Chapter 4

I lay sprawled on the floor tiles. Blood dripped into my eyes.

My chest ached so badly that every breath trembled.

I dragged up the last bit of my strength and pressed my wrist twice.

Two groans dropped at the exact same time.

Rowan and Stone slammed to their knees, their faces entirely drained of color.

I forced myself to scream.

"Get your asses over here and take me to the hospital!"

They scrambled to their feet, stumbling to my side.

Rowan finally seemed to realize who I was when his hand cupped the back of my bloody neck.

"Master! We're sorry! We were blind. We'll definitely recognize you next time!"

I didn't have the strength to call out their bullshit.

I woke up in my own house.

The back of my head felt sticky.

The wound had scabbed over.

Dried blood pulled at my hair, tearing at my scalp.

They had dumped me here and left.

I sat in the darkness, touching the back of my head. I let out a sudden laugh.

I spent three years raising these two beastmen, and they wouldn't even bother to bandage my head.

I took a cab to the hospital to get my wound treated. Walking down the hallway, I suddenly froze outside a patient room.

Rowan and Stone crowded around Hadley's bed. Their faces held a tenderness I had never received.

Stone's eyes glistened with unshed tears.

"You're too kind, Hadley. Wren hurt you. She deserves to suffer."

Rowan didn't say a word, but the way he tucked the blankets around Hadley hit too close to home.

I had a severe fever last year.

He tucked my blankets in just like that, staying awake all night.

Hadley hugged them, her eyes brimming with fake tears.

"I wish you two were my contracted beastmen."

"Would you be willing to break your contract and bind yourselves to me at my birthday party?"

I didn't listen to the rest.

They had once kneeled before me, touching my bleeding lash wounds, swearing their lives belonged to me.

In a daze, I looked down at the contract totem on my wrist.

I suddenly lost all desire to press it.

I walked into the Whitmore estate on the day of the birthday party, carrying a formal declaration to renounce my inheritance.

My mom's face twisted into a scowl the moment she saw me.

"Are you crazy, Wren Whitmore? Showing up dressed like trash. Are you trying to ruin Hadley's party!"

I didn't waste time on bullshit. I shoved the document into her hands.

"Sign it."

"From now on, I have absolutely nothing to do with the Whitmore family."

My dad let out a cold sneer.

"What kind of trick are you playing now?"

I frowned in pure annoyance.

"Don't sign it, and I'll go make a scene in front of everyone. Half of that inheritance belongs to me anyway."

My dad scribbled his name in a flash.

"Get the hell out of here! Don't ruin the view!"

I tucked the document away and turned to leave.

Hadley's shrill scream ripped through the hall right behind me.

"Oh no! My ring is gone!"

Hadley threw herself at me, her eyes brimming with tears, and gripped my arm tightly.

"Wren, I know you hate me. But so many guests are here today. You can't ruin my inheritance ceremony!"

I ripped my arm out of her grip.

"Don't pin your bullshit on me."

Rowan and Stone stepped forward in perfect sync, blocking my path.

I stared at them. The pain in my chest threatened to rip me apart.

"You're rebelling against me?"

Rowan's tone was rigid. "A master shouldn't be this malicious."

Stone stared at me with pure hostility. "Give the ring back to Hadley."

Hadley cried harder, playing the perfect victim.

"Just search her. Since Wren claims she doesn't have it, let's prove it to everyone."

I raised my hand to press the punishment mark as they closed in.

But Stone was faster.

He grabbed my wrist and twisted it behind my back.

Rowan clamped his hand on my shoulder and shoved down. They were trying to force me to my knees.

I tilted my head up to look at them. Fire burned in my throat.

"Dropping the act now?"

Rowan looked down at me.

His gaze was as cold as the desperation I felt when I risked my life for them three years ago.

Back then, he begged me not to leave them behind.

But now, he stared right through me.

"You're a vile woman, Wren Whitmore. You don't deserve to be our master."

Stone turned his face away, refusing to even look at me.

"We refuse to submit to a toxic master like you."

Hadley stepped forward with a small dagger.

She pressed the tip against the contract totem on my left wrist.

She curled her lips into a smile. Pure venom hid beneath her sweet voice.

"You've suffered under her for three years, Rowan, Stone. You've worked so hard."

"I'll carve this contract out with my own hands. I'll give you your freedom back."

I thrashed violently, my whole body shaking.

"Don't you fucking dare!"

But they pinned me down without mercy. They felt like utter strangers. Terrifyingly so.

The blade sank into my flesh. I trembled violently from the pain.

I treated that totem like it was worth more than my own life when we first formed the contract.

Now, they were helping someone else carve it straight out of my arm.

Hadley's smug smile widened.

"You're completely free from today onward. Form a new contract with me immediately—"

A loud crash cut her off.

The banquet doors were kicked wide open.

Seven or eight enforcers from the beastmen clan swarmed into the hall, dressed entirely in black.

"Insolent defects! How dare you betray and assault your contracted master!"

"We are here under direct orders. You will be arrested immediately and destroyed on the spot!"