Chapter 2

Elara Thorne POV:

The frigid water of the creek soaked the hem of my dress, the biting cold a welcome shock that pierced through the numbness of my despair. It was real. This was happening.

I gripped the rough bark of a nearby birch tree, using it to haul myself to my feet. My legs felt like jelly, threatening to give out with every movement.

*Let's go home... I'm cold...* Lyra's plea was a child's whimper in my head.

I took a deep, shuddering breath, the air burning my lungs. *No tears,* I commanded myself, the words a familiar, harsh echo of my father's lifelong training. *A Silvermoon heir does not weep.*

I smoothed my damp, wrinkled dress and wiped the moisture from my face. Turning my back on the creek that had swallowed my death sentence, I started the long walk back to the Blackwood Packhouse.

Every step sent a jolt of pain through my body. It felt as though my very life force was a sandcastle, and the tide was relentlessly pulling it out to sea, grain by grain.

Halfway there, I saw a figure coming toward me. It was Leo Nash, a young Omega boy, his arms laden with a basket of fresh linens.

He saw me and immediately bowed his head in a gesture of respect. "Future Luna."

Then he looked up, and his brow furrowed with concern as he took in my pale face and soaked dress. "Are you alright, Luna? You look..."

I forced a smile, the perfect, placid expression I had perfected over years of public appearances. "I'm fine, Leo. I was just taking a walk by the creek. I slipped."

The smile was flawless, my voice steady. But I saw a flicker of something in his eyes. His wolf's intuition was sensing something wrong, a scent not of sadness, but of... finality.

He hesitated, then spoke in a hushed tone. "If you need anything, please let me know. Alpha Ryker... he can be... please take care of yourself."

His clumsy, genuine concern was a pinprick that threatened to burst the fragile bubble of my composure. I felt a hot sting behind my eyes.

I turned my head away quickly, keeping my voice even. "Thank you, Leo."

I walked past him at a brisk pace, desperate to escape before my weakness was witnessed by anyone, especially the lowest-ranking member of the pack.

The Blackwood Packhouse loomed before me, a grand, imposing structure of stone and dark timber. It was Ryker's seat of power, and every inch of it felt like a prison.

As I slipped inside through a side entrance, the sound of a woman's laughter echoed from the great hall. Seraphina Vale. Ryker's chosen love.

My feet froze. I shrank back behind a thick stone pillar, my body refusing to move forward. I didn't have the strength to face her happiness right now.

I could hear her talking to one of the maids. "Ryker is just so sweet. He scoured the entire Northern Forest just to find me that moon-petal bloom."

Another jolt of pain, sharp and cruel, lanced through my heart. Moon-petal blooms were for healing. For the gash Seraphina had received on her arm during the last rogue skirmish.

The irony was a bitter pill. The moon healed his chosen, while the moon condemned me to die.

I crept away from the sound of her voice, silent as a shadow, and made my way up the winding side staircase to my assigned room.

It was a large, opulent chamber, but it was cold and empty. Ryker had never once set foot in it.

I walked to the full-length mirror and stared at the stranger looking back at me. My eyes, once the color of a stormy sea, were now dull and lifeless.

I could smell it, too. My own scent-the scent of a forest after a summer rain-was fading. It was faint, almost undetectable.

Another sign. My wolf was withering.

I stripped off my damp clothes and stepped into the adjoining bathroom, turning the shower on as hot as I could stand it. Steam filled the small space, but it couldn't touch the chill that had settled deep in my bones, in my very soul.

I leaned against the cool tile wall, closing my eyes, letting the hot water sluice over me. How was I supposed to live out my last days in this hell?

Suddenly, a hard, impatient knock rattled my bedroom door.

"Elara," a gruff voice called out. It was Kael, Ryker's Beta. "The Alpha wants you. In the medical wing. Now."