Selene's POV
The moment I stepped through the den's entrance,the smell hit me.
Smoke.Thick and bitter and wrong.
My heart clenched.Something inside me screamed to move faster.
I pushed through the corridor,my steps unsteady,my body still not fully healed,but I could not slow down.The smell grew stronger with every step.
I opened the door to the common chamber and froze.
A stone basin sat in the center of the room.Flames danced inside it,wild and hot,burning something I recognized before my mind could fully process what I was seeing.
Dried stems.Rare petals.Roots wrapped carefully in treated bark-cloth.
They were Mira's herbs.Her entire collection.
My chest seized so hard I lost my breath.
And standing beside the fire,arms folded and smiling,was Verra.
"Oh.You're back,"she said.
"Stop!"My voice cracked as I ran across the room.
I dropped to my knees and reached straight into the flames.Pain tore through my hand,sharp and blinding,but I barely felt it.I grabbed what was left of the nearest bundle.
It crumbled.Turned to ash in my fingers.
"No..."
A broken sound came out of me that I had no name for.
That was the last herb bundle Mira ever gathered.The last thing her hands had prepared.
Mira.
My best friend.Born with a spirit so thin the healers said she would never survive her first shift.She had survived everything,right up until the night she did not.
"Every herb has a purpose,"she used to say,pressing a dried root into my palm."Learn them and you can help someone someday."
She had wanted to become a healer since she was small.Not for glory.But for wolves like herself.The ones born fragile,born into bodies that fought them.She spent years gathering every rare herb she could find,learning each one,dreaming of the cures she would make.
"Keep them safe,Selene,"she said the morning she gave them to me."One day they will save someone."
She gave them to me the morning before the fire.
That night,fire swallowed Caelan's house.Everyone called it an accident.But the scent in the air proved otherwise.Someone had set it deliberately,and no one ever looked into it.
It was Mira who ran in.Not the guards.Not Caelan's warriors.Mira.Small and fragile and afraid of nothing.
She pulled Caelan out with the last of her wolf-strength.By the time the healers reached her,there was almost nothing left to save.
She made me promise,three days before she passed.
"Keep them safe,Selene.Those herbs could heal someone no one else can reach.No matter what happens."
I held her hand and promised.
"Why are you making such a fuss?"
Verra's voice dragged me back.I lifted my head.Her face was unbothered.Almost bored.
"Why?"My voice broke apart."Why did you do this?"
She tilted her head."Do what?"
My burned hands shook as I clenched it into a fist.
"Those were mine!Who gave you the right to touch them?!"
She glanced at the fire like it was of no interest to her at all.
"After the den healers discharged me,Caelan gave me the alpha chamber,"she said lightly."It gets the morning light better than my old room."
My breath stopped.The alpha chamber was mine.
"He also said I could deal with your things however I saw fit."
Her lips curved.
"Those herbs smelled like decay,"she said."Like death stored in jars.Something that unpleasant does not belong in the alpha chamber."
She paused."Maybe that is why your pup never had the luck to take his first breath."
Something inside me broke completely.
"You evil creature!"
I shot up to my feet,my eyes bloodshot,my hand already moving.
A grip caught my wrist mid-air.
"Enough!"
Caelan.
His grip was tight and strong,like I was the one who had done something wrong.
"How dare you raise your hand to her?"he said."She just gave birth."
A hollow laugh escaped my mouth."She burned everything.Those were Mira's herbs.Years of work.Gone."
"So what?"
The two words landed quietly,dangerously,more than shouting ever could.
"So what?"I stared at him."Mira saved your life!She was the most fragile wolf in this pack and when someone set your house on fire she ran in.Not your guards.Not your warriors.Her.And it killed her!"
Caelan's face tightened with irritation."I didn't ask her to."
The ground felt like it shifted.
"How..."My voice came out tiny.
"How can you say that?"
"That was years ago,"he said,coldly.
"She is gone.Those things do not matter anymore.You need to stop living in the past."
Each word pressed hard like a stone being laid on top of my chest.
"You have no soul,"I whispered.
"Stop making a scene,"he said."The pup is sleeping.I will not have you waking him."
My pup was dead.And I was being asked to be quiet for hers.
I smiled.It was the most bitter thing I had ever felt on my face.
Verra pressed herself softly against Caelan's arm.
"I didn't mean any harm,"she said gently."I only thought those herbs did not belong here anymore.I was trying to help."
Her eyes met mine for just a moment.They were bright with private laughter.
My whole body shook.
"I never asked for your help,"I said."You lying,evil…"
"Enough,"Caelan cut me off."Say one more word and you will regret it."
"Let go of me!"I pulled from his grip.The burned skin on my hand strong.
Then a kick connected with my side.
Pain exploded through my body.I went down hard,the air leaving me all at once.I lay on the cold stone floor and could not breathe.My chest heaved and nothing came in.
"I'm sorry!"Verra gasped,her voice all soft and shocked."She was going to hit you.I reacted without thinking!"
"It is alright,"Caelan said,wrapping an arm around her."You were protecting me.She is the one who brought this on."
My fingers curled against the floor.
My hand burned.My side pounded.My chest ached.
None of it came close to what was inside.
They had taken my pup.Now they had burned the last piece of Mira I had.Every herb she gathered.Every cure she never got to make.
"Keep them safe,Selene.Those herbs could heal someone no one else can reach."
I had promised her.
A tear slid down my face unto the cold stone floor.I had not been able to keep it.
The edges of my vision darkened.The last thing I saw before everything went dark was Verra,placed safely and warm against Caelan's side,watching me with quiet,satisfied eyes.
