Chapter 4

You're sick. Everything you see is a hallucination. No one hurt Nora. No one hurt your pups." "Serena and Theo are innocent." She could only stutter it back. "They're innocent. I'm sick. I'm sorry. I'm sick." After a long time the pain eased. Somewhere in the haze, someone draped a warm coat over her. A man's voice, tired. "Elara. I have to protect Serena and Theo. If Pack knew how Theo's life was saved, his life would be over. You be good now. Stop digging. We can go back to how we were." You have to protect Serena. You have to protect your son. And me? And Nora? She wanted to scream. She wanted to ask. But her body had been broken into obedience. It only trembled. Her mouth wouldn't open. Nothing came out. Damon seemed satisfied. He went to the door and told the guard, "Watch the Luna. Call the Healer the moment anything changes." A little while later, footsteps again. Serena's voice, pretending shock. "Elara. Look at you. Poor thing." "Not a clean inch of skin left. Just like your daughter." A shudder. Elara forced her head up and stared. Serena wasn't afraid of her. She pulled a stack of photos out of her bag. "Did you know? That day, Nora walked in on Damon teasing Theo. He was trying to get Theo to call him daddy." "Your daughter was such a little rebel. She cried and screamed that she was going to tell you. She said she'd rather you two broke the Bond than have a daddy who hurt her mommy. It broke Damon's heart." "Lucky for us, she had your rare blood type. Perfect for our Theo. When we drew the blood—Moon Goddess—she cried so much." In the photos, the bright little girl lay on her stomach in the filth. Shrunken. Hollow. Her arm was covered in needle marks. Her whole body looked like a small branch broken off in a puddle of blood. Something snapped in Elara. She tried to lunge up, tried to kill the demon in front of her. Her body failed her. She stood and fell back down hard. Serena laughed. When she was done laughing she crouched down to look Elara in the face. "I heard you want to find your daughter's grave. Sign this. I'll tell you where it is." She held out a Severing Contract. Elara's lips moved. Each word came out iron-copper. "Even if I sign. Will Damon sign?" "That's for me to handle." Elara pulled her mouth into something like a smile. She dragged her finger through her own blood and signed. Serena leaned close and whispered something in her ear. Then she walked out, happy, with the contract in hand. She didn't notice the half-dead woman behind her reach out a hand, slowly, and close her fingers around the photos Serena had dropped on the floor. # Chapter 5 Midnight. Sheets of rain. Elara stood over the grave, a few laborers behind her with shovels. The mound in front of her didn't even have a headstone. Her voice tore out of her throat. "Dig." One of the men hesitated, glancing at the woman who was covered in cuts and blood. "Ma'am. Digging up a grave. It's not—" "Dig it." They swung their shovels. After a long time they levered open the coffin. There was nothing inside. The men looked at each other. Then at her. Her knees gave out. She dropped into the mud. Rain washed blood down her face and mixed with the tears. She remembered what Serena had whispered hours ago. "The Pack Seer said burying your daughter would leave resentment behind. It would hurt Theo." "So Damon had no choice. He gave her body to the Rogue wolves. Don't hate him for it. He was in pain too. But a living pup has to come first, doesn't he?" "If you don't believe me, go look." She had come. She had seen the truth. The day before Nora disappeared, Nora was still in the pink dress she loved, wrapped around Damon's leg. "Even when little brother comes, you still love me the most, right, Daddy?" And Damon had laughed and scooped her up. "Of course. No pup anywhere beats my little princess." Damon knew how much Nora was afraid of wolves in feral form. But in the end. In the end— "Miss. Are you okay?" one of the men asked. She didn't answer. She couldn't hear him anymore. In the rain she bent her forehead to the earth, and the pain in her chest had no sound. The sun came up at some point. She didn't notice. She came back to herself slowly. She texted her Pack Counselor. The evidence had to go to the Pack Enforcers. The graveyard was far from the Enforcer post. She couldn't flag down a car looking the way she did. She walked. Every step cut her. A little further. Almost there. She was almost at the post when a pedestrian screamed. She raised her head slowly. A car was barreling straight at her. Serena was at the wheel, wild-eyed. "You bitch. You really did take the photos to the Enforcers!" The rage in her eyes was hatred, but mostly murder. "Die, then." Elara's pupils constricted. She threw herself sideways. Too late. The car hit her and exploded. * She opened her eyes through a haze. The Healer's voice was panicked. "Alpha—the blood reserves are almost out. Do we save the Luna or Miss Voss?" "Miss Voss is serious but stable. The Luna—"