Chapter 4

Instead of giving it back, Leo giggled and snapped it in two with both hands.

Snap.

He tossed the two pieces onto the floor mat and ground them under his boot a couple of times.

"Na-na-na! You can't have it! I'm gonna crush it!"

Annie trembled with rage, her eyes turning bloodshot. She lunged at Leo and sank her teeth into his wrist.

Her sharp little fangs pierced his skin, drawing blood.

"Ow! It hurts! Uncle Seb, this mongrel bit me!"

Leo burst into loud sobs.

Sebastian's expression darkened. He slapped Annie hard across the cheek, grabbed her by the hair, and yanked her away!

He seized the oiled-paper packet from her in the process.

"How dare you bite Leo? Let go!"

Blood trickled from the corner of Annie's mouth, and her scalp burned where he'd pulled her hair, but she still reached desperately for the broken pieces of wood on the floor mat.

"He broke Mommy's wooden tablet first!"

Daphne pulled Leo protectively into her arms. "Leo's already sick with a fever! Can't you cut him some slack?"

Annie was crying so hard she could barely breathe.

"He has a mommy to hold him. Annie doesn't!

"The tablet's broken. Now Annie really doesn't have a mommy anymore!"

Even the sight of Annie bleeding from the mouth failed to soften Sebastian. His voice turned ice-cold.

"Enough. Shut up!

"Such a vicious little brat. Tina's really trained you well, hasn't she?

"They're just a few scraps of wood! Leo was only playing with you. And you bit him hard enough to draw blood? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"Now apologize to Leo and beg his forgiveness, and I'll give you back this bag of garbage."

Seeing Annie bleeding, Rusty let out a low, menacing growl from the corner.

He lunged forward and sank his teeth into Sebastian's pant leg!

"Ah! That rabid dog is attacking us!"

Daphne shrieked in fright, and the car erupted into chaos.

A vein throbbed at Sebastian's temple, and his eyes went completely cold.

"Stop the car!"

The SUV screeched to a halt in the blizzard.

The door had barely opened when Sebastian moved.

He drove his leather boot into Rusty's stomach with all of an Alpha's fury!

Thud!

Rusty went flying like a rag doll and slammed onto the icy roadside.

He coughed up a mouthful of blood and whimpered in pain, but he quickly dragged himself back up on his three remaining legs.

It felt like a dull knife was gouging out my heart.

"How could you do that to him?!

"He's just a crippled old dog with hardly any time left. He was only trying to protect Annie. How dare you take it out on him!"

I threw myself at Rusty to hold him, but the howling wind nearly blew my spirit apart.

I'd never hated myself this much before.

I hated myself for falling in love with Sebastian back then, for cutting out half my wolf heart to save him, for giving Annie a father this cold-blooded.

Sebastian pulled out a wet wipe and took his time cleaning the hem of his pants where the dog had bitten them.

Then he tossed the wipe out the window and slammed the door shut.

Dragging a broken leg, Rusty chased the car through the swirling snow with everything he had.

His frail, grayish-yellow body staggered across the ice, leaving a trail of bloody paw prints.

Frantic, Annie pressed herself against the rear window, pounding on the glass with her little fists and screaming until her voice cracked.

"Rusty! Stop chasing us!

"Mister, please stop the car, Rusty's going to die! I'll beg Leo to forgive me, I'll do it right now!"

Annie knelt in the narrow footwell and banged her forehead against the seat again and again.

Sebastian didn't even turn his head.

"Drive."

The SUV roared off in a spray of snow.

In the rearview mirror, that grayish-yellow figure grew smaller and smaller.

I screamed in despair and tried to block the SUV, but I couldn't touch anything.

Sebastian looked down and slowly unwrapped the oiled-paper packet.

I floated back to his side and clutched at his wrist in desperation.

"Don't look!

"Sebastian, a cold-blooded beast like you has no right to read the last words I left my daughter!"

The packet fell open. On top was a sheet of parchment stamped with the slum healer's black seal.

"Death Certificate

Name: Tina

Sex: Female

Cause of Death: Wolf Spirit Depletion and Multiple Organ Failure

Disposition of Remains: Cremation"