The Westside Hunting Grounds Accord represented the Blackwood Pack's most vital territorial expansion for the coming decade—and Kael's sole opportunity to prove his worth to the Elder Alpha.
He spun toward me, his wolf surging close to the surface. Fury blazed in his amber eyes. Resentment twisted his features. And beneath it all, I caught the acrid scent of wariness bleeding through his carefully constructed mask.
He drew a sharp breath, nostrils flaring, then turned to Vesper. "Think clearly about this. The pup... let Selene raise him. It's the only path to legitimacy within pack law."
I shifted my attention to Eira Hearthwell, my denkeeper who had served the Nightshade household since before my birth.
"Go. Bring that pup to my chamber."
I stepped beyond the healer's ward and reached for my connection to my pack liaison.
"Aria Stormvale, secure the healer's den. This remains sealed between us—no whisper reaches another ear. On the pup-ledger entry, only one name appears under 'Dam.' Mine."
Moments later, the adjacent chamber erupted—snarling, something shattering against stone walls, and Vesper's raw, gut-wrenching howls tearing through the silence.
I gazed down at the infant in the woven basket.
He slumbered peacefully, his tiny lips parting and closing with each soft breath.
A cold smile pulled at the corner of my mouth.
Kael came to my chamber every day. Lingered for a time. But his body occupied this space while his wolf remained tethered next door.
His communication crystal never stopped pulsing with light. Message after message from Vesper flooded through.
"Kael, I ache for our pup so desperately. Can't you compel her to return him to me?"
"I desire nothing else. I only want my offspring."
"Kael, I'm losing so much blood. The healers say my body isn't recovering from the birth. Will I survive this?"
Vesper understood precisely how to manipulate him.
She never struck at me directly. She simply circled back endlessly to her suffering, her yearning for the pup.
Painting me as heartless by comparison. Cruel and unfeeling.
Each time he absorbed her messages, the furrow between his brows carved deeper. Then he would mutter some flimsy excuse and rush from the room.
Early one morning, Kael had vanished. The healer attendants and Eira had taken the pup for his wellness examination.
Vesper materialized at my bedside like a wraith. Her eyes glittered with venom, her scent sharp with malice.
"Don't believe you've claimed victory, Selene."
"That ill-fated pup of yours? I'm the one who convinced Kael to eliminate it."
"That night, he'd been drinking moon-wine. Kept reaching out to me through our bond, again and again."
"I simply... played the wounded Omega. Whispered that the pup growing in your belly would become an obstacle to my place in his life."
"Begged him to spend more time with me. To stop orbiting around you and your swelling stomach."
"I never expected him to sever our connection and actually return to you. What unfolded after that..."
"Your pup? You simply weren't strong enough to protect it. Don't lay blame elsewhere."
"You're nothing but a surrogate nursing my offspring. Don't celebrate your position too soon."
She turned and glided out, her footsteps silent on the stone floor.
Every word seared into my flesh like a red-hot brand pressed against bare skin.
So that's how it happened.
I lay there, eyes sealed shut, my hands trembling violently beneath the woven blanket. Blood crept backward through the healer's needle, staining a section of the clear tube deep crimson.
I bit down on my lip until the taste of iron flooded my mouth, mixing with the salt of unshed tears.
I didn't cry. I didn't scream. I simply reached over and withdrew the needle from my hand.
A bead of blood rolled down the back of my wrist, dripping onto the pale linens—a single, brutal plum blossom blooming against the white.
The door swung open with a groan.
Kael strode in.
He froze when the copper scent of my blood hit his senses, then crossed the distance in three swift strides and seized my wrist.
"Why did you remove the healer's needle? Have you lost all reason?"
He snatched a cloth from the bedside table and pressed it firmly against the wound, his brow furrowed with what almost resembled concern. For a heartbeat, he nearly appeared as though he cared.
My entire body shook. I wanted to scream. To demand answers. To shift and tear into him with claws and fangs.
But no strength remained in my limbs.
"Just go. Go be with Vesper."
"Eira will return shortly. I don't require your presence here."
From the neighboring chamber came another burst of pitiful wailing. Vesper, performing her role once more.
