as'

back as the sound ripped out

claws scrabbling before falling completely silent. I hit the floor with my knees taking

low under my ribs felt wrong and carved out. I stared at Sienna on the table, watching her b

igan, my voice coming out rougher than

a second vial, humming with gold light, beneath the velvet of her tray. Her fingers lingered on it protectively-one fo

ric of her sleeve under my fingers while her mouth ope

tammered, wilting under my g

answer me. I

ard Sienna's still form because every instinct I had was screaming to protect, to claim, and to undo. I leaned

l became a ghost in the clinical air, the orange and ceda

d, but the name felt

ond sn

ed, however, a thin and burning thread carrying my regret like a disease, pulsing against my ribs in a sick, hot w

th, seeing one as a problem and the other as a s

e, but her mouth tasted of ash. I shoved her away, disgusted by

. "Wipe every phone in this facility, because if a sin

g at the edges as she trembled. "Her pulse is thready, so sh

ones feeling small in my grip. "Have you gone

ithout falling, sitting glassy in h

er chest didn't move. "She was supposed to survive, and the heir was supposed t

r eyes locked on the body without her lips

ected back, her voice calm in my he

. "Alpha Lucas, the blood is extracted and she needs treatment

ys a secret," I snapped, m

with every step, finding that she weighed nothing-less than not

t, her voice barely there. "Let's see how lo

e day

nna'

ids, hurting because it was

ile measured footsteps paced in the hallway, waiting. I forced my eyes open, bo

doctor," I gasp

who carved me open. The needle, the extraction, and the de

The metal was cold enough to sting, making the silver in my veins feel like ice instead of fire o

or crea

" the doctor said, his relief sound

reassigned" here as punishment after my father died. His hair wa

is still recovering from the bond severing, and the threads are frayed, barely holding."

hospital gown stuck to my skin. "Here to finish his work?

s, and I-" His hands shook as he bandaged my wrist with careful fingers. "I couldn't

are chea

voided my eyes. "Sienna... your eyes... they

let out a dry, hollow laugh

he fabric was soft and too normal. "Go to the mirror, because

shoulder where Lucas's mark was already a graying scar, fading into nothing with flaking edges. Yet a thin, burning, and unwanted thread of th

y, and not blue, but silver like metal held to light. I looked again, thi

over my shoulders, which were now the color

whispered. "

posed to have that my father kept hidden. I looked like what they killed, leaving me to look at the water stain in t