Larkin kept begging me desperately, but I could no longer be moved.
I was no longer the naive, soft-hearted Elara I had once been.
That version of me who had once been happy simply because of Rowan's affection had gone along with my dead children.
That night, I held my dead children in my arms and walked alone to the most remote, barren hill beyond the border of the Blackrock Pack's turf.
The full moon hung overhead, and its silver light fell on the snow like a thin layer of frost.
I built a fire and gently placed my children into the flames.
As the ashes rose, I sang the Moon Goddess's requiem to the moon throughout the night.
It was a song my mother had sung to me when I was a child.
I begged the Moon Goddess to guide the lost souls of my children back to the silver grasslands she owned with every line I sang.
I sang until dawn, when my throat bled, and my voice gave out completely.
The next morning, Larkin placed an alabaster urn with my children's ashes in it into my hands.
He asked me, "Aren't you going to wait for the burial ceremony and send their souls back to the Moon Goddess before you leave?"
I clutched the alabaster urn tight against my chest and shook my head. "No. Their souls have already gone back to the Moon Goddess. The ceremony is nothing but comfort for the living werewolves. I just want to get back to the North as quickly as possible. That is my home."
Larkin opened his mouth and seemingly wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing. He nodded and turned away.
He walked slowly, his back hunched as though the weight on his shoulders was too heavy.
I walked back to my living quarters one last time, intending to gather a few belongings.
The moment I pushed open the wooden door, I saw Rowan and Vera lying naked on my bed, and that the bearskin bedding I had spread myself was all rumpled and tangled.
The room reeked of a pungent smell after sex.
Vera twirled a string of moon stone between her fingers, giggling as she leaned against Rowan's chest. "I heard that moon stones soaked in the blood of White Wolf pups can not only keep a pregnancy from failing, but if I put them in the spot which is your favorite, it will send you straight to heaven."
Rowan let out a low, rumbling laugh, his chest vibrating as his large hand slid up Vera's thigh. "Let me see if it works."
With that, they began a long, passionate tongue kiss.
The air suddenly grew thick with lust. But standing at the door, I only felt my blood run cold.
I knew that those moon stones had been soaked in my children's blood.
Serane within me let out a furious roar.
I stared at their tangled bodies, my nails digging deep into my palms.
Blood seeped through my fingers and dripped onto the threshold, drop by drop.
Rowan must have caught my scent, because he suddenly looked up and saw me.
A flicker of panic crossed his eyes, but it quickly gave way to smugness.
He pulled himself away from Vera and strode over to me, naked and unashamed.
He let out a snort through his nose. "Finally decided to come back? What is that filthy thing you are holding in your arms? I warn you, don't even think about using werewolf venom to harm Vera."
Pain flashed through my eyes as his words cut deep.
I could not accept that the ashes of our children had been called filthy by their own father.
Before Vera came, Rowan and I had once eagerly awaited the arrival of our children.
Back then, he would press his ear against my belly trying to listen to the movements inside, then look up at me with a smile, his eyes narrowing with it.
I would lean against him while our two babies kept squirming inside me.
I thought that was my whole reason for staying in the Blackrock Pack, as I had a home here, a mate I loved, and two beautiful children.
But now, looking back on those memories, I felt nothing but bitter irony.
I stepped back twice, avoiding his reaching hand, and spoke coldly. "Rowan, I want to break our bond."
Rowan let out a cold laugh and grabbed my chin with his big hand. "You think you can threaten me with that? Not a chance! Do not think for one second that you can use Larkin's favoritism to force me to recognize those two pups you gave birth to as the Pack's heirs. This morning Larkin actually told me he would only accept those two brats of yours and not Vera's child."
"Since that is the case," Rowan said again, pulling the smirking Vera to his side, "where are those brats? Get them out here right now. I want you to watch them call Vera 'mother' right here in front of you."
