Chapter 3

After that, we fall into a cold war.

Damien comes to the Healer House every day to see me.

I ask the other healers to tell him I am busy.

So he waits outside my office from morning till night.

Everyone in the Healer House sees it.

One healer quietly asks me, “Lola, did you fight with Alpha Damien?”

I shake my head. “No.”

It is not a fight.

It is disappointment.

A week later, Damien blocks me in the parking lot.

He leans against my car door.

“Lola, what do you want?”

His voice is tired. “Let’s talk.”

I look at him and say nothing.

He pulls the door open and pushes me into the passenger seat.

Then he gets into the driver’s seat and starts the car.

He drives fast.

In the end, he stops in front of our mate residence.

“Lola, I know I was wrong.”

“That day, I shouldn’t have left.”

“I shouldn’t have stayed with someone else on your birthday.”

“But I had no choice.”

“Nora, she… she is too pitiful.”

“She has no parents since she was young. Her only brother is gone.”

“She is alone here, with no one to rely on.”

“If I don’t take care of her, she will die.”

I listen to him and stay silent.

He turns and looks at me.

“Lola, you are the most generous, the kindest.”

“You are not like her.”

“You are strong and independent. Even without me, you can live well.”

“But she can’t.”

“If she leaves me, she won’t survive.”

I finally lift my head and look at him.

“So?”

“So you sacrifice me to make her whole?”

He is stunned by my question.

“That’s not what I mean.”

“Then what do you mean? Damien, tell me, what am I to you?”

He falls silent.

The air in the car turns cold.

After a long time, he speaks.

“Lola, you are the only she-wolf I want to form a mate bond with in this life.”

“I love you.”

He says he loves me.

But those three words sound like a joke to me.