I stared at Dana without blinking.
He was silent for a moment.
Then, at last, he gave a heavy nod and murmured his instructions:
"...Perform the rite quickly. Don't let the fire truly harm her body. Just purge the evil spirit."
They brought in peachwood logs laced with silver shavings, each piece as thick as a man's fist, the wood still weeping sap that smelled of old ritual and burning.
I didn't resist. I let them bind me to the stake.
The instant my skin touched the wood, my soul felt as though it had been pressed against a white-hot brand. The silver threaded through the grain sang against my wolf like a thousand tiny blades, and somewhere deep in my chest, the shadow wolf went utterly, terrifyingly still.
Four peachwood stakes tipped with silver, each the size of a bowl, were laid out right before Dana's eyes.
I gave him one last chance.
I looked at him, long and deep. "Dana. After all these years of love."
"Is this how little you trust Clarissa? If she hadn't risked her life to save yours, you would have died at Moonhaven Sanctuary."
"If she hadn't fallen in love with you, you never would have claimed the Alpha seat."
Dana's breath hitched, but his gaze held firm. No hesitation. His wolf's aura didn't so much as waver. The cold iron and damp stone of his scent remained steady, unmoved, as though the words meant nothing at all.
"Clara, once the exorcism is finished, you'll go back to the way you were..."
"We can live like we used to. I'll give you another pup..."
The hammer fell.
Dana's entire body seized with a violent tremor.
He wrenched his head away, as though he couldn't bear to watch.
I didn't make a single sound. I just smiled.
But this time, something inside me died completely.
Not even a flicker of heartache rose to the surface.
For the first time, my composure cracked.
Sister...
Has your wolf soul truly scattered to nothing, or are you still trapped somewhere inside this body?
How is it that neither Dana's love nor the threat to my very life stirs even the faintest response from you?
With every blow of the hammer,
the crease between Dana's brows deepened.
The red veins in his eyes spread another layer thicker.
The remaining peachwood piled around me had already been doused in lamp oil, its spiritual energy destroyed.
The flames roared to life.
I saw the panic flooding Dana's eyes. "Stop! Stop this at once!"
But Lucretia glided forward, her voice a gentle blade dipped in poison:
"Alpha, look at all that black smoke. That is the dark energy leaving her body."
"Once Shaman Aldric has cleansed it all, we should send her to Moonhaven Sanctuary for spiritual retreat and purification. That is the only lasting solution."
"I fear that one day, the one she harms won't be someone else. It will be you, Alpha..."
One sentence, and it struck the deepest fear buried in Dana's heart.
His outstretched hand froze in midair.
Conflict warred across his face, but in the end, he said nothing more.
Black smoke rolled into my throat, choking and thick.
Tongues of fire licked across my skin.
Dana could no longer see my body through the blaze.
Then.
Every ounce of agony that should have seared my flesh,
every last shred of it, rebounded.
Dana collapsed to the ground, convulsing, a scream ripping from his lungs as though his very organs were being torn apart. His Alpha aura shattered outward in wild, uncontrolled pulses that sent every wolf in the courtyard staggering, clutching their skulls.
"Put it out! Put out this fire!!"
"NOW!!"
At the same moment, Lucretia went rigid, as if something unspeakable had locked its gaze onto her. The manufactured sweetness of her scent curdled, and the bitter almond beneath it flooded the air raw and unmasked.
She twisted around, her voice cracking with raw terror:
"A ghost!! There are actually spirits in this world!!"
