Chapter 2

At seven the next morning, Noah and I went to the pack's infirmary.

The young shewolf at the front desk flipped through the register, then stopped halfway. "Ma'am, Noah's moonstone… was reassigned three days ago."

"Reassigned?"

"Our chief healer, Damian, used his authority to pull it. The reason listed is emergency treatment for a badly injured pup who lost his father."

She turned the form around to show me. The signature was a sprawling scrawl, and I knew every stroke of it.

"If you want to get back on the waiting list, it'll be at least six months."

"What? Six months?"

The healer had told us that within three months of Noah's heart surgery, he needed to start wearing a moonstone as soon as possible to help him heal. If he missed that window, his body would never recover enough to be like other pups.

There was only one month left, and another six months on the waiting list meant there was no way we'd make it in time.

The color drained from my face, and my knees nearly gave out. The young shewolf caught me by the arm.

"Thank you."

"Ma'am…"

I didn't look back. Clutching the two pages, I stormed into the council hall.

The elders were in the middle of a meeting, and Damian was there too. When he saw me walk in, he frowned. "Whatever this is, we can talk about it at home. We're in a meeting."

"Did you take the moonstone?"

The room went silent.

Damian snapped his folder shut, his face the picture of righteousness. "I did. So what? Kyle fell off a swing that day and got a bad scare. He's been having nightmares every night, and that stone can actually help him. Besides, I only redirected resources temporarily to someone in more urgent need!"

"What about Noah? His heart was just stitched up. How is that not more urgent?"

"I won't let anything happen to him. I'll take care of his recovery myself from now on. Can you stop using his illness as an excuse to fight a widow and her pup over everything?"

He looked away, as if he couldn't stand to meet the eyes of someone as petty as me. All of a sudden, the whole thing struck me as absurd.

"From now on? How many more 'from now ons' do you have left for Noah? He's your own pup!"

Damian's expression darkened, but his voice stayed firm and unwavering. "That's exactly why I can't play favorites!"

Murmurs of agreement rose around the room, with elders saying Damian never let personal matters get in the way of his duty. A few others snuck glances at me, their eyes full of sympathy.

In the past, I would have teared up and argued with him at a moment like this, laying out every detail of Noah's condition one by one. Today, I didn't want to say a word.

"Erica is a widow raising a pup alone, so of course I'm going to do everything I can to help them! You're the one who's getting more unreasonable by the day. Noah's just a pup, and you're teaching him to draw my funeral picture to curse me. Erica does a far better job raising her pup than you ever have!"

My chest heaved with anger, and my fingers started to tremble. The room had gone completely quiet, and not even the elders stepped in to stop my outburst.

Then Damian froze. Noah was standing in the doorway, hugging his little wolf, and the righteous look Damian had kept so carefully in place slipped right off his face.

"Mommy, don't be mad. It'll make your heart hurt."

Noah stretched up on his tiptoes and gently rubbed my chest, the same way I always comforted him. My eyes stung as I crouched down and held him tight.

I turned and walked out, and once I'd left the council hall, my legs wouldn't stop shaking.

"Mommy, did Daddy give my moonstone to some other pup? Does that mean I'll never get better?"

I crouched in front of him, my nails digging into my palms. Just then, my phone lit up with a message from Erica.

"Thanks so much for the moonstone!"

She'd attached a photo of Damian with her and her pup, Kyle Merry. In the picture, the three of them looked like a real family. As I stared at it, the last bit of hope I had left flickered out.

I hurried to the head elder's office and knocked softly on the door.

Elder Ambrose Kettering looked up at me. "Have you made up your mind? Once you're removed from the pack roll, you and your pup will no longer be members of this pack."

"I have."

"And Damian…"

"He doesn't need to know."

Elder Kettering sighed and handed me the signed form.