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Every word Nora spoke in the Moon Temple had been transmitted to the Council.Three days later, she heard the final ruling from a high-security silver chamber. Her charges included attempted murder, repeated drugging and attacks, assaulting a healer, escaping custody, and making another attempt on my life.Each charge was supported by recordings, medical tests, or her confession at the temple.“The Council finds that Nora Hale possessed full judgment during the attacks. Her wolf disorder requires treatment, but it does not remove responsibility for deliberate violence.”She received lifetime confinement in the northern secure treatment district, with a medical review every three years and no unauthorized contact with victims.Nora asked only one question.“Will Father come to see me leave?”Father sat in the gallery without looking up.Nora’s healer admitted that Father had pressured him to describe targeted attacks as unconscious episodes. His license was revoked, and he would face tr
The day after the hearing, the Council informed us that Nora had escaped.Before a memory examination, she collapsed and convinced a healer to release one wrist. She attacked him, reached the delivery area, and hid inside a supply vehicle. Her suppressant prevented a full shift, but she could still overpower an ordinary guard.The Council sealed the roads and guarded the Alpha House and medical center. Father demanded that they avoid hurting Nora, while Mother said nothing in his defense.At four that afternoon, a message arrived from an unknown number.Come to the Moon Temple at six. Come alone. If I see the Council, I’ll visit Mother at the medical center.A photograph showed the temple’s moon emblem beside cloth torn from a Council uniform. Nora wanted me to believe she had injured an officer.I forwarded the message to the investigator and asked the medical center to move Mother to an internal ward. The Council wanted to surround the temple immediately, but I asked them to remain o
Mother opened her eyes late the following afternoon.The silver had left her wolf heart too weak for a mind-link, so the healers allowed only one visitor at a time. Father entered first. He stayed less than ten minutes before coming into the corridor with a strained expression.“She wants to see Clara.”Ethan looked up from the bench. “Did you tell her what happened?”“She remembers enough.”When I entered the treatment room, Mother was propped against several pillows. Thick bandages covered her chest, and a moonsilver monitor glowed beside the bed. Her face had regained some color, but every breath remained shallow.She watched me approach without speaking. I placed my phone on the table between us.“You were in my room,” she finally said.“You agreed to sleep there because you believed Nora would stop once she realized you weren’t me.”Mother closed her eyes. “I remember the first strike. I tried to call her name, but I couldn’t breathe.”“She never checked your face.”Her fingers ti
The moon crest above the treatment room remained lit until dawn.Father repeatedly tried to reach Mother through their mate bond, but the silver still blocked him. Ethan sat outside with her blood dried across his hands, while Julian stayed beside me and asked a guard to bring me a coat and water.At six in the morning, the lead healer finally emerged.“We removed the blade and repaired the worst internal damage. The Luna is no longer in immediate danger, but the silver remained near her wolf heart for too long. We cannot say when she will regain consciousness.”Father stood at once. “Can I see her?”“Yes, but do not force the mate bond. Her wolf is extremely weak, and further strain could delay her recovery.”Father followed her inside. Ethan remained in the corridor and moved into my path.“Are you satisfied? Mother hasn’t woken up, Nora is in custody, and soon the entire pack will know what happened.”“I didn’t send Nora into my room with a silver blade.”“You knew she might come.”
Father stared at me in disbelief.Ethan reacted first. He looked from me to the woman lying across the blood-soaked sheets. Tangled hair and the pillow hid her face, and she was wearing my nightgown.Nora slowly stepped back, clutching her bloodstained hands.“Then who is in the bed?”I raised my phone. “You entered my room with a silver blade and said my name before attacking. You seem disappointed to find me alive.”“My wolf took control.” Nora immediately turned to Father. “I thought Clara was in the bed. I had no idea what I was doing.”Father did not answer. He was still trying to identify the woman.My gardenia perfume filled the room. Scent-masking spray concealed the woman’s natural scent, while the silver suppressed her wolf and blocked any mental connection.Ethan approached the bed.“If Clara is standing here, who is that?”He brushed the hair away from the woman’s face, then froze.“Mother?”Father rushed forward.Her pale face was finally visible. The silver blade remained
Nora opened the bedroom door and walked toward the bed.The woman beneath the covers had her back to the room. She wore my nightdress, and her long hair spread across my pillow. The scent-masking spray and gardenia perfume covered her natural scent.“Clara?”Nora called my name softly, but the woman in the bed did not answer.She waited until she was certain the figure was asleep, then tightened both hands around the silver blade and drove it into the place where she believed my heart was.Blood quickly soaked through the nightdress and the sheets. The woman’s body jerked, and a muffled cry escaped her throat.Nora pulled out the blade and stabbed her again, leaving the weapon buried in her chest.“Why won’t you just disappear?”“If you die, Dad, Mom, and Ethan will all belong to me.”The woman struggled desperately and knocked the bedside lamp onto the floor. The crash woke the entire Alpha House, and hurried footsteps soon filled the hallway.“What happened?”Ethan was the first to f







