One

ELARA’S P.O.V.

‘The Shadow Wolf was meant to save us, but he became our curse.’

My eyes traveled over the line repeatedly. I had read it a million times, but I was no closer to finding the answer now than when I first found my mother’s journal.

The Shadow Wolf. He was the key.

The key to finding my parents, finding the truth, and proving they weren’t traitors.

Everyone thought they had betrayed the pack, but I knew better, and I would find the Shadow Wolf and prove their innocence if it was the last thing I did.

Yet, in every place that my mother described the mysterious man, there had been nothing to tell me where to go to find him or who he was.

Sweat beaded along my forehead as I heard someone approaching, their steps growing louder, and I eyed the open window to my right.

I had done this enough times, looking for answers, but the adrenaline and fear was still momentarily crippling.

If anyone found out I had broken into the Alpha’s office to read my mother’s journal, I would be exiled or worse… killed.

My sister, Sarah, had been locked in the dungeon for far less. Alpha Broderick said it was her punishment for disobedience, but I knew it was just to keep leverage over me.

My heart slammed in my chest as I heard them come to a stop outside the office door.

Placing the journal back in the bottom drawer of Alpha Broderick’s desk, I quickly locked it with the key I had stolen and copied.

As the lock turned on the office door, I raced toward the window, climbed out, landing in the dirt behind the wilting hedges, and quickly began pulling the window closed.

It was still cracked when the door opened, but I had no choice. I had to leave it open.

I ducked just as the Beta entered, and held my breath, trying to be as quiet as possible as I snuck away.

By the time I made it back to my bedroom, I was a paranoid, sweaty mess, and wanted nothing more than to push my dresser in front of my door and pass out for a few hours until the adrenaline crash wore off.

Instead, I froze as my bedroom door was thrown open the second my feet hit the floor.

“Elara?” A deep voice called from the doorway, and I jumped up, spinning to face him, my hand flying to my chest.

Jason, the Alpha’s son, stood at the entrance to my room. His jaw was clenched, and his upper lip was curled in disgust as he glared down at me.

It was the same look that the rest of the pack gave me.

I had done nothing to earn their hatred, except for sharing blood with the people they believed had betrayed them. Yet, that alone seemed to be enough to make me public enemy number one.

“Yes?” I asked as I held his stare, refusing to submit as I lowered my hand.

They may have wanted me dead, but we all knew they couldn’t actually kill me or Sarah. They needed me.

No other healer could keep the Luna alive.

As long as I kept her alive, Sarah and I got to stay alive, too.

“She’s getting worse.” He said, sounding bored as he casually announced his mother’s decline. His eyes roamed over my room, stopping at the wall where I had hung a drawing of my parents.

I used his distraction to calmly close the window behind me, hoping he hadn’t noticed I had just come in through it.

Jason’s head snapped up at the sound of it closing.

His eyes narrowed and he widened his stance, as if expecting me to attack him, but I wasn’t that stupid. They would all get what was coming to them one day, but I wouldn’t do anything until I had my answers and had freed my parents and sister.

“I’ll grab my gear,” I said, walking to the table where my medicine bag was and tossing the strap over my shoulder.

“Hurry up,” He snapped, and I rolled my eyes as I brushed by him, our shoulders colliding as I passed.

“Says the man blocking my doorway,” I muttered even though I knew he would hear me.

“Where is she?” I asked, looking over my shoulder when I didn’t hear him following. His broad back was tense as he stared at my window.

My heart sank to my gut.

If there was even the slightest chance that he knew I had broken into his father’s office today, I would be tied to the post and whipped.

“They are in their room.” He said, and I took a deep, calming breath through my nose at his word choice.

They.

That meant the Alpha would be there, too.

I climbed the steps quickly, speeding down the hallway as the sour smell of the poison grew stronger, making my nose sting.

The Luna’s pained moans echoed down the hallway, and my wolf shifted with unease.

Jason was right. She did sound worse, and that didn’t bode well for me.

The guards at the door pushed it open as I approached, and I jogged through, pausing at the scene before me. The air in the room was thick and smoky, the lights were low with a log burning in the fireplace. The bedding was speckled with blood and the Luna…

I swallowed hard as I looked her over. Dark black veins surrounded her bloodshot eyes. The color had been sucked from her skin and lips, and her whole body appeared to be trembling.

I tried to mask my horror, but I knew they had seen it.

She was too far gone. Two years ago, she had been struck down during a battle by a wolf with poison-tipped claws, and I had been using all of my energy and power to keep her alive since.

“Fix her!” Alpha Broderick growled as he stood next to her, not bothering to spare me a glance as he stared his mate down. His hand was wrapped around hers so tightly that I wasn’t sure there was any blood left in her fingers.

“How long has she been like this?” I asked, dropping my bag onto the foot of the bed. I wouldn’t need it. There was no way standard medicine would work on her at this point.

“Maybe an hour.” He said, and I bit back my anger, wanting to tell him he should have called for me right away.

The Luna lifted her head and coughed, a wet hacking sound that made the bad feeling in my gut settle in deeper.

Blood covered her lips, dripping down her chin as she let her head fall back, and I could feel the darkness growing within her quickly.

I hurried to her other side, keeping the bed between me and the unstable Alpha she had unfortunately been mated to.

Luna Raine tried to lift the other arm that was over her chest to get it out of the way, but it barely budged. Alpha Broderick helped her before I could, and I quickly slid the blanket down once they were out of the way.

The wrapping around her torso was drenched with her tainted blood, as was the sheet beneath her.

The sour smell from her wound made my eyes sting, and I blinked rapidly. It had never been this bad.

My hands moved over her chest, and they warmed, glowing brightly as I held them over her chest instead of her injury. I needed to stop it from reaching her heart, and then I could go back and tackle the rest.

“What are you doing?” Alpha Broderick demanded.

I looked down to see the black skin surrounding the wound on the side of her ribcage was expanding before my eyes, spreading from her ribs, over her stomach and chest.

I sucked in a deep breath through my nose with frustration. I just needed to work harder. Even if it drained me, I would do everything I could to keep the Luna alive.

Karma was coming her way, too, but not like this.

I had been blessed with the affinity of healing for a reason, and I couldn’t let someone die before me if I could stop it.

The Goddess had blessed me with the affinity to heal, and even if they deserved it, I wouldn't let someone die when I could have saved them.

It was my job to make sure she lived long enough for Karma to deal with her before Death did.

“Healing her. What does it look like? She should be getting better.” I said through gritted teeth, trying harder. The poison was potent, but I had been fighting against it for years now. I knew how it felt and moved but this time it felt different.

Luna Raine’s chest heaved, as if she were gagging, but the loud, wet gurgle that left her throat instead sounded so damning.

I had never lost a patient before. It was what made me so well-known as a healer.

Until now, I had been convinced that the day I finally faced Death, it wouldn’t be because I had failed.

It would only be because I had died.

It seemed I was wrong.

Her eyes closed, and from the corner of mine I watched with horror as the shadows began to inch up the walls, surrounding us in darkness.

“No,” I whispered.

But the room had already begun to chill.

Death was coming.