Chapter 3

Eleanor POV

The numbness was my armor.

After the banquet, I didn't just withdraw; I ceased to exist. I became a ghost haunting the halls of my own home.

I scrubbed floors until my knuckles cracked. I washed dishes until the water ran cold. I avoided eye contact, shrinking into the shadows whenever a pack member walked by.

They whispered when I passed-some with pity, most with the scorn reserved for the fallen.

I was still recovering, slowly, from a Rogue attack at the Montauk border a few days prior. I had been sent there on a "scouting mission"-a suicide run orchestrated by Isabelle, I was sure of it.

I had survived, barely, dragging my bleeding body back to the territory line.

Marcus hadn't visited the infirmary once.

Today, my task was to clean the upper floors of the administrative wing. I stepped into the elevator, clutching my bucket and mop like a lifeline.

The doors slid shut. The car began to ascend.

Then, a shriek of metal on metal tore through the air.

The cable snapped.

For a heartbeat, I was weightless. Suspended in a terrifying void.

Then, gravity reclaimed me.

The elevator plummeted three stories.

I didn't scream. I just thought, *So this is it.*

The impact was a thunderclap that rattled my teeth. The floor buckled beneath me. I was thrown against the wall, my head cracking against the metal railing.

Pain exploded in my side as a jagged piece of the elevator shaft pierced the car and tore into my abdomen.

Darkness swarmed my vision.

When I woke up, the pain was different. It wasn't just an ache; it was a burning, searing fire in my blood.

*Silver.*

The metal that had pierced me was coated in it. It wasn't an accident. It was a trap.

It was poison to us. It stopped our healing. It killed our wolves.

I was in the pack hospital. I could hear the rhythmic beeping of machines. I tried to move, but my body felt like it was filled with lead.

Through the haze, I heard voices outside the door.

"She needs surgery immediately, Alpha," the doctor said. His voice was urgent, tight with panic. "The silver is in her bloodstream. If we don't extract the shrapnel and flush her system, her wolf will die. She might die."

"Is it that serious?" Marcus's voice drifted in. He sounded annoyed, distracted. "Isabelle scraped her knee when the elevator shook the building. She's terrified. I need to be with her."

"Alpha, Eleanor is dying," the doctor insisted, his tone bordering on insubordination. "I need your authorization for the silver extraction procedure. It requires access to the Pack's reserve of Wolfsbane antidote."

A pause. A long, cruel pause.

"Isabelle is calling for me," Marcus said finally. "Stabilize Eleanor. I'll sign the papers later. She's tough. She always survives."

Footsteps walked away.

He walked away.

He left me to burn.

Inside me, my wolf, usually so vibrant, let out a weak, gurgling whimper. She was fading. The silver was eating her alive.

*He left us,* my wolf whispered, her voice barely a ghost in my mind. *He doesn't want us.*

*I know,* I answered her.

A shadow fell over my bed. It was Dr. Aris, a kind Healer who had always liked my designs. He looked pale, his eyes wide with fear.

"He's not coming back, is he?" I rasped, blood bubbling on my lips.

Dr. Aris clenched his jaw, a muscle ticking in his cheek. "No. But I took an oath to heal."

He moved quickly, bypassing the authorization protocols on the keypad. "This is going to hurt, Ellie. I can't give you anesthesia because it interacts poorly with the silver poisoning. You have to feel it all."

"Do it," I whispered.

The surgery was agony beyond comprehension. It felt like he was digging into my flesh with hot coals. I screamed until my voice gave out, until my throat was raw.

I felt the metal leave my body, but the fire remained.

But amidst the pain, something solidified in my mind.

I was done waiting. I was done hoping.

I closed my eyes and visualized the bond-the cord of light that connected me to Marcus. It was frayed, stained with neglect and betrayal.

*I don't need him to protect me,* I thought. *I don't need him to validate me.*

My heart rate monitor beeped steadily, a rhythm of survival.

I lay there in the dark hospital room, shivering from the aftereffects of the silver. My wolf was silent, comatose. But I was awake.

I was awake, and I was absolutely, terrifyingly calm.

The door opened hours later. Marcus didn't come in. He just stood in the doorway, looking at his phone, the blue light illuminating his indifferent face.

"Is she alive?" he asked a nurse, without looking up.

"Yes, Alpha."

"Good. Tell her to stop causing scenes."

He turned and left.

I stared at the empty doorway. My eyes were dry.

*Goodbye, Marcus,* I thought.

*You didn't just kill my love for you. You killed the girl who was foolish enough to tolerate you.*