Chapter 3

Roberta POV

"Why are you all here?" I tried to keep my voice calm, but inside I was filled with no confusion and unease.

It must be for the blood.

Marcus looked up at me with a hint of reproach in his eyes, "Roberta, how come you're back so late tonight? We were all worried sick."

I frowned and tried to explain, "I went to the hospital for a checkup, and I wasn't feeling well."

"A checkup?" Marcus furrowed his brow, "What's wrong with you? Did something happen?"

I took a deep breath and was about to tell them about the decline in my wolf powers when Zora gently tugged on Marcus's hand, interrupting our conversation, "Marcus, don't blame Roberta. She must be going through a tough time too."

Marcus looked at Zora, a hint of tenderness in his eyes, "Zora, I know you're being nice to her, but she should consider us too."

I stood there, watching the two of them interact, feeling a strange sense of loss. I felt like an outsider, excluded from their conversation.

"What are you two talking about?" I couldn't help but ask, "I feel like there's something you're not telling me."

Marcus turned to look at me, his eyes carrying a complex mixture of emotions, "Roberta, you're misunderstanding. There's no secret between us. Zora is just my friend, and we're together because she's been feeling unwell and needs someone to take care of her." 

I looked down at Zora, who was all over Marcus, trying to make herself look small. I looked at her wrist to see the so-called crescent birthmark. Zora seemed to catch my eye and purposefully extended her wrist in my direction.

That crescent birthmark doesn't match my dream, is it age change? I can't help but wonder.

At that moment, Zora suddenly covered her stomach and turned pale. "Marcus, I don't feel well..."

Marcus immediately became nervous. He grabbed Zora, looked at her and asked, "Zora, what's wrong with you? Does it hurt again?"

Zora nodded, her face getting worse and worse. "I need... I need..."

Her voice trailed off and eventually became almost inaudible. Marcus looked at me with a little pleading in his eyes: "Roberta, can you help me? Zora needs your help."

I was stunned, not knowing what to do. I looked at Zora's painful expression, filled with conflicting emotions and struggles. I didn't know whether I should help her or not, and whether it meant I would continue to be used by them.

"Marcus, I...," I started to say, but Marcus interrupted me: "Roberta, please! Zora needs your help. She's very upset now."

I looked at him, filled with pain and resignation. I knew I couldn't stand by and do nothing, but I also didn't know whether I should continue to be used by them. 

Then, just as I expected, Marcus made a request that I had never refused: "Roberta, give Zora a blood transfusion. Her body is very weak now, and she needs your help."

I was stunned, and the request wasn't unexpected. I remembered the pain and helplessness I felt when I had given them blood before, and a sense of fear and hesitation crept into my heart.

"Marcus, you know I can't keep doing this," I tried to explain. "I also need rest and to take care of my body."

But Marcus didn't seem to be letting me off the hook: "Roberta, you don't have the right to refuse my request. If you don't help Zora, if something bad happen to her and I will hold you responsible," he said.

I looked at him, filled with conflicting emotions and struggles. I knew his words might be true, but I didn't want to continue being used by them. I didn't know what I should do or if I should continue like this.

"Roberta, what are you still standing there for?" Marcus repeated.

I looked at him, then at Zora's painful expression, filled with helplessness and pain. Ultimately, I decided to help Zora. I nodded and agreed to Marcus' request.

"No!" Bella suddenly let out a painful cry. "You need to stop, you must stop!"

I suddenly felt a sharp pain. With Bella's painful cry, my body began to shake uncontrollably.

"No, I won't allow that to happen again." I clenched my teeth, puffed out my chest as hard as I could, and looked straight up at Marcus. Marcus's expression was slightly shocked. He had never seen me look like this.

"How dare you?" His tone was incredulous, and Zora, next to him, made an even more grandiose performance, almost hypocritically obvious whether she was in pain or suffering.

I felt my limbs go numb and my body go weak, but my mind was wide awake. I slumped to the ground and my vision began to blur.

"Roberta! What's the matter with you?" Marcus looked at me, and for the first time his voice was full of anxiety.

Zora looked at me too, a flicker of fear and concern in her eyes. I lay on the ground, gasping in pain, filled with despair and regret. I don't know how I got this way, why I continue to be used by them.

"Roberta," Marcus's voice rang in my ear, "you can't die yet."

However, I could no longer hear him. My consciousness began to blur and my vision became blurred. At the end of my consciousness, all I could see were Marcus and Zora's anxious expressions and some weird looks in their eyes. Then I fell into a coma...