Chapter 1
“Liam, but you’ve always kept her by your side. I’m afraid you might actually develop feelings for her someday,” Chloe said.
Her words made the air fall silent for a moment.
Then suddenly, an eruption of raucous laughter broke out.
“Miss Chloe, you can rest easy! The only reason our bro Liam is with Aria is because you suddenly went abroad back then and broke his heart. Now that you’re back, do you think he’d still care about that lapdog?”
“That’s right, the only interesting thing about Aria is her wolf identity. If she wasn’t a wolf-girl, Liam would’ve dumped her ages ago.”
Hearing this, Chloe bit her lip and looked at the silent Liam. “Is that true?”
“Mhm,” Liam responded lightly, his long fingers caressing Chloe’s face. “Of course it’s true. Compared to you, she’s nothing more than a plaything to pass the time…”
Those two words - “plaything” - that he uttered so casually felt like two sharp blades stabbing into my heart.
As I was reeling from the pain, I failed to notice the Mastiff across from me waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Seizing the moment I was distracted, the Mastiff lunged at my throat with its blood-filled maw.
I stared at those dripping fangs, closed my eyes in despair.
“Aria! What are you doing?!”
An angry roar snapped me out of my daze. When I opened my eyes, I saw the Mastiff had collapsed, hit by four tranquilizer darts.
Liam stood in the stands staring at me, his eyes filled with panic and fury.
He ordered someone to lift me, still in wolf form, out of the cage. His eyes bulging with rage: “Aria, are you trying to get yourself killed?!”
“You could face off against two Siberian tigers alone to save me before, but now you almost get killed by a dog!”
“Is it because you’re upset I put you in a cage for Chloe’s sake, so you’re deliberately acting weak to make me look bad?!”
So he still remembered how I had fought two adult Siberian tigers without regard for my own life, rescuing him from their jaws.
Back then, he had held me tightly in his arms, moved to tears, and promised to love and protect me for life…
I believed him, but he hadn’t kept a single word of that promise…
My injuries were too severe to maintain my beast form any longer. Amidst the jeers of the crowd, I transformed back into human form.
Completely naked.
Liam’s buddies got excited when they saw.
“Damn! That slim waist and plump ass, so fucking hot!”
“How come we never noticed before that Aria’s such a bombshell!”
“Bro, she must be wild in bed! If I could just get a feel—”
“Shut up!”
Liam’s angry shout cut off the vulgar comments.
He looked at me with furrowed brows and took off his own jacket.
Seeing this, Chloe’s face immediately tightened.
“Liam, Aria is still a girl after all. It pains me to see her in such a miserable state. Let me help her put on some clothes.”
With that, she hurriedly took the jacket from Liam’s hands and bent down to drape it over me with a sympathetic expression.
But the next second, she suddenly grabbed my hand and deliberately used my still-extended wolf claws to scratch hard across the back of her own hand.
“Ouch! It hurts!”
“What happened?!”
Liam quickly stepped forward, pulling Chloe into his arms.
Then he glared at me fiercely: “Aria, how dare you be so ungrateful! Chloe was kind enough to help you get dressed, and you dare to hurt her!”
“I didn’t, she did it herself…”
I tried to explain, but was cut off by Chloe’s tearful words:
“Aria, I’m so sorry. Earlier when I said I wanted to see who was stronger between you and the Mastiff, it was just a joke. I never thought Liam and the others would take it seriously.”
“It’s all my fault for having such a ridiculous idea. If hurting me will make you feel better, then go ahead and keep hitting me. I won’t fight back.”
After saying this, she approached me with a pitiful look on her face.
I instinctively felt a wave of disgust and wanted to push her away.
Seeing this, Liam reacted as if facing a great enemy.
“Aria, stop right there!”
“Haven’t you caused enough trouble?! Chloe is kind and forgiving, but that doesn’t mean you can bully her like this!”
Then he kicked me hard in the chest, sending me flying.
I collapsed pathetically on the ground, my chest aching as I coughed up blood several times.
But when I looked up, I met Liam’s cold eyes.
He was going to take Chloe to the hospital to bandage her wound.
One of his friends asked if they should bring me along, but he coldly replied: “She’s a wolf, tough as nails. She won’t die.”
With that, he left the arena with everyone else without a backward glance.
Watching Liam’s resolute back as he walked away, I remembered how excited he had been when he first learned he was my imprinted lover, hugging me with eyes full of deep affection.
I naively thought he actually liked me.
Until Chloe came back, and he started torturing me in various ways to make her happy, even making me transform into a wolf multiple times to kneel under Chloe as her mount.
That’s when I realized his initial joy was never because he liked me.
It was because he discovered he had gained someone who would love him steadfastly no matter how poorly he treated them…
But Liam, I don’t want to love you anymore.
I painfully crawled over to where my clothes were, picked up my phone, and dialed a number.
“Chief, I want to extract my spirit root and erase Liam’s wolf clan imprint.”