Aria's POV
“I’m sorry, Ms. Sinclair,” the healer murmured, his voice low and heavy with the kind of sorrow only years of tending broken wolves could teach. “We have tried every remedy known to the Moon. But your brother… his wolf has withdrawn too deeply. It is as if his spirit has turned its back on this world. He no longer struggles to return.”
The words pierced through me like a blade sliding between ribs.
For a moment, the air refused to enter my lungs.
I forced myself to breathe slowly, deliberately. If I shattered now, I would never gather the pieces again—and Marcus had no one else left to stand for him.
So I nodded once, stiffly, like a statue carved from Lutherford stone, and turned back toward the narrow infirmary bed.
Marcus lay utterly still beneath the pale glow of the moonstones set into the ceiling. Their faint silver light pulsed softly, meant to soothe wounded wolves and strengthen their connection to the Moon. But it did nothing for him.
He looked wrong.
Too pale. Too quiet.
A leather binding rested around his wrist where the healers had tied a charm threaded with wolfsbane-neutralizing herbs—standard practice when a wolf suffered a violent shift or spirit injury. A bowl of steaming tonic herbs sat beside the bed, its scent sharp and bitter in the air.
Yet Marcus hadn’t stirred in days.
The faint aura of his wolf flickered weakly around him—like the last sparks of a dying fire.
And I was running out of coin.
Caleb had made certain of that.
My former mate didn’t simply want Marcus punished.
He wanted me ruined.
Every bit of work I managed to find slipped away within days. A stable job might last a week—two if the Moon was feeling generous. A month at most before the same hollow excuse arrived from nervous employers who refused to meet my eyes.
Pack restructuring.
New hires.
Unexpected changes.
Lies.
All of it.
This had nothing to do with work.
This was Caleb Lutherford’s reach tightening around my throat.
He wanted to drive me into a corner. To starve me of options until I crawled back to him, head bowed like a disgraced omega begging forgiveness.
Until I accepted whatever humiliating conditions he chose to grant me and called it mercy.
But I wouldn’t.
I couldn’t.
I wrapped my fingers around Marcus’s cold hand, squeezing gently, hoping—ridiculously—that my warmth might reach him wherever his spirit had wandered.
“Don’t you dare leave me here alone, pup,” I whispered, leaning close so only he could hear. “Not like this.”
My voice trembled, but I forced the words out anyway.
“I’m not giving up the way you did. I’ll keep fighting. Until my last breath, Marcus. I swear it.”
I pressed my lips against his knuckles.
Salt touched my tongue. Tears I hadn’t realized had fallen.
Slowly, painfully, I straightened.
My legs protested with every step, but I forced them to carry me out of the infirmary chamber. If I stayed one moment longer, I would collapse beside his bed and never rise again.
---
The corridor beyond felt endless.
The air smelled of herbs, antiseptic smoke, and quiet grief.
Somewhere down the hall a healer murmured soft reassurances to a frightened mother cradling her injured pup, and the sound nearly broke me.
Where was I supposed to go now?
I had no work.
Our family trading house had already collapsed under Caleb’s pressure. Merchants who once welcomed us now refused our coin. Suppliers suddenly “forgot” their agreements. Even permits from pack officials had begun mysteriously disappearing.
Caleb’s name never needed to be spoken.
In territory ruled by a dominant Alpha bloodline, everyone understood the cost of crossing them.
Two weeks from now, the Pack Council would hear our case again.
And every day the scales tipped further against us.
What I still couldn’t understand was how far Caleb had fallen.
Not just as a man—
But as an Alpha.
Using the pack’s influence like a weapon to tear a family apart.
And the cruelest truth of all?
I had once loved him.
Loved him more than I loved myself.
Trusted him the way wolves trusted the Moon itself.
“Aria.”
The familiar voice cut through my thoughts.
I turned—and froze.
For a heartbeat, my lungs forgot how to work.
“Lily…”
She stood a few paces away, hair hastily tied back as if she’d rushed here without stopping to breathe. Her sharp eyes scanned my face, searching.
I barely managed a tired smile.
“You’re back.”
I didn’t even finish the sentence before she rushed forward and threw her arms around me.
The force of the hug nearly knocked me off balance.
“Lily—easy,” I wheezed, trying to laugh despite the ache in my ribs. “I’m not made of Lutherford iron.”
She pulled back abruptly.
The glare she shot me could have scorched the paint off the walls.
But what shocked me wasn’t the anger.
It was the tear sliding down her cheek.
“Lily?” I asked quietly, lifting my hand to wipe it away. “Why are you crying?”
She caught my wrist before I could touch her.
“You went through all of this alone,” she said, her voice shaking with fury. “Six months, Aria. Six months of silence.”
Her grip tightened.
“What am I to you? A stranger?”
My throat closed.
“Lily—”
“Are we not sisters anymore?” she snapped. “Because that’s what it felt like.”
“You are my sister,” I said immediately, the words rushing out because they were true. “Don’t ever doubt that.”
Instead of answering, she seized my hand and dragged me toward the small cedar garden beside the infirmary—a quiet place built so grieving families could breathe without breaking down before strangers.
---
We sat beneath the shade of the cedar tree.
Cool wind carried the scent of earth and leaves, steadying the restless stirrings of my wolf.
Lily crossed her arms.
“Explain.”
I stared at my trembling hands.
The truth felt humiliating in a way I couldn’t explain.
Lily had always been my person. The one who understood every version of me—the good, the bad, the ugly truths I hid from everyone else.
And somehow, in the middle of everything collapsing, I had shut her out.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “Everything became so heavy that I stopped thinking past the next hour. I lost track of everything.”
My voice broke.
“Even you.”
Her expression softened slightly.
She sighed and reached out to squeeze my hands.
“Don’t apologize,” she said more gently. “I was angry, yes. But I understand. No wolf should carry this much alone.”
Her gaze shifted toward the infirmary doors.
“How’s our little prince?”
The dam inside me shattered instantly.
“There’s been no improvement,” I whispered. “The healer believes… he’s given up.”
The rest of the sentence died in my throat.
Lily didn’t press me.
She simply pulled me into her arms.
And the moment she did—
I broke.
“I can’t do this anymore,” I sobbed, clutching her cloak like it was the last solid thing in the world. “Caleb destroyed everything. Marcus lies in there like a ghost and I can’t even save him.”
“That bastard,” Lily muttered darkly, her anger rumbling beneath her voice like a low growl. She rubbed my back gently the way she used to when we were young and the world felt survivable.
“You’re not alone anymore,” she said firmly. “We’ll fight for our little prince together.”
I wiped my face.
“The pack advocate says we have almost no chance,” I admitted quietly. “Caleb has allies everywhere. No one wants to challenge a Lutherford Alpha.”
I lowered my voice.
“I have no work left. Marcus’s treatments cost more than I can earn. Caleb wants me to crawl back to him.”
Lily grabbed my shoulders and forced me to meet her gaze.
“And you won’t,” she said with iron certainty. “Not for money. Not for mercy.”
She leaned closer.
“I want to help you. But you’re right—alone, I can’t stand against the Lutherfords.”
My brows furrowed.
“So what do we do?”
A slow smile curved her lips.
“I know someone.”
My chest tightened.
“Someone powerful,” she continued. “A wolf whose name carries weight among Alphas. One even Caleb might hesitate to provoke.”
I blinked.
“We don’t know anyone like that.”
“You know Luca,” she said.
I nodded.
“He serves this Alpha.”
My stomach twisted.
“Lily… I’ve never met this man.”
“I know,” she said gently. “But Aria… he may be the only one capable of helping you.”
Her voice softened.
“And you don’t have the luxury of pride anymore.”
My thoughts immediately turned to Marcus lying motionless in the infirmary.
“You have Marcus.”
Silence stretched between us.
Finally, I nodded.
“I trust you.”
Relief flashed across her face.
“Good.”
