Chapter 8
“Marigold-”
Sebastian stood across the street, his eyes rimmed red, those piercing blue brises locked onto Jasper and me.
His gaze burned with something raw, possessive fury, bone–deep regret, and something darker I couldn’t name like a beast on the edge of snapping.
Instinctively, I tightened my hold on Jasper, immediately turning away and walking in the opposite direction.
Behind me, his heart–wrenching howl echoed, like the dying, cry of a wild wolf.
“Marigold, please don’t go—]”
I didn’t look back. Instead, I quickened my pace, desperate to escape this nightmare of emotional debt.
It wasn’t until a sharp, ear–piercing screech of tires shattered the air like thunder that I spun around.
My heart clenched as I saw Sebastian lying in a pool of blood, his body broken and mangled, crimson staining the night
He struggled to meet my gaze, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, yet he forced a pale smile.
“Marigold..I finally see you and Jasper again…”
“After you left, I finally realized who I couldn’t let go of. I was wrong. I hurt you. I failed you, and I’ve wronged our child…Please…forgive me…
My body trembled, my heart swirling with conflicting emotions.
After a long pause, I still walked slowly towards him, holding Jasper in my arms
He wealdy lifted himself, trying to embrace me.
But 1 deftly avoided him, leaning close to whisper in his ear with the last shred of pity I could muster.
*Jesper and 1 are fine. Our future will be fine too. You shouldn’t come again. We don’t want to see you anymore.”
Unable to say anything, he collapsed to the ground, his face buried in his hands as he let out a primal, sorrowful cry Sebastian didn’t die, but he had completely lost the honor of an Alpha
The pack doctor confirmed that his spine was shattered, and he would never stand again.
With Tristan by my side I went to see him one last time.
In the silence, our eyes met, and without words, we understood our paths would never cross again
What took me by surprise was that he quietly signed a bond–breaking deal, transferring all Alpha assets to me.
I called hum, wondering why he was doing this
On the other end of the line, there was a long pause before his voice came through, rough and hoarse, like the growl of an old wolf nearing death.
I’ve hurt you too much…This compensation may never be enough, but I have to do something.”
“I’m a useless Alphia now. The only thing I can do is leave you and Jasper a chance to survive.”
I didn’t say anything, but sighed softly and hung up the pl
te phone
y in Jasper’s name for werewolves with cerebral palsy.
I didn’t keep the money. Instead, I used it to establish a charity
The rehabilitation hospital waived all of Jasper’s medical fees, and I gratefully accepted their kindness.
Sebastian, stripped of his Alpha title and position, was cast out of the pack and sent to a remote werewolf hospice.
There, he couldn’t even hold onto his basic dignity
The caretakers, seeing his fall is grace, toited and lolliated him at every turn. His soul was in tatters, yet he cling to life with a defiance that refused to be extinguished
I knew that what he couldn’t let go of was Jasper
And the only thing I could do for him was to focus all my energy on helping Jasper recover.
Jasper never feared hardship, and his progress in training became visible, day by day.
Dreame–Read D
What I hadn’t expected was his incredible talent for colors.
Encouraged by me, he enrolled in a painting class.
Soon, even his Instructors were in awe of his work
At seven, he won a major competition with his paintings.
I sat in the audience, tears streaming down my face.
No one knew that my own body was already falling me.
The heart the witch had crafted for me had a lifespan of only five years, and my time was running out.
Tristan, exhausted from searching for a replacement heart, had journeyed far and wide.
In the final month of my countdown, the pack doctor informed the that a match had been found. It was a heart from another wolf.
It wasn’t until post–surgery that Tristan revealed the truth to me.
The heart had come from Sebastian.
On the very day Jasper won his award, Sebastian’s condition had rapidly deteriorated.
Before his death, he had someone contact Tristan, leaving behind a final message: “Give her my heart.”
On the day I was discharged, 1 closed my eyes, pressing my hand against my chest.
What was beating there was not just an organ, but also his final redemption, proof that he had once loved me
When I opened my eyes again, a faint smile played on my lips.
If the past couldn’t be changed, then let him watch Jasper grow up in this way–perhaps it was a form of atonement.
On Jasper’s eighth birthday, I received a video.
It was froen 5
Sebastian, sent through Tristan after his death.
In the video, his wolf eyes were dim, tears falling freely:
“Jasper, Daddy couldn’t be there to watch you grow up, but I’ve never stopped loving you.”
“I made a terrible mistake back then, I messed up and ruined your life. But seeing how well you’re doing now, all on your own that’s enough for
“Marigold.It there’s a life…will you forgive me?”
He stared at the camera, and in the end, he gave a bitter smile. “If you can’t forgive me, it doesn’t matter. Just consider it my punishment.”
I watched the screen in silence, my heart as still as water,
Suddenly, a m
4 mrakage in
from a friend popped up on my phone.
I glanced at it, then sneered coldly.
Back then, Sebastian
left a large fortune to Celeste, only for her to squander it in a bew
years.
In the end, she and Dorian were barely making ends meel
Shue, unwilling to let go, trist to get more money from Sebastian, only to find that he was already penniless. Dorian, consumed with hatred for her, accused her of wasting what should have been his “Alpha inheritance.” The young, werewoll, wild and untaised, flew into a rage one night and smothered her to death with a pillow.
My friend eagerly recounted the details, as though geeniging me
But I didn’t respond
What goes around comes around, and everything was merely fate. And I, at last, had freed myself from the mire of blood and hate.
My new life had only just begun.
