The flames ignited my hair.
I had no time to worry about it, desperately trying to douse the fire with water. After struggling for quite a while, the blaze was finally brought under control.
Disheveled and exhausted, I collapsed on the couch, searching for burn ointment.
At that moment, Lilith posted a live photo on her social media.
I'm the apple of Alpha's eye, because my Damien has spoiled me into the princess of the pack!
In the photo, Lilith wore an ancient moonstone ring on her ring finger, the traditional mating symbol passed down through generations of the wolf clan.
Damien, with a face full of tender concern, was gently massaging her slightly reddened knuckles from forcefully shoving me earlier.
"Don't do that again. If you want something, just tell me. How could I ever refuse you?"
The live stream captured Damien's voice with clarity.
Feeling nauseated, I grabbed a pair of scissors nearby and viciously cut off the long hair I had been growing for eight years for Damien's sake.
On a full moon night eight years ago.
Damien was being hunted by a rival wolf pack and fell into the raging river, both in human and wolf form.
It was I who happened to be exploring nearby and, without hesitation, jumped into the river to drag him ashore.
Afterward, Damien gazed at me with eyes full of love."Sera, when you saved me, your long hair was like a silver waterfall in the moonlight. It stole my soul."
"You must take responsibility for me."
He said it casually.
But I took it to heart.
For the sake of his one expression of liking, I gave up the convenience of short hair, even though long hair would be cumbersome when transforming.
But what was the use of that?
That night, neither Damien nor Lilith came back.
The next morning, Damien kicked open the door, carrying Lilith wrapped in a blanket.
Seeing my ear-length short hair, a flash of surprise crossed Damien's eyes.
"Sera, what happened to—"
Before he could finish, Lilith stirred slightly in his arms, pleading drowsily.
"Alpha, you're too rough. If you keep this up, my body's going to break..."
"Alpha... Alpha, why do you only like me and not Sera at all? Isn't she good enough...?"
Her tone was coquettish, as if she couldn't handle the all-night animalistic coupling, her muscles aching.
I let out a cold laugh and turned to leave.
Damien barked an order, stopping me in my tracks.After gently placing Lilith in the master bedroom, he returned to face me, raising his hand to unleash an Alpha's intimidation.
This strike was merciless.
The pressure made my ears ring, and I collapsed to my knees. My teeth bit into my tongue, filling my mouth with blood.
"Sera, how can you be so vicious?"
"Lilith just wanted to claim your hunting strategy as her own. Why did you have to expose her?"
"By telling the whole pack that she's a thief, who will ever trust her again? How will she ever hold her head up in the pack?"
Damien looked down at me, his eyes reminding me of a hunted deer.
The pressure made my head spin. I leaned against the wall to recover from the ringing in my ears and looked up, wanting to defend myself.
But I realized my left eye was seeing only gray and white.
Damien's intimidation was so strong it had damaged my werewolf's keen eyesight.
This unexpected turn left me panicked. I instinctively reached out to Damien, pleading, "Damien, quick, take me to the pack's healer. I can't see."
My voice was strained, tears streaming uncontrollably from my eyes, filled with fear.
Damien stared at me for two seconds, then suddenly let out a cold laugh. He grabbed my neck and pinned me against the wall."Sera, you need to show some restraint when competing with Lilith for attention."
"If it weren't for her, your Alpha would have wasted away by now."
"You're so useless, you can't even stabilize my heat. How dare you challenge her?!"