C3

“I really don’t want to drag you into my pack’s mess, Elder Kairo Duskwalker,” I tell him, almost under my breath.

I spin around and leave. Behind me, I hear Kairo start to cry. My mom was his mentor, the best healer our line had, before she died in the Bloodmoon Blaze. Kairo wants to help me, but he can’t. The guilt of making him cry twists my stomach.

Out in the hall, Kellan Stormfang is waiting. I throw the white medical report right at his chest.

“Read this,” I tell him. “I’m not pregnant. You can stop watching me like a hawk.”

Kellan just stands there, scratching his head, looking more wolf than man. “Where should I drive you now, Luna? Supreme Alpha Ronan told me to stay with you.”

I groan. “I hate being followed around like some lost puppy. Tell Ronan I’ll talk to Matriarch Esi later. Right now, I have a million things to take care of.”

“Alright,” Kellan says, finally dropping the bodyguard act.

I make it two steps down the dark stone hallway and realize my hands are empty. My communicator—I forgot it! So I turn around and hurry back into the room.

Just as I step out again, I hear my name. “Sommy Blackwood.”

I freeze. Why here, why now? I turn slowly and there she is—Zanele Nightshade. Pale as a new moon and just as sharp, dressed in white that somehow still makes her seem regal. We look almost exactly alike, except she carries herself like a wolf princess. Me? I’m just...me.

“Why are you here at the healer’s?” I ask her.

Her gaze cuts right through me. “My blood’s sick. Some rare nasty disease.”

“A blood disease?” I repeat.

She actually laughs, light and cold. “Ronan brought me here himself. He said your parents created the cure, before they died.”

That hits me hard. I hate that she gets to use my parents’ magic medicine.

“Well, I hope it works for you,” I say, trying to move past her.

“Give Ronan back to me, Sommy!” she shouts.

I stop.

“You stole him from me three years ago,” she snaps, stepping in close. “If you hadn’t, I’d be Luna now. You kept us apart, and now look at me—broken. Are you planning to keep him forever? He doesn’t love a weak wolf like you.”

My face stays still, but my chest burns. “If he wants to break the mate bond, he can say it himself. Why are you doing his talking? Is the Supreme Alpha too scared to face me?”

She’s just trying to make me run, scare me off so I’ll back away and she can have him. And it does hurt because I’ve loved him since childhood.

“Ronan just feels sorry for you,” she sneers, baring her teeth. “Your parents died, Esi likes you—he’s just playing along. He doesn’t love you.”

I lift an eyebrow. “You sure about that?”

Zanele blinks, thrown off balance.

“If he hated me so much, why does he touch me every night?” I taunt her.

She starts trembling and glares over my shoulder. “Ronan?”

My heart drops. I walked straight into her snare. I turn and—yep, there he is: Supreme Alpha Ronan, looking like a storm.

“I just came for a check-up,” I blurt. “I’m leaving.”

“What did the healer say?” His voice could freeze fire.

I slide the paper into his shirt pocket and paste on a smile. “Relax. No pup.”

He glances at the paper. For half a second, his eyes go soft, then cold again.

“Good,” he says. “Since there’s no baby, we need to talk about what happens next.”

“You want to handle our divorce right here, in a hallway?” My eyes sting. “I didn’t even eat anything today, waiting for the healer.”

“Then go eat,” Ronan says.

“Come with me,” I tell him, grabbing his sleeve. “Let’s talk while we eat.”

He looks down at my hand. “Don’t play games, Sommy.”

I laugh. “If I wanted to mess with you, I’d tell your grandmother and make you beg for forgiveness. I just don’t want to starve.”

He frowns but doesn’t pull away.

“You can go with her, Ronan,” Zanele says, suddenly all sweet. “I’ll wait for you.”

I grin and clutch his arm. “Thanks, Zanele! Let’s go, Ronan. There’s this place near Mooncrest that just opened.”

Zanele glares at my hand. She probably wants to bite it off.

Ronan turns to her. “Go rest. I’ll come back soon.”

“Come back for lunch with me,” she says, biting her lip.

“I will,” he promises.

I haul him out of there, and we find a little restaurant. I sit, flip open the menu, and ask, “What do you want?”

“I’m not eating.”

I roll my eyes. “Saving room for Zanele, huh?” I wave the waiter over. “One green salad, and a big platter of chicken legs.”

The waiter nods and vanishes.

Ronan just glares, annoyed. “Why all the meat?”

He knows I usually pick at my food. Never really finish.

“Are you broke now, Ronan?” I tease. “Did the Wolfhart funds dry up?”

He just grumbles. “Eat.”

Sometimes he laughs at my jokes, sometimes he gets irritated. For three years, he put up with me, waiting for Zanele to come back.

The food comes, and I start devouring the chicken. Starving. The little secret inside me is hungry too. My cheeks puff up when I chew, and I look like a squirrel.

“So,” I say through a mouthful, “what did you want to tell me?”

“What did Zanele say to you?” His eyes narrow.

I frown. Is he going to stick up for her? “Just that she’s got a blood disease.”

“She does,” he says, reaching forward. “I searched every wolf here for a matching marrow donor. Only one’s a perfect match. Guess who?”

My heart flips. “Me?”

He nods.

Great. The universe hates me. I want to swear, but I just bite my lip.

“I’m not donating my bone marrow to her,” I say, pressing my nails into my palm. “She broke my home, took my mate—I owe her nothing.”

But I’m lying; the real reason is the life inside me. If I give bone marrow, my baby won’t survive. And if Ronan finds out, he’ll force the healers to take my child so he can save Zanele.

“I’ll give you whatever you want if you save her,” Ronan says.

“Even if I say no divorce?” I look down at my plate, hiding my eyes.

He’s silent.

He can’t walk away from Zanele. He’d stay married just to save her, even if it means living a lie. That’s love. The kind that makes small people out of the rest of us.

“Don’t be greedy, Sommy,” Ronan says, icy. “Even if I stay, you know I can’t love you.”

His words are like knives biting into me. My face goes pale. It feels like my heart is spilling blood inside my chest.

“What if I want the dead bond anyway?” I dare to look at him.

“You’ll get nothing,” he says. “No love, no money, nothing.”

“You’re disgusting, Ronan.” I drop my spoon. “You call me greedy, but you want it all. Chuck me for her, then beg for my blood? That’s low.”

He has no idea how much I love him. None.

“You can’t have both worlds, Ronan. Not with me.”

Ten years I’ve loved him. All I have to show for it is pain.

“You want too much,” Ronan says, standing up to leave.

I force a laugh. “I want everything. I want you, and your wolf heart.”

Suddenly, my appetite is gone. The food tastes like ashes.

I leave the restaurant and head to Wolfhart Moonkeep. Matriarch Esi had a stroke not long ago; she’s better now, but still frail. I see her kind, crumpled face, and all my anger fades. I can’t tell her about the divorce.

“Grandmother,” I say, taking a seat on her bed.

“Sommy, you’re here,” Esi beams. She loves me more than anyone since my parents saved her life—and I helped save her, too, when the stroke hit. I used my healer training, saved her before the doctor could. Nobody knows except her, me, and the doctor. Not even Ronan.

She squeezes my hand. “You’re so gifted, child.”

“My granddad taught me the old medicines, Grandmother. Never thought they’d come in handy.”

“Don’t downplay it,” she says, her eyes sad. “Being Ronan’s mate keeps you from greatness. You’re brighter than he knows.”

My eyes sting. She actually sees me.

“You gave up so much for my foolish grandson,” Esi sighs. “He’s blind.”

“Don’t tell him, please,” I beg. “I don’t want to trouble his mind.”

“Alright, my secret,” she promises, but then her eyes sharpen. “You’ve been mated three years. Why no pup?”

I flush. “Grandmother, I…”

She waves off my worry. “Ignore Ronan—he says no pup, but you should have one! A baby means Zanele can’t take him, even if she’s back.”

I just look at her. Zanele’s already back. And a baby won’t save me—not when Ronan doesn’t care.

I check her wolf pulse. “You’re strong today, Grandmother.”

She grins. “I want to live to see your little pup, Sommy.”

“Yes,” I whisper.

We talk a bit more, and I head out of her room. I run straight into Lady Adanna Wolfhart, Ronan’s mother.

“Mother,” I say politely.

She’s not cruel, not sweet—just reserved and impossible to read. Works hard at the Royal Lycan Court. Never once said a sharp word to me, so I respect her.

“Mm,” Adanna says with a nod, looking elegant as always.

“I just saw Grandmother,” I tell her, trying to look the part of a dutiful daughter-in-law.

She’s not the type to show love, but I know she cares. She thinks I’m pure—her words, not mine.

“I brought river crabs for dinner,” she says. “Eat with us tonight.”

A pack hunter gave them to her, and she took them just because she knows I love crab. She probably wanted to call Ronan to fetch me, but here I am already.

I used to eat five crabs by myself. Ronan would crack the shells for me. Back when things were simpler, even if he never loved me.

Now, just thinking about the smell of crab, my throat goes tight. I feel sick.

I bolt for the bathroom, lean over the sink, and throw up all the water in my stomach.

Adanna comes in and watches me clean up.

Wiping my face, I say, “My stomach’s acting up, Mother.”

Her eyes narrow and go flinty. “Did you see the healer?”

“Yeah,” I tell her, lips sealed. “He said I just need rest.”

She studies me for a long moment. “Zanele Nightshade is back in the Dominion. Did you know that?”