Chapter 4

Halley’s POV

I tore my arm from Kyle's grip and shoved past Shirley, breaking into a run toward the infirmary. I couldn't believe it. I wouldn't. It had to be some sick joke. 

I burst through the infirmary doors and found my father’s bed. He had a white sheet covering his face. My hands shook as I pulled it back and the sob I had held back all morning tore loose. The tears came whether I wanted them or not.

When I could breathe again, I made myself look at his wounds. They were healing. Well enough that he should have lived. 

Then my wolf caught it. A smell beneath the blood. 

Wolfsbane.

Fatal to wolves.

There was something under it too. Something sweet. Something I had smelled an hour ago, pressed against my back with a knife.

Shirley.

It hit me all at once. Shirley had killed my father! Her words in the square came back to me.

Seducing another’s mate is punishable by death…

She believed I had gone after Kyle and she made my father pay for it.

Rage and grief crashed over me. Tears streamed down my face, unstoppable. All I wanted was to crawl onto the bed beside my father and stay there until someone dragged me away.

‘We can't,’ my wolf said, and for once there was no snarl in her, only urgency. Kyle’s men will come looking soon. If we stay, we'll die today.

She was right. I had to stay alive to save the Whitemane pack from Kyle. I pressed my forehead against his cold skin one last time, promising him I'd make them pay, and forced myself to walk away.

I turned for the door.

That was when Dr. Layla found me. Her face was pale with sorrow. "He was doing so well last night," she whispered, her voice dropping to a panicked breath. "But when I checked him this morning, he smelled of wolfsbane. Princess, someone did this."

 “Shirley,” I said through gritted teeth.

Layla closed her eyes for a second like the name confirmed what she’d feared. She pulled a file from inside her coat and shoved it into my hands. "Your father made me swear to give you this if anything happened to him."

Before I could open my mouth, the heavy thud of boots echoed down the hallway. Multiple pairs. Moving fast.

"Go. Leave the back!" Layla urged, shoving me toward the exit. She spun towards the sound of the approaching boots. 

I heard her meet them at the far doors. “Thank the moon, guards, you have to hurry. She ran out of here, not too long ago, south toward the river gate. I tried to stop her but she was out of her mind. Go, before she reaches the border!”

The boots pounded down the corridor and away. She had sent them the opposite direction from me.

I ran until the noise of the square was gone and there was nothing left but my own ragged breathing. Only when I had crossed the border, did I let myself drop down behind a fallen log.

All I had was the file and the clothes I was wearing. I had thought about grabbing a bag but going back to my room meant being seen and being seen meant throwing away everything Dr. Layla had risked getting me out. So I left with nothing.

And now I had nowhere to run. 

‘The file,’ my wolf said. ‘He gave it to you for a reason. Open it.’

With shaking hands, I opened the file. A half-moon pendant slid into my hand, strung on a black leather cord. The silver was smooth in some places and rough in others like it had been handled a great deal. 

I had never seen it before in my life. And somehow I was certain it was mine.

Beneath where it had been was a folded note. I knew that handwriting. My father's.

A hard lump formed in my throat as I unfolded the letter.

My daughter,

If you are reading this, then I am gone, and I have failed to protect you. There are things I should have told you long ago. Forgive me.

Years ago, Whitemane and Madfang were bound by a blood alliance. Alpha Victor and I arranged a marriage between you and his son, Damon. I know he may no longer acknowledge that promise, and I cannot guarantee he will help you. But there is no one else left. When every other door is closed, go to him. It is the only way to save Whitemane.

I am so sorry, my girl.

My hands trembled as I read it again, as if the words might change. They didn’t.

I had no memory of an arranged marriage. Nothing.

Everyone knew Alpha Damon of the Madfang Pack. The stories about his brutality were what parents used to scare pups into obedience. He took no allies, showed zero mercy, and anyone who crossed his borders never came back. He wasn’t a savior. He was the kind of monster you learned to avoid at all costs.

And now, he was my only choice.

I broke into a run, north, towards Madfang territory. The faster I reached his border the better, every part of me knew it. 

My breath came ragged and my legs began to give. If I could have shifted I would have been there already, four legs covering the distance instead of two but my wolf still wouldn't rise the way she should. I slowed to a walk, one hand braced on a tree, pulling air into my lungs.

A branch snapped. 

I whipped toward the sound. Two of Kyle’s personal guards stepped out from the thick brush, blocking my path.

"Give it up, Princess," the larger one sneered. "Alpha Kyle said if you come back quietly, he’ll spare your life. Just sign the pack over."

"I'd rather die," I spat.

The second guard laughed. "That can be arranged. But Alpha wants you alive."

I didn't answer. I bolted.

I didn't even make it three steps before the larger guard tackled me from behind. We hit the dirt hard, rolling through the briars. I clawed at his face until he flinched, scrambling to my feet, but the second guard grabbed my wrists and shoved me backward.

"Stop fighting!" he barked.

I drove my knee straight into his groin. He groaned, his grip slipping just enough for me to wrench myself free.

But I forgot how close we were to the cliff edge.

I stumbled back to regain my balance and my heel met nothing but air.

The ground vanished beneath me.