Chapter 4 Crystal Pendant

Eva's POV: "You!" George's eyes glowed with fury as he moved toward me, his claws outstretched, aiming for my face. It looked like he intended to disfigure me. But I didn't care. With a scar, I'd have a legitimate excuse to refuse his request to mark me. "Enough, George!" Elizabeth's voice rang out, sharp with anger. At once, George shifted back into his human form, his expression now pleading as he turned to her. I couldn't help but curse myself again for being such a fool. Not only was I foolish, but I was blind as well. In my past life, I hadn't seen George's obvious attempts to please Elizabeth. Elizabeth reached for George's hand, then took mine in her own, feigning kindness as she spoke, "You two are both my friends. I want you to get along. After all, you're fated mates. You should be more understanding of each other, shouldn't you?" "We haven't made any vows yet," I reminded her coolly, sneering. I wasn't a typical mate-driven wolf. As a lone wolf, I had no obligation to find a mate, let alone one like George, a cruel, bloodthirsty creature. "Come on, Eva, don't act like a child," George said with forced sweetness. "You're my fated mate. I should be more considerate of you." "Actually, Elizabeth's birthday is coming up," he continued, his eyes darting to my neck. "We were planning a party for her, and we need to get her a gift. I was thinking—since you're always working hard to make ends meet—we could skip buying her something new and just give her that pendant of yours." It was obvious—they wanted my crystal pendant. I remembered my last life. When George had said those same words, I had been touched. As a lone wolf, making money was difficult, and I had been saving up to buy a small house of my own. I had even felt guilty about not being able to buy Elizabeth a new gift. But she'd said she didn't mind, that she loved the crystal pendant I had given her. At that time, I had no idea what the pendant really was, why it was so important to Elizabeth. But I knew that for a witch to covet something meant it had to be special. "Sorry, the old lone wolf says this pendant is tied to my heritage," I said, quickly making up an excuse. "I'll need it to find my real parents in the future, so I can't just give it away. "I still have money for a new necklace," I added with a cold laugh. "Do you think I'm some miserly wolf?" Elizabeth gave an awkward laugh, while George looked surprised. They hadn't expected me to refuse to give up the pendant. "Well, I'm tired today and not in the mood for company." With that, I slammed the door shut, not bothering to entertain them further. After everything that had happened, I wasn't in a rush for revenge. There was still so much to do, and the disaster was only days away. No, to be precise, I had just two and a half days left. I walked to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face. The woman in the mirror was young and beautiful, with a few charming freckles across her face. She looked untouched by the apocalypse, her eyes bright with life. I sighed. At first, I had no idea why the apocalypse arrived. But as I left my apartment, witnessing entire packs disappear and lone wolves growing in number, I learned the truth from a seer wolf from an ancient pack. I still remembered the old seer wolf I spoke to from an ancient pack. One of his eyes had been lost, the other only seeing a thin layer of white film over it. He had looked terrifying. The four major factions had been at each other's throats, fighting for resources. "It was the witches! The witches and warlocks, they cast a powerful magical curse on the world, bringing about the apocalypse! Everyone must die. The world will fall into silence and despair!" "Ha! You all have to die!" The seer wolf laughed maniacally, nearing death. Ordinary seer wolves couldn't sense the witches' curse. They only saw glimpses of future disasters. The witches were the ones who had triggered the apocalypse. It was Elizabeth, also a witch, who had killed me and my friends. My tired gaze landed on the crystal pendant I wore around my neck. It was with me when I was abandoned in the forest as a child. I extended my right index finger, letting the sharp claw extend before I sliced my left hand open, letting a drop of blood fall onto the pendant. The pendant flared with bright light, resonating strongly with the Moon Goddess's Sigil in my eyes. The intense energy made my eyes burn. When I opened them again, I found myself in a new apartment, one with no front door. It was empty, save for a few essentials like water and electricity. There were two small bedrooms, both cramped. It looked like one room might only be 120 square feet, with a ceiling height of about three yards. The place was next to a balcony and a small garden, barely over 100 square feet. In the living room, an interdimensional timer floated in midair, counting down—01:56:13.