Chapter 2

I followed the butler down the mountain to the pack infirmary. When I pushed open Damian's room door, Selena was nestled against his side, feeding him spoonfuls of warm deer-bone broth.

In my previous life, Selena had always outranked me in the Valen household, even after I became Damian's bonded mate.

Everyone said they were the ones destined for each other. Grandpa's life debt was the only reason Damian had been forced to give his mate's mark to an outsider like me.

Even at dinner, if Selena and I reached for the same platter of roast venison, Damian would always move it in front of her.

As if that weren't enough, he'd remind me to be the bigger person. "Selena and I grew up in the same forest. I can't neglect her just because I'm bonded now. You understand, don't you?"

The moment Damian saw me, his eyes lit up. He immediately scooted away from Selena.

"Ivy, I knew you'd come. I knew you still had feelings for me..."

I said nothing.

Selena picked up a cup of hot coffee and glided over, wearing the picture-perfect mask of a delicate, innocent young noblewoman.

"Ivy, you finally came to see Damian. I was starting to think you'd really given up on him."

The instant our hands touched, a memory flashed through my mind.

Grandma was mopping the floors at Valen Keep. Selena had just walked out of the kitchen when she "accidentally" bumped into her. The blood-berry slush splashed all over Selena's brand-new white mink stole.

Selena's eyes instantly filled with tears. Then she grabbed Grandma by the collar and slapped her across the face twice.

"You stupid old hag! Are you blind? How dare you run into me!"

Grandma's cheeks swelled from the blows, yet all she could do was bow her head and apologize.

After that day, the Valens threw Grandma out, claiming she was too old, dishonest, and no longer capable of doing her job.

So it had been Selena all along.

If she hadn't gotten Grandma cast out of the Valen household—cutting her off from their protection and access to medicine—Grandma would've never let her illness go untreated because she was afraid of the cost. And she never would've hidden away in some forgotten corner to drink poison and die alone.

I clenched my fists.

Just as Selena was about to "accidentally" spill her cup of hot coffee on me, I beat her to it and threw the entire cup in her face.

"You think you're worthy to serve me?

"Who do you think you are?"

Selena froze for a second before turning to Damian with reddened eyes and a pitiful pout.

"Damian, why is Ivy doing this to me? What did I do?"

Damian looked at me and started to say something, but a cold glare from me shut him down.

His mouth opened and closed, but not one word came out.

In my last life, I'd given him the chance to stay alive and free to chase his fantasy of fated love.

Now he was barely clinging to life. How could he possibly have the energy to comfort Selena?

As for trying to walk all over me again, that bitch could keep dreaming.

I stepped forward and gently patted Damian on the back. An almost invisible gray moon sigil slipped from my palm and disappeared into his skin.

"Damian, I'm only doing this for your own good.

"I've read the moon. If you keep getting close to Selena, your broken leg will be the least of your problems. You'll throw out your back next. Soon, even sleeping will become torture, your neck aching as if it were being wrenched apart."

It was a severance sigil.

It was made for lousy mates who couldn't stay away from the person they had no business getting close to.

Every time the mark's bearer got close to the one they were never supposed to approach, something would mysteriously go wrong with their body.

Damian shivered, but he still couldn't bring himself to leave Selena's side. "Enough, Ivy. No moon mark can do something that absurd."

I nearly laughed.

When the Valens needed Grandpa and me to keep Damian's wolf spirit under control, no one believed in moon signs and ancient laws more than they did.

But the moment I told him to stay away from his worthless mate, suddenly he was the voice of reason?

I shrugged.

"Fine.

"If you don't believe me, go ahead and find out for yourself."

With that, I walked away without another word.

When I got home, I took out the moon mirror Grandpa had left behind to see how Damian was faring after being marked with the sigil.

On the first day, Selena offered to help him bathe.

The moment he stepped over the threshold, his feet slipped out from under him. The back of his head slammed against the edge of the bathtub, and his one good leg snapped. The infirmary's floor tiles contained traces of silver powder, normally used to dull pain. But now the silver seeped into the cracks in his bones, leaving his werewolf healing unable to keep up with the damage.

On the second day, Selena offered to wheel him outside before moonrise, saying the twilight would help stabilize his wolf spirit.

The wheelchair hadn't even reached the courtyard before one of its wheels caught in a crack between the paving stones. Damian pitched forward, and something in his lower back gave a sharp crack.

He'd hurt his back.

On the third day, Damian finally learned his lesson. He didn't dare go anywhere and stayed in bed to recover.

Then Selena came by with breakfast. The moment he tried to sit up, his neck seized with pain, as though a silver chain had been tightening around it all night.

On the fourth day...

Before I even had the chance to watch, someone showed up at my door again.

The butler's desperate voice rang out from outside. "Ms. Blackmoon, please! You have to save Mr. Valen! At this rate, he's really going to die!"

When I walked into the room, Damian was rolling around on the bed in agony.

The moment he saw me, he got so excited that he tumbled straight onto the floor. He reached for his back, then his neck, then his back again, unable to decide which hurt more.

"Ivy, I believe you now!

"How do I make this stop?!"