Isla POV:
I didn't sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the bite mark on her neck.
The memory of three weeks ago washed over me. I had been alone in the clinic, organizing herbs. Suddenly, a pain had exploded in my chest-a burning sensation, like a branding iron pressed against my heart. I had fallen to my knees, gasping, thinking I was having a heart attack.
Now I knew what it was. It was the moment Damien had knotted with her. The moment his body betrayed ours.
I remembered him coming home late that night. He had smelled of Bay Leaves. At the time, I thought he had been patrolling the borders near the forest edge where the Bay trees grew.
I was a fool. Bay Leaves were used in the ancient courting rituals of the Northern packs. Seraphina was from the North. He hadn't been patrolling. He had been courting her.
My computer pinged, breaking my trance.
It was 4:00 AM. The screen glowed in the dark room. I opened the secure email client.
*To: Healer Isla*
*From: The Ancient Healers Guild, Zurich*
*Subject: Invitation to High Council*
*Dear Healer Isla, your research on Silver Essence regeneration has caught the attention of the Grand Elders. We formally invite you to join the Guild in Switzerland. This position offers full sanctuary and immunity from Pack politics.*
My hand hovered over the mouse. The Guild was neutral territory. No Alpha, not even Damien, could demand my return if I was under their protection. It was the only place on earth I would be safe from him.
I clicked *Accept*.
I stood up and walked to my apothecary room. It was my sanctuary within the apartment. Shelves lined the walls, filled with jars of dried roots, crystals, and liquids.
I began to pack. Not clothes-clothes could be bought. I packed my tools. My silver needles. My rare Stardust pollen.
The front door beeped. Damien walked in. He was wearing his running gear, sweat glistening on his forehead. He looked vibrant, alive. He didn't look like a male who had destroyed his mate's soul.
He saw the boxes on the table.
"Spring cleaning?" he asked casually, grabbing a protein bar.
"The ceremony is canceled," I said. I didn't look up from the jar of dried wolfsbane I was sealing.
The room went silent. The wrapper of his protein bar crinkled as his hand tightened.
"Isla, stop this," he said, his voice dropping an octave. "We talked about this. You are upset about Seraphina. It is temporary."
"It is not temporary," I said, finally turning to face him. "And I am not upset. I am done."
"You cannot cancel the ceremony!" Damien shouted. "The invitations have been sent to every Alpha in the continent! My reputation is on the line!"
"Your reputation?" I laughed. It was a dry, brittle sound. "You parade your mistress around the pack house wearing your mark, and you worry about your reputation?"
Damien crossed the room in two strides. He grabbed my shoulders. His grip was hard, bruising.
"She is not my mistress! She is a patient! And you are my Mate!"
He dropped to his knees.
The great Alpha Damien, the Wolf of the West, was on his knees in our kitchen. He grabbed my hands.
"Isla, please," he said, his eyes frantic. "I need you. You are my balance. Without you, my wolf is restless. I will make it up to you. The wedding will be magnificent. I will buy you diamonds, a new car, anything."
For a second, my heart wavered. This was the man I had loved since I was eighteen. The man I had nearly died to save. His desperation felt real.
*Ding.*
The elevator doors opened directly into the living room.
Seraphina stepped out. She was wearing a silk robe that barely covered her curves. She held a hand over her stomach, a small, secretive smile playing on her lips.
"Damien?" she called out softly. "The baby... I think he's kicking. Or moving. I feel strange."
Damien's head snapped toward her. He dropped my hands as if they were burning coals. He scrambled up from the floor and rushed to her side.
"It's too early for kicking," he said, his voice full of tender worry. "Are you in pain? Do you need the doctor?"
He placed his large hand over her stomach. He caressed it.
He had forgotten I existed.
I watched them. The tableau of a happy family. The Alpha, the mother, and the heir.
My heart didn't hurt anymore. It just stopped. It turned into a cold, hard stone in my chest.
"Your side effects started long before the marking, Damien," I said.
He didn't hear me. He was too busy whispering to Seraphina's belly.
I walked back to my room. I pulled the calendar off the wall.
I took the red marker. I crossed out "Wedding Day."
In bold letters, I wrote: *DEPARTURE DAY.*
I looked at the date. Twelve days.
My phone buzzed with a confirmation from the Guild. *Flight arranged. Zurich. One-way.*
I looked at my hand. Under the skin, a faint silver light pulsed in my veins. It was my Silver Essence, the power of a High Healer. It had been dormant for years, drained by my constant sacrifices for this ungrateful pack.
Now, it was waking up.
Damien thought I was just a jealous female. He thought I was weak.
He had no idea what he had just unleashed.
