12

SIENNA

The morning began like any other, quiet but heavy with so many things that were left unsaid. The sky was pale, a dull gray that clung to the camp as though the sun had forgotten us. I was on kitchen duty again, not that anyone trusted me with much more than peeling roots and scrubbing pots and healing. The rogues who worked beside me spoke in low tones, their glances darting toward me and then away, like they were afraid I might hear something I shouldn’t.

“You know, you can just spit it out… I don’t bite.” I snapped.

I knew I shouldn’t have done that but over the past few days, I’d gotten tired of them always watching me with scrutinizing eyes like they were waiting for me to make a slight mistake.

At first, I tried to ignore it. I had learned that the more attention I paid to whispers, the louder they got but that morning, something about the way they hushed up when I entered made my skin crawl. One of the women…Mira, I think her name was, had been talking fast, her hands trembling slightly as she worked the knife through a pile of onions. I caught the words “it’s her” and “Elira said…” before she kept quiet.

I tried to keep my voice calm when I asked, “Elira said what?”

The room went still for a heartbeat. Mira didn’t look up. “Nothing. You misheard.”

I gave a small, humorless laugh. “I’ve learned to hear a lot of things people think I shouldn’t.”

That earned me a few sharp looks. I knew better than to push too hard but something in my gut told me there was more going on than idle gossip. Someone had been stirring things up in the pack… small things, but they added up. Missing food. Broken supplies and somehow, my name always ended up tangled in it.

For weeks, I’d felt eyes on me, even when no one was around. At night, I sometimes woke to the sound of soft footsteps outside my tent, but when I went to check, no one was there. I’d brushed it off as paranoia. Until now.

“Get it together Sienna, you’re just being paranoid. No one cares about you like that…” I muttered.

As the morning wore on, I caught snippets of conversation floating through the air like stray embers. She’s cursed. He’s protecting her for a reason. Maybe Luna knows something we don’t.

It wasn’t the first time I’d heard my name called with suspicion, but there was something sharper in their tone today, something rehearsed. Like they were repeating words that had been fed to them.

By noon, I’d had enough. I wiped my hands on my apron and slipped out the back of the pack. The wind carried the smell of rain, and in the distance, thunder rumbled softly. My heart pounded as I made my way through the camp, past the watchtower and toward the storage sheds. If someone was framing me, maybe I’d find proof there…something planted, something out of place.

The storage sheds were mostly empty at that hour. I pushed the door open slowly and stepped inside. The air was thick with the scent of damp wood and herbs. Everything looked normal at first until I noticed a torn sack of dried grains near the corner. I knelt beside it, brushing the dirt away, and there, half-buried beneath the spilled seeds, was a strip of cloth with my name stitched into it.

“This is the gown I wore yesterday.”

My breath caught. Someone had taken it, cut it up, and left it here.

I was still kneeling there when I heard voices outside. Two men, low and tense.

“She’s asking too many questions,” one of them said.

“She won’t get far,” the other replied. “Luna made sure of that.”

Elira.

I froze, every muscle in my body tightening. The door creaked, and before I could hide, it swung open. The two guards stared at me, equally surprised and uneasy.

“What are you doing here?” one of them asked, stepping forward.

“I could ask you the same thing,” I said, forcing calm into my voice.

They exchanged a glance, then shrugged it off. “You shouldn’t be here, Sienna. This area’s off-limits.”

“It wasn’t yesterday.”

“Rules change.”

Something about the way he said it made my stomach twist.

I stood up slowly, brushing the dirt from my knees. “If you’re so worried about me being here, maybe I’ll just go tell Rhys myself.”

That got a reaction. The taller guard’s eyes flickered, and before he could think, he reached out to grab my arm. “You’re not going anywhere…”

The shove wasn’t hard, but I stumbled back, my foot catching on a loose plank. Pain shot through my lower back as I hit the floor, and a sharp gasp escaped me. I felt it then, the unmistakable jolt deep in my abdomen, followed by warmth spreading between my legs.

For a second, I couldn’t breathe.

The guard’s face went pale. “Shit. Shit…”

I looked down. Water pooled beneath me, clear and spreading fast across the dirt. My vision blurred, the world narrowing to the sound of my own heartbeat thundering in my ears.

The other guard ran out, shouting for help and then I saw Elira appearing in the doorway like she was a shadow. How convenient.

Her eyes widened as she took in the scene. For the first time since I’d known her, there was no smug calmness, no practiced grace. Just fear.

“Get the healer!” she barked, kneeling beside me. “Now!”

Her hands hovered uselessly above me, trembling slightly. “Don’t move, Sienna. Please. Just stay still.”

Her voice cracked on the last word. I wanted to scream, to curse her, to tell her I saw through whatever game she was playing but the pain came in waves too strong to fight. My body seized, and everything went white.

When I opened my eyes again, the world was different.

The ceiling above me was low, the air thick with herbs. I recognized the smell immediately…Rhea’s room. My stomach was tightly bandaged, my limbs heavy and weak.

Rhea sat beside me, her face drawn. “You’re awake.”

I swallowed, my throat dry. “The babies?”

Her lips trembled before she managed a small nod. “Still holding. But it was close.”

Tears burned my eyes. Relief and fear tangled inside me.

“What… happened?”

She hesitated, glancing toward the flap. “They said one of the guards pushed you by accident. Elira called for help.”

“Elira,” I repeated, the name tasting like ash. “Was she there the whole time?”

“She arrived right after. She didn’t leave until the healer came.”

I let out a bitter laugh that turned into a sob. “Of course she didn’t.”

Rhea reached for my hand, her touch gentle. “Rest, Sienna. You’re safe now.”

“Safe,” I whispered. “Do you believe that?”

She didn’t answer. Her room opened suddenly, and Rhys stepped inside. The air shifted. He looked wild, his clothes damp, eyes shadowed, jaw clenched so tight I thought it might crack.

Rhea stood immediately. “She needs rest, Alpha…”

“Leave us,” he said. His voice was calm, but it carried a coldness that made the back of my neck prickle.

Rhea hesitated, then slipped out. Silence fell. He just stood there, staring at me, his gaze unreadable.

“You don’t have to look at me like that,” I said softly. “I’m not broken.”

He moved closer, stopping just short of the bed. “You could have died Goldie.”

“Maybe that would’ve made things easier for you,” I said, unable to stop the bitterness from leaking out.

He stilled, then shook his head. “You shouldn’t have been near the sheds.”

“I shouldn’t have been framed either, but here we are.”

His eyes darkened. “You think this was deliberate?”

I met his gaze. “I know it.”

He exhaled slowly, rubbing a hand over his face. “Elira said…”

“Of course she did,” I cut in. “She always has the right words ready, doesn’t she?”

His jaw tightened. “You’re in no state to be accusing anyone.”

“And you’re in no position to defend her.”

The silence between us was sharp, almost painful. I could see the struggle flicker across his face, the part of him that wanted to believe me, and the part that couldn’t let himself.

Finally, he said quietly, “Rest, Sienna. Please.”

He turned to leave, but before he reached the door, I whispered, “You have no right to act like you care.”

He froze. For a long moment, he didn’t move. Then, without looking back, he said, “Maybe not. But I do.”

And then he was gone.

Later on, I don’t remember falling asleep again, but when I woke up, the rain had started. The sound of it against the roof was steady, almost comforting but my mind wouldn’t rest. The torn cloth, the whispers, the missing guard, it all circled back to one person.

Elira might not have pushed me, but she didn’t have to. The timing had been too perfect and even if she hadn’t planned it, she’d used it. I saw the fear in her eyes in that moment, not fear for me, but fear of what I might uncover.

That was when I understood. Whoever wanted me gone hadn’t finished yet and if they thought this accident would break me, they were wrong because I wasn’t leaving until I found out who was behind it and my pups delivered safely and Elira, or whoever she was protecting and this time, I wouldn’t be the one caught off guard.