SIX YEARS LATER

Ginnie**

“Mummy…”

The voice barely made a sound at all as it echoed behind me. I dropped the stack of torn newspapers from my lap and stumbled across the other room, my heart hammering like a trapped animal.

“My head hurts again,” she whispered.

Lily lay curled on the thin mattress, her dark curls damp against her temples. Her eyelashes fluttered weakly as she tried to look up at me.

I knelt beside her and brushed the strand of hair from her forehead, fighting the panic that lived in me now like a second heart. “I know, baby,” I murmured. “But mummy’s here with you.”

The morning after Varkos had used me, rejected me, and spat on fate. I had expected my life to become worse than it already was. Instead, Master Gray summoned me.

“You’re free to go, human slave.”

One sentence was all he had said to me. No explanation for why he did that—just a small small sack of coins placed in my hand as he barked at me to leave.

Weeks later, I learned the unexpected and terrifying truth that I was pregnant with Varkos’s child. He had never known all these years and I plan on keeping it that way.

Lily was just six.

And yet she was fading as though she had lived a lifetime, no…as if she were dying. And I could do nothing about it—not in Bleeding Rose, where humans were tolerated only because they worked as slaves to high-ranked Lycans.

But with Lily… it was worse, because she was a halfling. Halflings in Bleeding Rose were nothing but an abomination to be killed right from birth.

I had hidden her since the moment she came into this world, from every living thing that would see her as a monstrosity. 

“Are we going to finally see a doctor today?” Her blue eyes blinked at me. 

“No,” I whispered, “I’ve already told you so many times that we can’t.”

“But I’m sick.” Her voice cracked.

I gathered her into my arms, holding her fragile body against mine. “We will find a way,” I said, even though the lies tasted bitter on my tongue. She breathed in small, uneven bursts, and I could feel her heartbeat flutter like a frightened bird.

“Mummy will never let anything happen to you,” I said, saying the words as though it were a vow. She clung to me for a moment, then her eyelids closed and she drifted back into a fragile sleep. I gently laid her down, tucked a blanket around her small shoulders, then stood up slowly.

There were days I could pretend to be strong for Lily no matter what we had faced. But today was not one of those days. I turned back to the newspapers scattered on the floor, I had searched through them for days, desperate for anything—any job that would give us money.

I scanned the pages again, my eyes burning from exhaustion from sitting at a place for so many hours. “No one is going to hire a human,” I whispered.

Time wasn’t on my side anymore, I had to leave Bleeding Rose with Lily or risk her being exposed and killed. But to do that, I needed money.

Fuck!

The curse left my mouth before I could stop it, and quickly I turned to see if it had woken Lily up, but it didn’t.

I reached for another newspaper, the page crinkled beneath my thumb. And then, for the first time in days, something finally caught my eye.

MAID WANTED  AT BLOOD MOON PACK VILLA.

I froze, unsure if my eyes were playing tricks on me right now as I stared at the words written on the newspaper until they blurred.

The Blood Moon Pack was a name that carried weight. Fear and power all over Bleeding Rose Country. Where humans were treated worse than slaves.

“What are you thinking, Ginnie? Don’t do it!” I muttered to myself. I should have torn the paper into pieces and thrown it into the fire. Instead, I found myself tracing the letters with numb fingers.

Generous pay.

Room provided.

Immediate start.

It was everything we needed.

Money enough to take Lily out of this town, and take her to a hospital where she’s supposed to be treated. I swallowed hard, the fact that only Lycans lived there sent a chill through me.

No matter how much I tried all these years… I couldn’t get the thought of that night out of my head. His voice still lived beneath my skin like poison with every word he spat while he devoured me whole.

I curled my fingers around the paper, folding it carefully, and tucked it beneath my shirt, as though someone might steal the paper if they saw it.

Behind me, Lily stirred awake. A soft whimper slipped from her lips as I rushed to her, her small hand reaching for me blindly. “I’m here, baby,” I whispered, gathering her fingers in mine.

Her skin was cold.

Too cold.

It felt like winter.

“Hold on, my love,” I brushed her cheeks, “Just a little time and everything will finally be alright.”Her lashes fluttered, and at that moment, I made a decision.

For her, I would walk into the jaws of death itself. Even if it killed me. I knelt beside her again and pressed my lips to her forehead.

“I’m going to take up that job, tomorrow,” I whispered.