a pearl-studded wedding dress, Father and Colin standing beside her like two loyal knights.

Jasmine was my stepsister, the daughter of the pack's former Beta—that Beta had died saving my father, a Gamma. So, Father poured all his guilt into compensating her.

Since childhood, right or wrong, she was always justified.

After she developed depression due to her Omega status, Father became even more excessive.

Just because Jasmine couldn't bear Colin choosing me, Father ordered me to give up my fated mate.

Colin had resisted at first, until Jasmine slit her wrists in the bathroom.

Now, the three people I least wanted to see were right before me. I tried to float away but found my soul chained by invisible shackles; I couldn't move if I drifted more than five meters from Father.

"Is the old man's favoritism not enough? Even Death is on her side?" I roared into the air. "Is Jasmine the illegitimate daughter of the universe's ruler?"

No one answered.

I could only watch helplessly as Jasmine was treated like a princess, showered with adoration. The man who always wore a stern face for me, who always spurred me on with 'not good enough', was now personally adjusting Jasmine's veil.

And Colin... He had once looked at me that way too. But the way he gazed at Jasmine now made me realize I had never been special to him.

After Jasmine finally selected her gown, Father pulled out his phone and called Lina.

His reflection in the glass showed a deeply furrowed brow. "Is Jane with you? A twenty-year-old still throwing childish tantrums? Tell that girl if she dares to ruin Jasmine and Colin's Marking Ceremony, she can forget about calling me her father!"

I floated above Father's head and suddenly laughed until tears streamed down my face.

"I'm already dead..." The soul's sob scattered in the wind. "Why do I still have to make way for your 'precious daughter'?"

I screamed at my father, but he couldn't hear me.