Chapter 4

“Serena!”

Adrian reached her in seconds and lifted her into his arms.

A scrape ran along her forearm. Under the influence of fadingroot, her wolf’s presence had dwindled to almost nothing.

“Don’t blame Evelyn,” Serena sobbed. “She lost her ceremony and her place as Luna because of me. She has every right to hate me.”

Adrian looked up. The fear in his eyes hardened into disappointment.

“Evelyn, her wolf cannot withstand even a minor fall. You’re a healer. How could you push her?”

“I didn’t.”

“I saw her holding your hand when she fell.”

“Because she—”

Agony tore through my skull.

The curse marks surged over my shoulder in a rush of black. I staggered and caught myself against the wall.

Adrian started toward me on instinct.

Serena curled up in his arms with a pained whimper.

He hesitated for only a heartbeat before tightening his hold on her.

“Go back to the east guest room and think about what you’ve done. After the ceremony, I’ll listen to your explanation.”

He carried Serena away. The edge of his cloak brushed the back of my hand without slowing.

I leaned against the cold stone as a memory flickered through my mind.

It was Adrian’s first year as Alpha.

The Elders had pointed at me and declared that Omegas existed to obey. One could never sit in the Luna’s chair.

Adrian had stepped in front of me, his red wolf eyes blazing.

“She has saved one hundred and thirty-seven wolves of this pack. If that does not make her worthy, then none of you are worthy to judge her.”

“Evelyn Bennett is the only woman I will ever mark. Anyone who stands against her stands against me.”

At that moment, the sight of his back burned itself into my soul.

Now I could no longer remember the sound of his voice when he made that vow.

At dawn on the sixth day, the Northern Moonwitch Tower sent my travel seal.

Julian Hart, the head healer assigned to receive me, called through the Tower’s secure line.

“The curse has nearly reached your heart. You must arrive before midnight on the seventh day. If the spell completes before your wolf is protected, the severed emotions may force her into eternal slumber.”

I returned once to my parents’ home in White Birch Valley.

They were ordinary Omegas with no rank in Silvermoon. When my father learned that Adrian intended to mark someone else, he shattered his teacup against the floor. My mother only wrapped both arms around me, her eyes red.

“Then don’t be his Luna,” she whispered. “My daughter has saved more lives than any Alpha I know. You do not need a title—or a man—to prove your worth.”

I buried my face against her shoulder and cried like a pup for the first time in years.

I did not tell them about the curse. I only said the Moonwitch Tower had invited me north to study ancient magic.

That afternoon, I went to the healers’ lodge to collect my remaining case records and found Adrian and Serena in the corridor.

She had her arm looped through his. She wore the moon-white ceremonial gown that had once been mine.

The moment Adrian saw me, he pulled his arm free and hurried over.

“Evelyn, you look awful. Are you ill?”

He reached for my forehead. I turned my face away.

Pain flashed through his expression.

“I haven’t slept,” I said. “I’m only here for my case records.”

“After Serena’s ceremony tonight, I’ll take you to the healers myself. Whatever is wrong, we’ll deal with it together.”

After Serena again. Always later.

He reached for the stack in my arms. “At least let me carry those.”

“No.”

His hand remained suspended between us. He seemed to sense that something was slipping away, but not enough to ask the right question.

His lips parted, but before he could answer, Serena clutched her chest behind him.

“Adrian, my wolf… it hurts.”

His expression changed.

“Evelyn, wait for me. When I come back, we’ll talk properly.”

He lifted Serena and rushed toward the treatment rooms.

I watched him leave and felt almost nothing.

I opened my healer’s journal and crossed out the line that said Adrian Blackwood was the man I loved.

At dawn on the seventh day, I boarded the snow train bound for the North.

My parents stood on the platform waving. My mother shouted reminder after reminder about eating properly and keeping warm. Every memory I had of them remained bright and whole.

The curse would take only my lover from me.

Just before the train pulled away, Adrian’s voice reached for me through our mind-link.

[Evelyn, I miss you. When the ceremony ends tonight, I’ll bring you home.]

I stared at the name that surfaced with the thought.

Adrian Blackwood.

I could not remember why this man could reach my mind, or why he spoke as though I belonged with him.

I opened my journal.

Only three lines remained.

[Adrian Blackwood is the Alpha of the Silvermoon Pack.]

[He abandoned our marking ceremony and chose to complete it with Serena Whitmore.]

[Do not go back.]

So he was going to hold a marking ceremony for another woman.

I calmly closed the mind-link and barred him from reaching me again.

The train whistle cut across the frozen plain.

I never looked back.