ora

h for me to leave the hospital. The scars on my chest

on a hill overlooking the city, a symbol of the Blood Moon Pack's wealth a

e front door. The a

he scent of the pack-was gone. It was buried

a maid mumbled, rushing past

ard the guest room where I had been sleeping for the past year, e

ed the door, my

corner-the pile of soft blankets and pillows that every

for you

hallway. She looked the picture of health, wearing

ings?" I asked,

ingernails. "They smelled like... failure. I'm redecorating. This

t stopped. "My drawings of the anc

ld do whatever I wanted to make the house feel like h

re spiritual. They were channeled from the collective memory

ped forward. "You are a gue

"I am the future Lu

t. "And he's too stupi

now. She moved toward me with a predator's grace-too

hissed, backing me toward the stairca

ay," I tried to

rip was iron. "You need t

shov

ight, enhanced by a strength she shouldn't h

my fo

out for the banister, but

l bac

I tumbled, hitting my head, my shoulder, my hip. The

ac

leg twisted at an unnatural angle. A scre

n. Through the haze, I

me, broken at the bottom of the stairs, to Ilene, standi

m clutch his heart. The Mate Bond t

roared, rushi

itching into a sob. "I tried to catch he

e, his hands hovering over my br

wanted to tell him she pushed me. I wanted t

s, I saw it. He was already looking u

your faul

t I heard it in the

take me. There was no point in speaking