Chapter 2

Jana POV:

The next morning, the hospital staff didn't bring me breakfast. They brought me a drafting table.

I was weak. My skin was the color of old paper, and dark circles bruised the skin under my eyes. But Axel had returned.

"Kyleigh is awake," he said. He stood by the door, refusing to come closer, as if my uselessness was contagious. "But she is too weak to hold a pencil. The deadline for the Northern Defense Wall is tomorrow. She needs to finish the blueprints."

He placed a heavy roll of paper on the table.

"You want me to draw it?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

"I want you to be her hands," Axel corrected. "She will tell you what to do via Mind-Link. You will draw exactly what she says."

I looked at the blank paper. Architecture was the only thing I had left. It was the only thing Kyleigh couldn't fake. She didn't know the difference between a load-bearing wall and a decorative column.

'Start with the main gate,' Kyleigh's voice slithered into my head. It was the Mind-Link, the telepathic connection shared by all pack members. Her mental voice sounded sickeningly sweet. 'And don't make it look like your trash, Jana. Make it look like mine.'

I picked up the charcoal pencil. My hand trembled, but as soon as the tip touched the paper, instinct took over. I began to sketch.

I drew the reinforced arches that would withstand a Rogue attack. I drew the hidden tunnels for emergency evacuations. I poured my soul into the graphite lines.

Hours passed. Axel watched me. For a moment, just a fleeting moment, I saw a spark of admiration in his eyes as he watched the complex structure emerge on the paper.

"It's brilliant," he murmured, stepping closer. "Kyleigh's vision is... extraordinary."

My heart cracked.

"This is my design, Axel," I said softly. I couldn't help myself. "Look at the shading style. Look at the rune placement. I've been drawing this since I was twelve."

Axel's face darkened. "Do not try to take credit for your sister's genius. You are just the tool she is using."

My mother, Joyce, bustled into the room then, carrying a bowl of soup. She walked right past me and placed it on the side table, presumably for Axel.

"Is it finished?" she asked. "The Elders are waiting. They want to see the future Luna's contribution to the pack's safety."

"Almost," Axel said. He picked up the drawing. "It is perfect. The pack will be safe for generations."

He looked at the drawing with such love, such pride. But that love was directed at a ghost, a lie.

'Good job, little sister,' Kyleigh's voice echoed in my head. 'Now, destroy the evidence.'

I froze.

'Do it,' she commanded mentally. 'Go to your attic. Burn your sketchbooks. Burn those little awards you won online under a fake name. If Axel finds out you can actually draw, he might get suspicious. We can't have that before the surgery, can we?'

I looked at Axel. He was rolling up the blueprints, talking to my mother about the wedding ceremony.

I stood up. My legs felt like jelly. I walked out of the room, and neither of them stopped me.

I climbed the stairs to the attic of the Pack House, where they let me sleep. It was a dusty, cramped space. Stacks of sketchbooks lined the walls-my life's work. My dreams of building a home where I was loved.

I grabbed a metal trash can. I threw the books in. My hands were shaking so hard I could barely strike the match.

The flame caught the edge of a page. It was a drawing of Axel I had made three years ago, sleeping under a tree. The fire curled the paper, turning his face into ash.

I coughed. It started as a tickle in my throat, then exploded into a violent spasm. I doubled over, clutching my chest. When I pulled my hand away from my mouth, my palm was covered in thick, black blood.

It was the sign of a dying wolf. My body was shutting down.

Suddenly, the attic door burst open. Axel stood there, my parents behind him. He held the blueprint I had just drawn.

"What did you do?" he roared.

I wiped the blood on my jeans, hiding it. "What?"

"The calculations on the west wall!" He threw the paper at my feet. "They are wrong. If we built this, the wall would collapse on our own warriors!"

"That's impossible," I gasped. "I checked them twice."

"Kyleigh says you changed her numbers," my father spat. "She says she felt you altering the design through the Link. You tried to sabotage her!"

"No!" I cried. "She doesn't know the math! She must have read the runes wrong when she checked it!"

"Silence!" Axel used the Alpha Voice again.

I fell to my knees. The impact sent a shockwave of pain through my failing kidneys.

"You are jealous," Axel said, his voice dripping with venom. "You are petty and cruel. You would endanger the whole pack just to spite your sister."

He looked at the burning trash can, at the ashes of my work.

"Burning the evidence of your incompetence?" he sneered.

He didn't see the art. He didn't see the love. He only saw what he wanted to see.

"Get her out of my sight," Axel ordered the guards who had appeared behind him. "Take her to the prep room. The surgery is in two hours."

Two guards grabbed my arms. They dragged me down the stairs. I didn't fight. My wolf was silent. She had already given up.