My eyes stung.

I rubbed them, a rough, pointless gesture.

I turned to leave.

But Thane stopped me at the door.

“Lina needs to stay in the healer’s tent for treatment,” he said.

“She won’t be able to complete her project in the lab.”

“You’re researching the ritual formula for the Silver Dust antidote, right?”

“Your research is almost identical to Lina’s.”

“Why don’t you let her use your notes as a reference?”

Acid churned in my stomach.

I knew what he was really asking.

Lina’s powers had always been weak.

So I always completed her complex research for her.

She even forced me to cheat for her during the elders’ assessments.

She couldn’t stand the idea of my achievements surpassing hers.

Yet by passing my work off as her own, she’d become the prodigy of the Ashford Clan.

In reality, she hadn’t even started her project.

She was just waiting to take mine.

Noticing my hesitation, Mom’s voice dropped low.

“You know how smart Lina is.”

“It’s just her physical condition holding her back…”

“You’re her sister.”

“Help her.”

I had heard those words over and over for the past five years.

I should have been used to them.

But every time they echoed in my ears, my chest ached with a familiar pain.

I forced a smile.

I nodded.

“Alright.”

“I’ll go get my notes now.”

This would be the last time.

I wondered how Lina would maintain her reputation as a genius when I was no longer around for her to copy.

“I knew you’d agree!” Thane exclaimed.

“So I already brought your research notes from the cabin.”

He quickly pulled my notes from his bag and handed them to Lina.

Lina stuck her tongue out at me, her face a mask of smug triumph.

Thane gently stroked her hair.

He bent down.

He whispered something in her ear.

She blushed, shooting him a playful glare.

I said nothing.

I watched their nauseatingly intimate exchange.

If the Moonshadow curse hadn't already silenced her, my inner wolf would be howling in fury.

I turned and left the healer’s tent.

Their laughter followed me out.

But this time, no one stopped me.

Perhaps they didn’t even notice I had left.

I returned to my cabin.

I gazed at the dancing flames in the fireplace.

A sudden resolve hardened within me.

I would erase myself from this place.

I didn’t want to leave anything behind.

Everything—old research, keepsakes, the gifts I’d once painstakingly chosen for my family and Thane—I fed it all to the flames.

I was exhausted.

My breathing grew labored.

The Moonshadow curse had ravaged my body.

Every movement sent a searing pain through my bones, silencing my inner wolf.

I was truly dying.

It was several hours before I regained some strength.

I had just lain down to rest when the door burst open.

Lina was in tears, my parents and Thane following close behind her.

“Celeste, you promised to give Lina your formula.”

“How could you conspire with the elders to accuse your own sister of plagiarism?” Thane demanded.

His eyes were full of disappointment.

“Celeste, I know you were upset that I borrowed your notes,” Lina sobbed, “but how could you go to the elders? How could you let them humiliate me in front of everyone?”

“I’m being flooded with questions!”

“You’re so cruel!”

“Celeste, how could you do this to your sister?” Mom chimed in, her arms wrapping protectively around Lina.

She then turned to her, gently patting her back.

“Don’t cry, sweetie,” she murmured.

“You’ll hurt yourself.”

“I’ll make your sister apologize to you!”

Apparently, Lina had brazenly presented my formula at the elders’ meeting.

Unfortunately, an elder who knew about my research saw it.

He’d always held high hopes for me.

He had even offered to help me perfect the ritual before.

So when Lina presented my work as her own, he immediately knew something was amiss.

He questioned her about the experimental principles.

She couldn’t answer a single question.

The elders instantly realized the problem.

How could the creator not answer basic questions about their own creation?

Accusations of plagiarism came flooding in.

“Lina is heartbroken,” Thane’s voice boomed. “She’s cried herself into a state.”

“Celeste, you’re her sister.”

“How could you do this to her?”

“Apologize. Right now!”

He ignored my ashen face.

He dragged me out of bed and pushed me in front of Lina.

My mind drifted.

When did he get so close to her?

Five years ago, after my family abandoned me, I was stumbling through a downpour, soaked to the bone.

Then Thane appeared.

The moment I saw him, my wounded inner wolf stirred with hope.

I could feel he was my fated mate.

He took me home.

He gave me clean clothes and a steaming cup of tea.

He sat by my side as I poured out my heartbreak.

He pitied me, vowing to cherish me for the rest of his life.

Back then, he’d despised Lina.

He had never even met her.

But he despised anyone who hurt me.

When did things start to change?

Was it when Lina began hovering around him, all saccharine sweetness?

Was it when she kept clinging to him during our dates?

Or when their private mind-link conversations stretched for hours?

My mate had become a white knight for the one person I despised most.

I thought I had grown numb to the pain, but this still sliced deep.

Now I was dying.

I might as well give them what they wanted.

“I’ll fix this,” I said, my voice hollow. “I’ll tell them I plagiarized you.”

The moment I spoke, they all froze, stunned.

They hadn’t expected me to be so compliant.

“You’re finally starting to act like a sister,” Mom said.

Her expression softened, becoming complicated.

“I’m so glad you two are finally looking out for each other.”

“Celeste, you’ve finally matured,” Dad chimed in.

“If you keep this up, your mother and I can finally be proud of you.”

A flash of guilt crossed Thane’s eyes.

“You’re my mate. I’ll always take care of you,” he said, trying to console me.

“Even if you can’t continue your studies at Blackmoon Academy, you can still live a comfortable life.”

I forced a wan smile.

But the future Thane spoke of was one I would never see.

At this point, their love and affection were luxuries I could no longer afford.

Lina opened a mind-link to the entire pack.

“This ritual formula was something I completed at home…” she said, sobbing.

“I never thought my sister would try to claim it as her own.”

She then shifted the focus of the mind-link to me.

My parents and Thane stared, their gazes intense, as if daring me to miss my cue.

I managed a weak smile.

“Lina is right.”

“I plagiarized her ideas.”

“I’m sorry.”

Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Lina quickly ended the mind-link.

Immediately, a wave of criticism from the pack crashed over me.

She then played the part of the noble sister, swooping in to “defend” me.

“Everyone, please stop.”

“She is my sister, after all.”

“I’ve already forgiven her.”

When no one was looking, she turned to me.

Her eyes flashed with cold triumph.

She hissed, “You’re no match for me.”

“Mom, Dad, and even Thane are mine.”

“You don’t deserve any of them.”