Chapter 2

"Like it?"

Vivienne followed her gaze and smiled.

"Cade said it was good for the body, insisted I wear it. It got in the way on my wrist, so I made it into an ankle bracelet."

She swayed her foot. The chain caught the light.

"Oh — since you're out," she said, as if just remembering, "you might as well see how Ren's doing."

Mara's head snapped up.

Vivienne reached into her bedside drawer and pulled out a photograph. Black and white. She held it out.

In it was a boy — thin to the point of collapse, curled in a corner. Head shaved. Face swollen purple and black. The low image quality couldn't hide the bruises layered across his body.

A guard had written a note at the bottom of the picture: Kid still calls for his mom when they hit him. Pathetic.

Mara's ears rang. She felt her blood run backward in her veins.

Vivienne looked at her with a satisfied expression and tucked the photo away. She examined her fingernails.

"He was disrespectful. He needs to learn. Don't worry — at most a few broken bones."

The words weren't finished before Mara lunged, both hands closing around Vivienne's throat.

"You did this. You let them do this to him."

Vivienne's face turned red, but her eyes were bright with triumph.

Then a shout from behind.

"Mara!"

The next second Mara was thrown backward. Her head hit the edge of a table. Blood ran down her face, blurring her vision, but Cade's face came through it clearly — furious.

"Have you lost your mind?"

Mara pushed herself up. She reached for him with a shaking hand.

"Cade. Ren is being beaten. She had them do it. Please — please get him out."

Cade's brow came down hard. His eyes were full of contempt.

"You've been locked away for three years and you've come out paranoid. Vivienne is incapable of this. She doesn't even eat meat."

Mara kept going. "I saw it. I'm telling you what I saw—"

Cade rubbed his eyes, tired.

"You're not well. I'm not blaming you for that."

He exhaled.

"Go rest. Once Vivienne conceives, I'll bring Ren home."

Mara opened her mouth. He was already walking away, his arm around Vivienne's shoulders.

The blood and tears mixed on her face. She watched his back until it disappeared.

She sat down on the floor.

She thought of the herbs she'd taken to get pregnant, how many times she'd been sick from them. The acupuncture that had bruised her entire arm. Cade holding her hand afterward with red eyes, saying, "We don't have to have a child. Please stop."

And then, when Ren was born, how Cade had stayed up night after night at the Pack infirmary himself. He'd said it was a father's responsibility. He wouldn't let anyone else take over.

How had it come to this?

Mara pressed a hand to her chest. She couldn't breathe.

But there was no time for this.

She got up. She wiped the blood from her eye with the back of her hand and ran toward the Pack disciplinary quarters. Whatever it cost, she was getting Ren out.

Mara found Ren in the isolation cell at the back of the Pack disciplinary quarters.

When she saw him, she almost broke down right there.

He was six years old. He looked like he was three.

At the sound of her footsteps, the small figure curled in the corner slowly lifted his head. His face was swollen black and blue.

"...Mom?"

His voice was barely there. It went straight through her.

"It's me. I'm here to take you home, baby."

She went to him, hands shaking, reaching to pick him up — and stopped, not knowing where to touch. One of his arms hung at a wrong angle. His ribs were covered in bruising. He looked like one gust of wind would scatter him.

"Don't cry, Mom."

He tried to smile.

"Ren doesn't hurt. Ren is just... a little tired."

Mara's tears fell anyway. She gathered him up as carefully as she could and ran.

She ran straight for the Pack Healing Center. She was stopped at the entrance by two guards.

The Pack Healing Center had been locked down. Today, the Alpha had cleared it for Vivienne's fertility checkup.

Mara looked past them and saw Cade walking Vivienne slowly toward the examination room — hand low on her back, head bent toward her, careful. And Vivienne, one hand over her lower stomach, waiting to be seen.

He'd locked down the Pack Healing Center for Vivienne's fertility checkup while his own son was dying in her arms.

Mara shoved past a guard and ran toward Cade.

"Cade! You have to help Ren. He's barely conscious. Please—"

Cade turned. His brow pulled together when he saw her.

"Are you done? You assault Vivienne. Then you show up here."

He stepped forward.

"Is this your way of stopping the checkup? Making up stories about our son?"

"Cade." His voice went quieter, harder. "Have I been too easy on you?"

Mara couldn't believe what she was hearing.

He'd locked her away. He'd taken her son from her. He called this being easy.

She turned back. Ren was on the ground where she'd set him down, his breathing getting weaker.

The next second the guards had her on the ground.

She fought. She screamed.

"Cade. Look at him. Just look at Ren — he's dying—"

Cade's voice came, flat.

"You're trying to stop the checkup by saying things like that. I won't listen to it."

He walked into the examination room. The doors closed.

The guards dragged Mara out and threw her onto the grounds outside. The iron gate slammed shut in front of her.

The noise woke Ren. He opened his eyes, barely.

"Mom."