spirit, but Lila barely felt it. Every beat of her hear

mp earth, the smell of moss and blood thick in her nose. Somewhere dee

low ache of what might have been-and the crushing

heartbreak; it was soul-deep annihilation. A tearing apart so violent that it left her ga

Just

e sacred clearing where her life had just been ripped in two. Her bare feet sliced against

. His fists were clenched at his sides, knuckles bone-white, face a mask of indifference he wore like ar

d at her as he

dn't

thick around her. Her body convulsed as she shifted halfway, her wolf clawing to the surface in her agony. But she c

forest. The sound tore through the night like a

h

ed her fate to a male who w

just hours before. It wasn't just the bond Kael had rejected-it was *her*. E

of the Moon Rite faltered,

s if she could physically hold herself together. But she was splintering from

forest, a wolf howled

hers

-

sacred grounds, Kae

ne of them hurt as much as the phantom echo of Lila's

side him. "It's done," he said

s-not tonight. Not ever. Duty demanded sacrific

re deep inside,

Insigni

r

it didn't tear something vital from his chest to do so. Pretending it

d survi

o surviv

f the pack d

ier than the last. He shoved down the image of Lila's face-those

Alpha

Alpha

-

long she lay there, h

She forced herself upright, every movement agony. She staggered deeper into the f

t stay

't fac

y whisper wou

look would slic

herself that Lila could barely feel her presenc

anches whipped against her skin, and the night seemed alive with unseen threats. But Lila welcomed the pain-it was

ver, she dared one last glance over h

tterly. "Goodbye to eve

around her, swal

-

Rite had ended. The fire in the hearth had burned low

ers but saw only silve

ht thing," he to

rds tasted

ounded at

answer. He

dy to face an

the vast darkness beyond his wal

en the one to

the first time in years, Kael felt

gr

ng the feeling deep down w

hoice. There was

-

acklands, a pair of glowing eye

le

dat

ti

it

not just left her vul

ble to everything else

had already