Page 34

Elaine

I didn't know how long I lay there, shivering and broken, half-human, half-wolf, suspended between two selves I no longer understood. My body ached in ways I didn't think possible—down to my soul. Every breath felt borrowed.

Dominic sat beside me, his hands trembling as he cradled my face. The glow in his golden eyes was fading now, replaced by something gentler. Something afraid.

"I'm here," he whispered, brushing damp hair from my cheeks. "I'm here, little wolf."

My voice was a rasp, barely audible. "I can't feel her."

Dominic froze.

"My wolf. She's... silent." The words scraped out like gravel. "Is she gone?"

"No," Dominic said fiercely. "She's just hurt. She needs time. But she's still there. I swear it."

I wanted to believe him. But the silence inside me was absolute.

Liana came to kneel at my side, her face grim but determined. "We'll get her strength back," she said. "But you need rest. You're lucky we stopped it when we did."

"Stopped what?" I asked.

Her eyes met Dominic's, and then Garmon's. Silence passed between them, heavy and loaded. Finally, Garmon knelt down, leveling his gaze with mine.

"Someone has been feeding you silver. Slowly. Over years."

I blinked. "No. That can't be—"

"The rash on your wrist," Dominic said softly. "The one you thought was from that bracelet."

The memory hit me like a truck. The itching. The burning. My friend laughed it off. "But that was years ago—"

"Which means this has been going on for years," Liana finished. "And that's what nearly killed your wolf. But I think the poisoning is more than just the bracelet."

A scream built in my throat, but it never left. I swallowed it down. Along with the realization. Someone had wanted this. Someone had wanted me weak. Vulnerable. Easy to take. The rogues hadn't just come for me randomly. They had waited.

I forced myself to sit up, and though the pain was staggering, I needed to move. Needed to feel like I still had control of something.

Dominic wrapped his arms around me the moment I started to sway. "You need to lie down."

"No," I said hoarsely. "I need to know who did this."

"We'll find out," he promised. His voice held a razor edge. "And when we do..."

"You're not killing anyone for me," I whispered.

"Try and stop me," he growled.

Behind us, the pack shifted uneasily. Garmon stood and turned to them, his voice carrying across the clearing.

"She is one of us. Marked. Claimed. Fated."

Murmurs. Some shocked. Some angry.

"She's human," someone muttered.

"She's more than that now," Garmon replied. "She survived her first shift under silver poisoning. That's strength we cannot ignore."

Dominic helped me to my feet, his hand gripping mine like a lifeline. "You don't have to stand, you know."

"I do," I said. "Because I'm not going to let whoever did this win."

And though my knees trembled and the forest spun around me, I took my first step forward.