I finally woke up. The first thing I did was
I barely recognized. He told me she meant nothing, that she w
en declared legally dead three years ago. The petition was signed by my o
ayed dead. He said the other woman
ing me off a cliff into a raging river. Kaelen dove in
pha's Command to order a blood transfusion to save her life. He never even aske
ed, a perfect picture of happiness. That's when I finally understood. Waking up was a mistake. My
pte
A'S
e smell of a winter forest after a storm, sharp pine and cold, clean earth. For five year
with something else. Something ch
ury. The witch's curse was finally broken. I was back. But when I followed his scent to hi
pping her face. My heart, which had just s
felt my presence, his
thed, his voice
rushing to my side. "It's been wild with grief
nd this was just a single, ugly ripple. I chose to smooth it over. I let h
cords, a cold dread creeping up my spine. The elder,
my voice trembling. "What do
d leaves. "Lyra... three years ago, y
whose bodies are never found, a way for the
y, sliding a heavy parchment across the desk. "For the stab
Kaelen's official seal, pressed into dark red wax. T
er continues, his voice full of pit
day of the Rogue attack. She had led me into that clearing, her eyes wide with false terror, right into their trap. I had fought to prot
worn on the Moon Goddess herself that he would wait for
n my hand, feels cold and useless. "It's void," the e
that connects all members of a pack, allowing us to speak mind-to-mind.
l have the pack doctor meet you at the hospital. Just a
s there. Because my son, Caelus, broug
e Hall of Records like a ghost, my feet carryi
ter spilling out into the night. I stay in the shadows
son, Caelus, his small hand tucked into Seraphina's. She's
my son's clear voice say. "Seraphin
like a physical blow. "Hush, little cub. Your father is the Alpha. The pack
was the right thing to do. Kael
id this. They buried me w
rack. It shatters. The feeling is a violent, wrenching agony in the center of my being, a gapin
ain, this one old and kind. It's Mas
e for you, if you want it. A neutral territory. Whisperin
tches. A pla
oice in my head raw with
me, on the mate who replaced me. The love I had for the
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