5 - ANNUL

She looked past him and saw me standing there with the papers in my hand.

Lily let out a sharp, ragged gasp. She stumbled backward, hitting the doorframe. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and slid down the wood until she hit the floor.

"Please," she cried, squeezing her eyes shut. She put her hands over her ears and started shaking violently. "Don't yell. Please don't be angry with me. I didn't mean to cause trouble."

I hadn't raised my voice once.

The two guards stationed down the hall shifted on their feet. They looked at Lily trembling on the floor, and then they looked at me. Their expressions shifted from neutral to disgust. I could see it in their eyes—they thought I was standing here screaming at a traumatized, grieving mother.

"Lily, hey, look at me," Tobias said.

He dropped to his knees beside her and scooped her up into his arms. She buried her face in his chest, sobbing quietly.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered into his shirt. "Make her stop."

"I've got you," he murmured.

Tobias turned his head and looked up at me. The disappointment in his eyes was so heavy it felt like a physical blow to my chest. He held Lily tighter, shielding her from me.

"Stay away from this room, Zinnia," he said.

He didn't wait for my response. He stood up, carrying her back inside, and shut the door in my face.

I stood alone in the hallway. The contract crinkled in my tight grip. I looked at the two guards. They quickly looked away, staring straight ahead at the opposite wall. I turned around and walked back down the corridor, the silence ringing in my ears.

Hours passed. I spent the rest of the day in my small office, trying to rework the numbers to account for the lost Riverbend trade. When the sun finally set, the packhouse grew dark and quiet.

I gathered my notes and headed toward the guest room at the far end of the hall. The air was getting colder. I wrapped my cardigan tighter around my shoulders as I walked down the dim corridors.

As I approached the Alpha's study, I noticed a sliver of light spilling out from beneath the door.

The door was cracked open just an inch.

I planned to walk right past it, but the sound of my own name made my feet stop.

"She is trying to help, Eloise," Tobias was saying. His voice sounded exhausted.

I held my breath and stepped closer to the wall, pressing myself into the shadows near the doorframe.

"She is playing at being a Luna," Elder Eloise replied. Her voice was sharp and unforgiving. "Look at our ledgers, Tobias. Look at the state of our borders. We are destitute. We are begging minor packs for scraps of grain."

"Zinnia didn't cause the drought," Tobias argued weakly.

"No, but she brought absolutely nothing to fix it," Eloise snapped. I heard the sound of a heavy book being tossed onto a desk. "She is a nobody. She has no dowry, no family backing, and no alliances. She came to us with the clothes on her back three years ago, and we have been bleeding resources ever since."

My chest tightened. I had spent three years calculating every copper coin this pack spent just to keep the lights on.

"She works hard," Tobias said.

He didn't sound angry. He didn't demand the elder respect me. He just sounded tired, offering a weak excuse to fill the silence.

"Hard work does not fill the treasury," Eloise said, her tone dropping into a low, calculated hum. "Lily is a Sable. You know what her family owns. They have wealth. They have trade routes across the eastern mountains. They have the resources we need to survive this winter without starving."

"I am already married, Eloise."

"Marriages can be annulled," Eloise stated coldly. "Especially when a Luna has provided no heirs and the survival of the pack is at stake."

I closed my eyes. The cold draft in the hallway seemed to seep straight through my skin.

"She lost your child, Tobias," Eloise continued softly, letting the words hang in the air. "The Goddess brought her back to you for a reason. She is suffering the Penance in your bed right now. Are you truly going to turn your back on the mother of your pup just to keep a stray happy?"

Tobias didn't answer.

The silence stretched on for a long, agonizing minute. I waited for him to say no. I waited for him to tell Eloise to get out of his study.

Instead, I heard the faint sound of a chair scraping against the floor, followed by a heavy sigh.

"Just give me a few days," Tobias murmured. "Let me think."