Rose Murdock's POV

From the way Raymond raged, it seemed he had forgotten that he couldn't wait to sever all ties with me only moments ago.

His eyes were bloodshot, and he suddenly grabbed Adrian by the collar. "You're abducting a minor! I could drag you straight before the Pack Council right now!"

Adrian's voice was calm, almost detached. "She's sixteen. She can make her own choices."

Raymond's expression darkened, his fists clenching at his sides.

My heart clenched in panic. Adrian's health was already so fragile; if Raymond kept shaking him like this, he might collapse right there and then.

More werewolves began stopping to watch the scene.

My heart raced. I shoved Raymond hard, and my voice rose in a fury. "Let go of my brother!"

Raymond worked in the Pack Council, and he cared about appearances. After a tense few seconds, he finally released Adrian and sneered, "Your brother, huh? Then let me ask him something simple—what's her name?"

"Rose," I blurted out before Adrian could speak.

Raymond's face twisted with rage, like he might attack me any second.

"I was asking him! Who told you to answer? You're playing the part well enough, so why don't you keep pretending to have amnesia? You know better than anyone that he doesn't even know you. He doesn't even know your name!"

I looked him dead in the eye and asked flatly, "Are you out of your mind?"

Then, I turned away and laced my fingers through Adrian's. We started to walk.

Behind me, Raymond's bitter laugh cut through the air. "You think pretending you don't know me will wash away your sins? Our parents died because of you! How can you still live like nothing happened?"

My steps faltered for half a beat before I quickened my pace.

Back in the car, I stared out the window. My mind was tangled and restless. In my ears, all I could hear was Raymond's voice.

"You killed our parents. Just being alive makes me hate you! A werewolf like you should never have been allowed to survive!"

I had been premature, born frail and weak. Because of that, our parents poured all their love and attention into me. They treated me like royalty; every year on my birthday, they would call friends and family to celebrate weeks in advance, showering me with gifts. No matter how busy they were, they never missed a milestone—my first lost tooth, my first successful hunt, my first day at the Young Werewolves Academy.

As a child, I was proud. I thought I was a cub especially favored by the Moon Goddess.

Until the year I turned seven.

It was Raymond's birthday. Our parents had gone out of town for a gathering, and when I came home, I found him curled alone in a corner with nothing but a piece of dried meat smaller than his paw.

That night, I swore to myself I'd give him a proper birthday someday.

The chance came at his coming-of-age ceremony.

Our parents had left early that morning for official business in the Northern Territory. My mother, uneasy about leaving me, had wanted to take me with them. I fought her tooth and nail, crying until she finally sighed and relented. She ended up telling the maids to watch over me.

Alone in the house, I secretly began planning a celebration for Raymond.

I used years of saved allowance to reserve a hall at Moonlight Tavern on the outskirts of town. I even contacted some of his friends ahead of time.

By evening, I was just about to message Raymond to send him there when the ground trembled beneath my feet. A brick crashed down from above, knocking me to the floor. My ears rang, filled only with the roar of collapsing stone.

Seeing the chandelier was about to fall, I tried to crawl to safety, but my limbs were too weak.

In the nick of time, my parents descended from above and threw themselves over me.

In the dark, my mother's weak voice whispered against my ear.

"When I was carrying you, Raymond was only three. He was so full of energy. Once, he begged us to take him to see the fireworks at the local festival, but the roads were icy. I slipped, and the fall triggered early labor. I was bedridden for weeks. You came into this world small, frail, and far too soon. Raymond felt guilty ever since. That's why he never let us celebrate Raymond's birthdays. He thought Raymond deserved the punishment."

My head felt increasingly heavy. My parents repeatedly urged me in a soft voice, "Rose, don't sleep. Hold on a little longer. Stay awake…"

I didn't remember how I was pulled from the wreckage. When I opened my eyes, what greeted me were two lifeless bodies.

I screamed in denial, reaching for the werewolves who had rescued me. "That's impossible! I just heard them—they were talking to me! How can they be dead?"

One of the werewolf guards spoke gently. "That was a recording."

Our parents hadn't gone out of town after all. When the quake struck, they rushed back to the villa to save me.

The shards of the silver chandelier had pierced them beyond healing. But with the last of their strength, they had held the roof up through the night, keeping it from crushing me.

Due to severe blood loss, they knew they wouldn't survive. So, they recorded their voices, replaying them again and again at my side to keep me awake.

Raymond, meanwhile, had been away studying in another pack, untouched by the quake.

When he returned and saw the bodies, his eyes welled with tears for the first time. He rounded on me, voice raw with grief and rage.

"Weren't they supposed to take you with them? Why were you home alone? Did you throw another tantrum to get to the theme park? Did you force them to stay for you?"

Rose Murdock's POV

No one ever mentioned again the surprise coming-of-age ceremony I had planned for Raymond. As for the truth behind our parents' deaths, my grief and guilt were more than enough. He didn't need to know.

That day, he had said to me, "Rose, you really make me hate you. I hate you more than anything!"

From then on, he never once looked me in the eye.

I was trapped inside those memories.

Suddenly, I felt someone patting my arm and calling me softly. I jerked awake, gasping for air.

The car had already stopped in the villa district. Adrian sat beside me, watching with worried eyes.

I turned to him and whispered, "Actually, I've always regretted it."

Adrian stayed silent for a few seconds before nodding. His voice was gentle.

"I know."

I forced a smile. He was nothing but a stranger. What could he possibly know?

And yet, that single reply made me break down. My tears fell harder because his voice sounded so much like Raymond's voice from the past—the brother who used to protect me.

After we got out of the car, I silently followed Adrian into the unfamiliar villa.

I hadn't taken more than a few steps when I felt out of breath. My heart raced, and I felt an immense headache.

The healer had once explained that this was an emotional meltdown. Depressed werewolves often broke down without warning. That was when they should find someplace safe, somewhere they could at least talk to their wolf.

But I had lost mine. My wolf had all but vanished the night of the earthquake, gone with my parents. Raymond refused to forgive me. There was no one left to confide in.

I stood frozen, clutching my head.

Adrian's voice was louder than usual.

"Are you tired? Do you want me to carry you?" He steadied me on his back. "Let's go home and eat."

The sudden warmth made my nose sting. My tears spilled uncontrollably, dripping onto his shoulder.

After losing my parents, I was diagnosed with depression. I dreamed of that night again and again. The healer once suggested I talk it out with my brother. But with our parents gone and our family on the brink of collapse, Raymond had been forced to shoulder everything alone.

I couldn't pile my weakness onto him, either.

Adrian roasted the beef in the simplest way. Halfway through dinner, he suddenly put down his fork. "Actually, you and I…"

He hesitated. I knew he was searching for words to say that he and I were complete strangers.

I pretended not to hear, ladling him a bowl of broth. "It tastes a bit spicy. Next time, maybe we should use less pepper?"

He didn't bring it up again.

That night, I tossed and turned. Sleep was impossible. Feeling restless, I got out of bed. Just as I opened my door, I heard violent coughing from the room next door—and beneath it, the sound of dry retching.

I knocked, but nobody answered. The coughing only grew worse.

I pushed the door open. A draft came out, carrying the bitter smell of smoke and alcohol.

Moonlight streamed in through the window, illuminating Adrian curled on the sofa, his broad back hunched in pain. The pale light landed on the blanket at his feet—dark, damp stains spreading there.

It was blood from late-stage heart failure.

Hearing my footsteps, he scrambled to pull open a drawer, shoving in bottles of pills and half-empty liquor. There was still blood smeared on the corner of his mouth.

"I'm sorry. You shouldn't have seen this."

I didn't answer, and only sat down beside him. "What if they found you a compatible heart? Maybe you'd still have a chance."

Adrian's voice trembled.

"I don't deserve to live. Back then, my sister Emma was already consumed by illness. She chose to leave on her own, afraid I'd drown in the medical debt. All these years, I worked myself to the bone, clawing for money, for connections, doing whatever it took. But in the end, everything came too late. None of it brought her back."

He broke down sobbing.

"But if you really chose to give up on life, wouldn't that be the biggest slap in the face to her?" I said softly. "What if we tried to find you a heart together?"

Rose Murdock's POV

Adrian looked at me. As the first rays of morning light spilled into the room, he slowly nodded.

Suddenly, I felt as though my life had a purpose. I had taken on the mission of finding him a new heart.

One evening, just before Christmas, I was in the kitchen helping Adrian prepare dinner when a call came in. The number was from faraway Northvale.

It was the hospital.

In that instant, I could hear my deafening heartbeat in my own chest. When I hung up, I burst into tears, laughing and crying all at once, and ran straight into Adrian's arms.

"Adrian, they found one! A perfect match—we found it!"

He staggered back a couple of steps, nearly hitting the fridge. Then, he slowly wrapped an arm around me.

With a trembling smile, he whispered, "Thank you, Rose."

Tears still in my eyes, I looked up at him, catching that flicker of hope reawakening inside him. "Thank you, too."

Northvale Hospital urged us to come as soon as possible to prepare for the transplant. There was a catch, though. Adrian's condition was so critical that he would need the very best heart specialist alive.

The best of the best was Daniel Warren, a renowned healer working in Central City of Southern Territory.

After weeks of digging, I finally learned that Daniel would return north at the end of the year, spending the holidays with his elderly mother in his original pack.

Unable to reach him by phone, I decided to go in person. Sincerity would come across better face-to-face.

Snowstorms swept across the Northern Territory for days. I landed in Central City and drove the rest of the way, only to find the road leading to Daniel's home blocked off by ice.

I got out of the car and walked for five hours in the freezing cold until my body turned fully numb.

In the yard, a middle-aged man was clearing snow.

When I stumbled closer and recognized his face—Daniel himself—relief surged through me. My body gave out, and I collapsed to my knees in the snow.

Startled, he threw aside the broom and hurried forward to catch me. "Miss, who are you looking for? What happened to you?"

Before I could answer, two people walked up.

I froze.

Raymond and Jenna Kramer, the daughter of his latest business partner.

"Who's this?" Jenna asked while walking over.

Raymond appeared right after. "Here, put this on before you freeze."

But when his eyes landed on me, crumpled in the snow, his expression darkened. He stormed over.

"Rose, are you out of your mind? I told you I'm not your brother, and you still stalk me here in the middle of a blizzard?"

It wasn't that he wanted to misunderstand me—but in a border pack like this, who would believe I just happened to be passing by?

His expression hardened. Without wasting another word, he threw his coat over my shoulders and snapped, "Inside. Now."

He grabbed my arm and tried to drag me along, but I shoved him off.

"I'm not following you." I turned to Daniel. "Daniel, I came here for you."

I pulled the file of Adrian's medical records from inside my coat. My hands were trembling, and my voice cracked with desperation as I pleaded, "Please, I'm begging you. The risks are high, but this is my brother's only chance at a new heart."

Raymond stared at me, stunned, opening his mouth several times but unable to form words. He couldn't understand why I would go this far to do all this for a wolf I wasn't even supposed to know.

Then, his expression turned to one of fear. He stared at me.

"Rose, don't tell me your memory loss was real…?"