Chapter 4

The color drained from Kane's face.

He took two steps toward the door, then stopped and planted himself in front of Selena. It was the stance an Alpha took when protecting someone from a threat. I'd seen it countless times when hunters surrounded us. Now he was using it against me.

"Leah, when did you get here?" he asked.

"When you said Noah needs an heir." I looked at him. "I heard plenty, including the part where you recognized me two years ago and kept me working as a servant on purpose."

The few people in the council hall all avoided my eyes. Kane reached for me, and I stepped back. My burned arm scraped the doorframe, and the pain made my fingertips tremble.

I'd been pregnant with his child once too.

Back then, Kane had just taken over the Graypine pack for his young nephew, Noah Blackwood. The old Alpha had died suddenly, and several packs along the border were watching for weakness. Some feared Kane would have a child of his own and take Noah's inheritance away. Kane patrolled the border every day and came home too tired to talk, but he always rested his hand on my belly and asked whether the baby had given me trouble.

He'd already decided to teach our child to read animal tracks in the snow. He even laughed and said that if the baby turned out to be human, they could still learn every path in the forest from him.

His mother, Elder Evelyn Blackwood, didn't see it that way.

She said that if an Alpha had a child of his own before securing his position, the other packs would assume Kane planned to name a different heir. Noah's supporters were already uneasy. If the dispute turned violent, Kane wouldn't be the only one to suffer. All of Graypine would pay.

"Ivy, I know how hard this is for you." She held my hand, her eyes red. "You and Kane are still young. Once this dispute is over, you'll have more children. Let him keep Noah's position safe first, all right?"

I was afraid of putting Kane in a difficult position, and even more afraid that young warriors would die in a pointless power struggle. So I drank the medicine Evelyn sent me without telling him.

Besides ending the pregnancy, the medicine contained enough wolfsbane and silver dust to kill me. Evelyn had never meant for me to survive. Humans don't heal like werewolves. I bled all night. By the time Kane broke down the door and got me to the healer, the baby was gone.

Jonas, the healer, stayed with me for seven days before he pulled me back from death. He told me the poison had ruined my body and I could never get pregnant again. Later, the system warned me that the damage would follow my soul. Even in a werewolf's body, I couldn't have a child of my own.

When Kane learned the truth, he publicly broke with his mother for the first time. He forbade Evelyn from ever setting foot in our home again. Then, before the elders and warriors, he swore, "Ivy has already given too much for Graypine. If I let her suffer again over an heir, I don't deserve to be her mate. I'd rather never have a child of my own than touch another woman."

For years after that, he kept me safe. When we fought, he'd wait outside the door with my favorite food. Once, I teased him by asking what he'd do if he fell for someone else someday, and he was actually angry for days, until I promised never to joke about it again.

I'd once thought the child we lost would be the only regret of our lives.

"Ivy..." Kane finally said my name, his voice low. "I know you're upset. Selena's baby is only meant to secure the line of succession. After it's born, Noah will raise it. Once this is over, I'll tell everyone you've come back."

He actually thought a belated place at his side could make up for everything I'd been through these past two years.

Selena peeked out from behind him, clutching her belly, and burst into tears. "Ivy, I know you hate me, but the baby didn't do anything wrong. You can hit me, you can yell at me, but please don't hurt him. He's innocent."

She said it as if I'd already lunged at her to kill her.

"You knew I was Ivy, yet you put that silver whip in the guard's hand yourself." I looked at her. "When you locked me in the storeroom without water for three days, did you stop to think whether I was innocent? When your people killed Ash with a trap, did you think another dog would make it right?"

Selena kept crying and bowed her head low. "I was wrong. I was afraid you'd do something to Kane, and I didn't know what to do, so I had people watch you. Please forgive me. I'll leave after the baby's born."

Kane immediately pulled her to his side, and his voice went cold. "Can't you wait until she's had the baby to settle old scores? She can't handle a shock like this."

"Old scores?" I repeated the words softly. "Kane, the whip wounds still hurt today. The night I almost starved to death was only a few months ago."

He frowned and said nothing.

Jonas, who'd been standing to one side, finally spoke. "Ivy, you always used to put Graypine's safety first. Noah has no heirs. Only Kane's child can reassure the other packs. Selena has no one to depend on. Why put this much pressure on a pregnant woman?"

I could hardly believe Jonas had said that. Back then, he'd been an apprentice in town who couldn't afford to finish his healer's training. I'd paid for a mentor and raised the money for his clinic. Later, when I lost the baby, he'd held my hand and promised never to let anyone hurt me like that again.

"Now you're the most famous healer in Graypine," I said. "So when you see wounds from a silver whip, you can act like they never happened, right?"

Jonas's face flushed red, then went pale, and he didn't say anything else.

Captain Logan stepped forward next. "Ivy, the Alpha has his burdens. There are more hunters out there than ever. If the succession isn't secure, the pack can't focus on guarding the border. You saved my life once. I remember what I owe you, but I can't watch you tear everyone apart over a personal grudge."

"That year, when the hunters trapped you in the canyon, I carried you on my back for more than six miles and almost didn't make it back myself." I looked at him. "Now you're using the whole pack to pressure me, and you won't even ask what I went through."

The last to speak was Kane's Beta, Matthew. He lowered his head and admitted his part first, the way he used to when he'd made a mistake. "It was my idea. When I found out you'd come back, I convinced Kane to keep your identity quiet for now, so Elder Evelyn and the other packs wouldn't get ideas again. I thought I was protecting you. I never imagined so much would happen."

"If you knew someone would try to hurt me, why didn't you stop them even once?" I asked.

Matthew fell silent. The previous Alpha had thought him worthless, but I'd convinced Kane to give him a chance. That was how he became Beta. He knew my temper better than anyone. He also knew my wounds were no accident.

Kane grew impatient and finally said, "They're thinking of Graypine too. Ivy, you never used to keep score like this."

"I was always like this," I said. "Back then, you stood by me, so you didn't think I was difficult."

I walked straight out of the council hall without looking at him again. Someone called my name behind me, but I didn't turn around.

Back in the servants' quarters, I closed the door. It was a long time before I silently asked the system, Can you send me home?

[Yes,] the familiar voice answered. [In three days, your use of this body will end. The 20 years of life you paid cannot be refunded. Do you confirm?]

I looked at my arm, covered in old silver-whip scars, and finally let the tears fall.

I confirm.