Chapter Twenty-four

The Letter

The night was thick with silence, the kind that pressed against the skin and made every heartbeat feel too loud.

I sat at my desk, the candle burning low, watching wax pool across the wood. The sealed letter rested before me, my trembling hands hovering over it. Kimberly’s name was written across the front in my own hand, steady but desperate.

It had to reach her.

But if Derrick discovered it—if Catherine or Mona even suspected—my life would be over before the next dawn.

I thought of Kimberly’s face when she was small, chasing fireflies with Hannah in the garden. I thought of the night she was rejected, her shoulders trembling, eyes searching for me in the crowd. And I thought of how I did nothing.

My silence had been my crime. This letter was my penance.

I stood, tucking the letter into a leather pouch beneath my cloak. My footsteps were careful as I left the study, the halls of the pack house hushed but never truly empty. Eyes always watched here, even when unseen.

The guards at the gate barely glanced at me—Derrick’s “trusted elder,” harmless, obedient. I forced myself to walk steady, though my chest pounded like war drums.

Beyond the gates, the forest wrapped me in shadows. The air was sharp, carrying the scent of pine and earth. It was here that I found him—Louis, Kimberly’s old friend.

He stepped from the trees cautiously, his face pale in the moonlight. His loyalty had never faltered, not even after Kimberly was cast out. That loyalty was why I had trusted him with this one impossible task.

“You have it?” he whispered.

I nodded, pulling the pouch from my cloak and pressing it into his hands. “Find her. However you can. If anyone can, it’s you.”

Louis swallowed hard, clutching it to his chest. “If Derrick learns—”

“He cannot learn,” I cut in sharply, though my voice trembled. “If he suspects, burn it. But if you can reach her… give her this. She must know she is not alone.”

Louis hesitated. “Why now? Why risk everything now, when you stayed silent for so long?”

The question struck like a blade. My throat tightened. “Because silence nearly killed her once. I won’t let it kill her again.”

He studied me for a long moment, then nodded. “I’ll find her.”

I clasped his shoulder, my grip fierce. “Go quickly. And, Louis… don’t fail her.”

He didn’t answer. He only turned and slipped into the trees, vanishing like mist.

I stood alone in the clearing, my chest aching with both dread and fragile hope.

Then a sound behind me made me stiffen.

Slow, deliberate footsteps.

I turned—and froze.

Mona stepped into the moonlight, her golden hair gleaming like a crown, her smile sharp enough to cut.

“Well,” she said sweetly, her voice dripping honey over venom. “Isn’t this interesting?”

My stomach dropped. The blood drained from my face. “Mona—”

“Don’t bother lying.” She tilted her head, her eyes glittering. “I saw you give him something. A letter, perhaps? For Kimberly?”

I forced stillness into my voice, though fear clawed at me. “You’re mistaken.”

Her smile widened. “Am I?”

For a moment, we stood in silence, her gaze pinning me like a predator deciding how to play with its prey. Then she stepped closer, lowering her voice.

“You think Derrick will be furious if I tell him. And you’re right. But I wonder… what if I don’t?”

Suspicion flared. “What do you want?”

Her smile was slow, deliberate. “Nothing. Not yet. But one day soon, I may need a favor. When that day comes, you’ll remember tonight—and you’ll do exactly as I ask.”

Cold dread spread through me. She had me cornered, and she knew it.

I bowed my head, hiding the rage in my eyes. “As you wish.”

Mona’s laughter was soft, satisfied. She reached out, brushing her fingers against my arm as though in comfort. “Good. Because secrets are dangerous things. And I would hate to see yours exposed too soon.”

With that, she turned and glided back toward the pack house, her gown whispering against the forest floor.

I stood frozen, the weight of her threat pressing heavy on my chest.

The letter was gone, already beyond my reach. Kimberly might see it, might know the truth. Or Louis might be caught before he found her.

But now Mona knew.

And that meant my secret was a leash in her hand.

I closed my eyes, whispering into the night. “Please, let the letter reach her.”

Because it might be the last gift I ever gave my daughter.

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