My brother Raymond hated me for seven years.

After a bitter fight on a freezing winter night, I stormed out and drove away.

I never expected a blizzard to fall so suddenly. It blinded my vision. I was attacked by a rogue, injected with a poison that could erase memories and sever blood bonds. My memories became fragmented.

When I woke up in the pack’s infirmary, Raymond stood there with a cold expression and casually pointed at a gravely ill male werewolf lying in bed.

“He’s your brother. Stop bothering me.”

I was stunned. The male werewolf pushed himself up and took my freezing hand, his eyes gentle.
“Come on. I’ll take you home.”

After that, I no longer saw Raymond as my brother—just as he wished.

So why was he suddenly begging for my acknowledgement after casting me aside so eagerly?

Rose Murdock's POV

Two weeks ago, I had a huge fight with my brother, Raymond.

As I slammed the door on my way out, I shouted, "Even if I die out there and get torn apart by wild beasts, I don't need you! Don't you dare touch my bones!"

His face turned pale, but he yelled back instantly, "Then you'd better keep your word!"

I was an omega with barely any wolf in me. When I was attacked by a rogue, I truly thought I was going to die.

When I opened my eyes again, my vision was still blurry. Not far away, a healer was speaking softly to Raymond.

"We tried everything we could, but the poison has been in her system for some time. No one knows what the side effects will be."

I've always hated places that reek of disinfectant. I pushed myself up on the edge of the bed, wanting to walk out and tell them I was ready to leave.

Just as I reached the doorway, I heard Raymond's voice. He sounded relieved.

"She woke up once last night. She didn't even recognize me."

Last night, when I first came to, my vision hadn't cleared yet. I simply couldn't see who was there, so I asked.

The healer went on, "She's been unconscious for so long, it's normal that her memory's jumbled. We'll run another test. If there's memory loss, there are always witches' potions. The southern witch, Olivia…"

This poison mainly targeted the mind of a werewolf, and only then the body. My body felt fine. Clearly, the healer's antidote had worked.

But before the healer could finish, Raymond cut him off. "No. The less she remembers, the better. Don't let her recall anything."

My heart clenched. My hand froze on the doorknob.

'Are you really that eager to cast me away?'

I pushed the door open.

Raymond froze for a split second, then his expression turned cold again.

"Raymond, I actually—"

He frowned at first. Then, he pointed impassively at a gravely ill male werewolf lying in bed. "Miss, you've got the wrong person. That's your brother over there."

For a moment, I thought my hearing still hadn't recovered. I stared at him in a daze. My throat felt dry.

"What did you just say?" I asked.

Raymond's gaze flickered. He was my blood brother—no matter how much he resented me, I couldn't believe he would take advantage of my half-healed state to abandon me and hand me off to a stranger.

Still, having clawed back a second chance at life, I wanted to talk to him—just once more. Perhaps this time, the misunderstanding between us could be resolved.

I opened my mouth, but he cut me off harshly.

"You're sick. Your mind isn't right. I don't blame you, but stop calling me your brother. And stop bothering me."

The man Raymond had pointed to was lying in bed on the other side of the ward. His features were striking, and his skin was awfully pale.

Anyone else, suddenly saddled with a deranged sister, would have blown up.

Yet, he seemed unusually calm.

"I'm just your brother's classmate. Ask him if he'll accept you as his sister. Don't drag me into it," Raymond spat.

With that, he walked away without looking back.

My heart sank.

This wasn't the first time. He had hated me for seven years.

Yet, my tears still welled up.

Suddenly, the world turned dark before my eyes. My body went weak, and I was about to collapse.

The man on the bed moved; he got out of bed and started walking toward me.

Was he coming here to mock me and accuse me of feigning weakness? Raymond was gone. Was he going to hurt me now?

I felt terrified.

At that moment, a hand steadied me. Another hand rested gently on the crown of my head. Several seconds passed before I heard his voice.

"Honey, I'm just glad you're awake. Let's go home."

Rose Murdock's POV

Raymond believed I had killed our parents. I couldn't even remember the last time he had called me 'honey.'

I tilted my head up at the unfamiliar werewolf before me and, unable to help myself, nodded.

"Alright."

I followed a werewolf whose name I didn't even know into an unfamiliar house.

The place was spotless.

My gaze swept the room and landed on the coffee table, where several small white bottles were lined up in perfect order. I recognized them instantly—enhanced sedatives. That amount could have put five werewolves to sleep forever.

Beside the bottles sat a black-and-white photograph of a man with a blank, emotionless face.

Noticing my stare, the werewolf walked over, tucked the items away in a drawer, and said softly, "This is a couch. You can sit on it. I'll make you some food."

He truly thought something was wrong with my mind, that I couldn't recognize people or even understand what ordinary things were for.

I kept staring at those bottles, a strange heaviness settling in my chest. Had he, like me, already given up on living?

He stepped into the kitchen, but no sound of cooking followed. When I finally went to check, I found him standing motionless before an empty refrigerator.

"Sorry. I'll have to go out and buy some meat."

For years, I had thought of myself as a hollow shell without a soul. Yet seeing him like that, I realized some people looked even more like the walking dead.

He had already reached the door when, against my better judgment, I called out to him.

"I like beef."

His shoulders stiffened. Winter wind rushed through the crack of the open door, whipping his cloak until it snapped like a banner.

I repeated, "Let's have beef for dinner. Is that okay?"

His fingers gave the faintest tremor before he nodded and said yes.

I watched him leave, then let my gaze drift back to the bottles. Since he had promised to be my brother, he would come back, wouldn't he?

My thoughts drifted back to two weeks earlier, to the final round of the Moon Acolyte selection.

As a 'useless' and wolf-less omega, I had no right to stand on the sacred altar. It had been my father who carved my name onto the monument before his death.

"She belongs to the Moon Goddess."

And yet, my own brother Raymond had pushed the monument down in front of every elder.

"She's just an omega without a wolf. She's unworthy."

That night, I had a bitter fight with Raymond and left the house. Not long after, the rogue attacked me.

I sank back onto the couch. The moment I closed my eyes, the nightmares returned.

My parents should have lived out their lives in peace, but were instead buried beneath collapsing rubble.

I had been dragged from the wreckage by werewolf guards and was forced to carry their stolen years forward.

In my dreams, Raymond's hateful eyes always found me.

"Mom and Dad are dead. Why are you still alive? After all these years, don't you feel guilty at all?"

Of course I did. That was why, in every dream, there was fire, blood, and my parents' faces.

I jolted awake, and almost without realizing, I slid open the drawer and slipped out the bottles like a thief.

But just then, a phone rang on the coffee table.

The sound was so sharp and sudden that I jumped, dropping the bottles to the floor. My heart pounded as I grabbed the phone, only to realize that it wasn't mine.

I pressed the button, and the call connected.

A furious male voice exploded through the line.

"Adrian Sanders! More than 700 million—if you think you're keeping every cent from me, forget it! I'm your father! Your sister died for you. She's gone now, and that's perfect! By blood, everything of hers belongs to me!

"You think you can give it away? Over my dead body!"

Rose Murdock's POV

By the time I came back to my senses and quickly hung up the phone, I had already heard more than enough.

There was a sheet of paper lying on the carpet. I picked it up—it was a medical report. The diagnosis read end-stage heart failure. In the patient column, the name written there was Adrian Sanders, the same one I had just heard on the phone.

That was when I remembered the recent news regarding the leader of the pack's most powerful mercenary corps, Orion. He had suddenly announced that he would hand over his authority to his deputy.

So this was the reason—his body was already failing him.

I put the report back in the drawer together with the bottles of pills.

Time passed slowly. Outside, heavy rain began pouring down, and still, he hadn't returned. Had he really gone off to die?

I threw on a coat and ran out into the storm. His car was still parked in the front yard, so he couldn't have gone far. I headed directly to the mall nearby.

The weather was freezing. I searched three floors of the mall, but didn't see him anywhere.

Suddenly, a voice I knew all too well came from behind me.

"Are you following me?" he asked with suppressed anger.

I turned to see Raymond standing not far away. He was glaring daggers at me.

Beside him was Jenna, the daughter of the Shadow Pack Chamber's president—the same man Raymond had recently struck a deal with. Rumor had it that Raymond had even taken Jenna as his foster sister. That president never stopped praising him for being loyal and righteous.

In the end, he simply didn't want to acknowledge me as his real sister.

I held the umbrella tightly. The sting of humiliation rose like a tide in my chest, but I tried my best not to let it show.

"I wasn't following you. I came here for something else."

The anger in his eyes only became more obvious. He snorted. "You've never set foot in this place before. Do you expect me to believe that?"

Before I could answer, I caught sight of a familiar figure behind him.

Adrian was staring at me in silence.

Raymond saw me ignoring him, and his voice grew impatient. "I'm talking to you! Stop following me. That's against the law. And I'm not your family, do you hear me?"

My gaze shifted to the bag in Adrian's hand. Inside was freshly butchered beef, already cleaned and packed.

So he really had gone to buy beef? For some reason, I couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

Raymond's expression shifted, as if he had seen a ghost. The moment his gaze landed on Adrian, his expression changed drastically.

"What the hell is this werewolf doing here?"

I finally pulled my gaze away from Adrian and looked at Raymond.

"I'm here to find my brother," I said calmly.

Raymond was still staring at Adrian suspiciously. His voice snapped with fury as he barked at me. "How many times have I told you? I'm not your brother! Stop calling me that!"

I ignored him. After walking past him, I stopped in front of Adrian.

Glancing down, I saw his boots were dusted with the distinct mud from the riverbank.

He had wanted to die, but hadn't gone through with it. Instead, he had turned around and gone to the market to buy the beef he promised me.

I reached out and gently took the bag from his hand.

"Let's go," I said softly.

Adrian shivered a little. He hadn't even spoken yet when Raymond suddenly burst forward in rage.

"You're going home with him? Rose, are you out of your mind?"

I looked back at him, my voice faint and confused. "This is my brother. Of course I'm going home with him. Didn't you already know that?"

Raymond's expression darkened. His words were stuck in his throat, and for a long moment, not a single word came out.

I held onto Adrian's arm and started moving forward, but Raymond rushed ahead to block our way.

His whole body trembled with fury as he shouted, "You've been away from the villa all afternoon! Don't tell me you really plan on leaving with this stranger. Are you insane? You don't even have a wolf, and you dare go with a stranger? Do you want to end up dead?"