Chapter 1 Chapter 1

Late at night, the doors to the basement were kicked open harshly. In came a tall werewolf, yanking me up from the floor by my hair and slapping my face until I woke up. Ignoring my pained groans, he grabbed my legs and dragged me out of the basement, cursing as he did. "How dare you sleep so comfortably when Emily's hurt?" My body was dragged roughly upon the coarse gravel road, leaving behind a trail of blood. Eventually, I was dragged to Cyrus' feet. He furrowed his brows when he saw my bloodied state, as if he was about to say something, but seemed to decide against it. "Emily's hurt. Heal her with your mermaid's pearl." I looked up, my gaze falling on Emily, who was resting on the bed, her lower belly slightly protruded. Smack! The next second, Cyrus sent a slap at my face. "Where do you think you're looking at? How dare you lay your eyes on Emily? I'm here, so don't you even think of hurting anyone again!" I immediately lowered my head, the slap stinging bitterly on my face. "I'm sorry." Slowly, I crawled towards the bed and observed the wounds on Emily's hand. Clearly, she'd been teasing a starving mermaid with food and got bitten as a result. After more than two years of torture, I was already familiar with how to heal Emily and treat her wounds. I began undressing with practiced movements, when I heard Cyrus bark out behind me, "Get out, all of you!" Everyone else in the room immediately retreated, leaving just the three of us inside. I didn't really understand why he did so, but I'd long since given up on trying to understand his intentions. I continued, piercing my chest with my sharp nails and extracting the mermaid pearl from within, trembling from the intense pain that came as a result. Cyrus' deep voice broke through the silence, "Marina, don't you can make me go easy on you by acting pitiful." In his eyes, the reason why I used my mermaid pearl to heal Emily instead of using my blood was because I was trying to act pitiful. But, in actuality, my blood had already run out of its healing properties because I'd become too weak. Besides, I never intentionally acted to garner any pity from him—that was Emily's forte, not mine. Illuminated by my mermaid pearl's glow, Emily quickly woke up, and Cyrus immediately wrapped her in a warm hug. "Are you alright? Does it still hurt?" Emily glanced at my bloodied chest, a vicious gleam flashing through her eyes. "It doesn't hurt anymore, but… The scent of blood is making me nauseous, so can you get her out of here, pretty please?" Cyrus turned around, glaring at me viciously. "Are you deaf? Get lost!" I crawled out using my arms, and I heard Cyrus' gentle voice coming from behind me. "Emily, don't ever go close to those ugly, evil mermaids ever again. They'll only hurt you." My heart, already numb with pain, was stabbed with another knife, the pain going to places I never imagined. Suddenly, a bucket of ice-cold water splashed onto me. It was a maid, looking down at me with disdain. "You disgusting monster! Aren't you supposed to be immortal? Why are you bleeding all over the floor instead of healing your wounds quickly?" A dirty rag was thrown onto my face, and I was already too weak to even dodge. "Wipe the floor clean, or I'll tell the Alpha King to punish you!" I started wiping the floor, but it was a never-ending task—I couldn't stop bleeding, so the floor never became clean. I spent an entire night wiping the floor, listening to the sounds of passion coming from inside the room, and I cried. As Cyrus' disgusted expression appeared in my mind, I thought… Very soon, I would finally be free. Even mermaids, with their legendary immortality, would still die. I was finally reaching the last three days of my life.

Chapter 2 Chapter 2

As I cleaned the final drop of blood on the floor, the wound on my chest healed thoroughly. At the same time, a new day dawned for the Moonshadow Pack. Cyrus emerged from the bedroom, carrying Emily’s scent, and saw the rag soaked in dark red blood. He frowned. “Why is there so much blood?” I didn't explain, only lowering my head. "I'm sorry, I'll deal with this dirty thing immediately." Outside the window, a maid was watering the garden, and she deliberately raised her voice, "That monster asked me how to please a werewolf and what gifts to give to a werewolf mate before! Goodness, is she trying to seduce the Alpha King?""Gosh, does she think that a witch like her can be with the Alpha King? How delusional! Doesn't she know that those dirty merfolk are the reason why the Alpha King's parents disappeared? She should be spending her entire life repenting!" Hearing those words, I immediately sensed danger and tried to retreat back to the basement, but Cyrus moved faster. He dragg

Chapter 3 Chapter 3

In my daze, I felt someone hold me close, caressing my hair gently. Hot tears spilled onto my cheeks, making my heart shudder. "Marina, if all of this never happened… If only things were as they were…" Was that Cyrus? Was he crying? It took an eternity for me to open my eyes, but Cyrus was no longer there, only a guard that dragged me to the courtyard. The scorching sunlight beat down on me relentlessly, and I quickly felt dehydrated. Cyrus and Emily were there in the courtyard, and seeing me, Emily made a show of looking concerned. "You haven't eaten in a long time, right? Are you hungry?" My throat was dry, and it hurt to even draw in a single breath, so I couldn't respond to her immediately. At Emily’s signal, a guard kicked me hard. The kick landed right on an unhealed wound, and fresh blood stained my clothes again. Cyrus seemed irritated. He frowned and threw his coat over me. "Enough! Heal your wound and stop playing the victim. You know that Emily faints at the sight o

Chapter 4 Chapter 4

There, locked in a tank of water, was my younger brother. He was only ten, and no one had the chance to teach him how to take human form, so he still had his fish tail. "Big sis, save me!" He banged on the glass, crying and begging for me to save him. Seeing this, Emily smiled interestedly. "Ah, so he's your brother? How cute! I'll go with him next, then." By her orders, two guards dragged my little brother out from the tank and held his chest up to Emily's knife. I couldn't take watching it any longer, kneeling on the ground and knocking my head over and over again on the ground, begging, "Please, Emily! Let him go! He was adopted, so he isn't royalty! My pearl is white, so use mine!" Even as I begged, Emily pressed her blade down, drawing blood from my brother's chest. "But you're a filthy little liar, so who knows if you're lying now, too? In any case, I'll know once I see it. "Little boy, I'll take your pearl, then Marina's… Ow! You brat, how dare you?!" My brother shook h