My Mate Chose My Sister While I Was Dying

Caught off guard by Mia’s shove, I landed hard on my knees as my cane slipped from my hand and rolled into the shadows behind the curtain. I reached for it by instinct, but a boot pinned it down, then kicked it farther away. That was when the lights came on overhead. Ever since the silver dust had burned my eyes, bright light had been unbearable. Now even the vague patches of color I could usually make out vanished, and I covered my face against the stabbing pain as tears spilled between my fingers. Laughter rose from the audience.

“So that’s the blind wolf lost in the forest? That fall looked so real.”

“Even her hands are shaking. Where did Mia find her?”

I pressed my hands to the floor to get up, driving a rough splinter of scenery into my palm. As warm blood seeped from the cut, Nora, my wolf, whimpered inside my mind and tried to lend me some of her strength. The warmth faded before it could reach my limbs; the silver had damaged more than my eyes three years ago.

“Keep moving, Ivy,” Mia prompted from behind the curtain, her voice low. “Reach out and feel around like a blind person. You’re blocking the Moon Goddess statue.”

“Mia, dim the lights. I can’t see.”

The music drowned me out, and instead of answering, she shoved me in the back again. I stumbled into the shallow trough built into the set, flooding my boot with icy water. The audience laughed harder. I stood in the water, afraid to move, and raised a trembling hand to the mating mark on the side of my neck.

“Keller, get me off the stage.”

“I’m watching, Ivy,” he answered almost immediately through our link. “You’re doing great. Just a little longer.”

“I’m not acting. My eyes hurt.”

“I know. I’ll put your medicine on as soon as it’s over.”

His voice was still gentle, but the hand that had so carefully put my tinted glasses on for me half an hour earlier was nowhere within reach. We were at Pinecrest Academy’s graduation showcase, where Mia’s project had supposedly made it to the final judging round. She had insisted that the whole family attend. All I had wanted was to sit in the back row, listen to the performance, and go home.

Right before the show, though, she had come looking for me. “Ivy, the girl playing the blind wolf canceled at the last minute. Can you help with the last five minutes?”

I shook my head. “I haven’t rehearsed. I can’t even see the stage properly.”

“You don’t need to rehearse. Just do what you normally do.”

She linked her arm through mine, but her fingers closed around my wrist in a grip that left no room for refusal.

“My grade determines whether I get into the advanced program at the Northern Academy. You don’t want me to miss graduation, do you?”

Mom glanced at my eyes, then at Mia, who looked close to tears.

“Can you dim the lights? Ivy can’t handle bright light.”

“Of course,” Mia said at once. “All she has to do is stand there. I’ll hold on to her the whole time.”

Only then did Mom straighten my collar. “Help your sister this once, and I’ll take you to the healer afterward so you don’t miss your treatment.”

Keller took my hand and joined in. “I’ll be waiting in the wings. I won’t move an inch.”

Before I could answer, Dad was already frowning.

“You managed to go out into the garden by yourself yesterday. Now you can’t stand up for a few minutes? Ivy, you had no choice about taking time off from school, but your sister shouldn’t have to fall behind too.”

“The garden doesn’t have lights that bright.”

“Then she’ll have them dimmed.” He sighed and handed me my cane. “We’re all here. What are you so worried about?”

Mia abruptly let go of me, her eyes filling with tears. “Forget it, Dad. Don’t make her do it if she still hasn’t forgiven me. It’s all my fault—if I hadn’t gotten silver dust in her eyes, she wouldn’t be like this…”