جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 20

True to his word, Jake knocked on Elena's door at seven in the morning."Open up, kid. We had a deal."Elena dragged herself from bed, every movement, an monumental effort. Her reflection in the mirror by the door made her look away. She'd become something hollow, something barely human.Jake's face was grim when she opened the door. Behind him stood a woman in her fifties with kind eyes and greying hair."This is Patricia," Jake said. "She's a counsellor who works with... people in transition.""Wolves," Elena said flatly. "You can say it. She works with broken wolves."Patricia stepped forward. "I work with survivors. May I come in?"Elena stood aside, too exhausted to argue. Her room was a disaster, curtains drawn, clothes scattered, evidence of days spent simply existing."When did you last eat a full meal?" Patricia asked, her tone professional but gentle."I don't know.""When did you last shower?"Elena tried to remember. The days had blurred together into one endless gray mome

Patricia's car smelled like lavender and leather. Elena sat rigid in the passenger seat, fingers white-knuckled on her knees, counting telephone poles to keep from screaming.Seventeen. Eighteen. Nineteen."You're doing great," Patricia said softly. "Just breathe."Twenty. Twenty-one.The pack offices were only fifteen minutes from the motel, but it might as well have been fifteen hours. Every mile took Elena further from her safe cocoon of misery, closer to a confrontation she wasn't ready for."I can't do this." The words escaped between clenched teeth."Yes, you can. We're almost there."Twenty-five. Twenty-six.The building appeared too soon - a modern glass structure that had been built during Elena's tenure as Luna. She'd helped design it, chosen the colours, approved the contracts. Now it stood like a monument to everything she'd lost."I'll wait here," Patricia said, parking near the entrance. "Take your time."Elena forced herself out of the car. Her legs shook with each step

The walk back to the motel took seventeen minutes. Elena counted each one, marvelling at how her body moved. Seven days of starvation, a fever that should have killed her, and yet she felt like she could run for hours.Because you could, Zara informed her. We are not what we were.The motel parking lot was crowded now. Two patrol cars, an ambulance, and Patricia's sedan. Elena paused at the edge of the lot, watching Jake gesture wildly to a pair of officers."…just ran out. After a fever that high, she shouldn't even be conscious…""Ma'am." One of the officers noticed her first, hand moving instinctively toward his weapon before stopping. Human instincts, recognizing a predator without understanding why."I'm fine," Elena said, pitching her voice to carry calm authority. "I apologize for worrying everyone. The fever broke and I needed air."Patricia rushed toward her, medical bag in hand. "You can't just— your temperature was over 104! You stopped breathing!""I feel fine." Better tha

The interior of Moonhaven's main house defied expectation. Where Elena anticipated rustic charm, she found sophisticated elegance…high ceilings supported by natural timber, walls of windows overlooking the valley, and technology seamlessly integrated into the organic architecture."Not what you expected?" Morgan asked, amused. Despite being in her forties, she moved with the fluid grace of someone who'd mastered their body completely. Her silver hair caught the light streaming through the windows, almost luminescent."I thought... more traditional?""Common misconception." Morgan led them through a great room where several wolves lounged in human form, all bearing signs of past trauma. "People assume power means clinging to the past. But goddess-born Alphas? We shape the future."Every wolf they passed submitted instinctively…not to Morgan, Elena realized with shock, but to her. Even in human form, they recognized what she was becoming.They feel our potential, Zara explained. It call

The training room's door hadn't finished closing before Morgan attacked.Elena barely registered movement…one moment Morgan stood across the padded floor, the next her fist connected with Elena's solar plexus. Air exploded from her lungs as she hit the ground hard."First lesson," Morgan said calmly, her silver hair still perfectly arranged despite the lightning-fast assault. "Goddess-born or not, physics still apply. Get up."Elena wheezed, trying to find breath. Her wolf snarled at the indignity, but her body wouldn't cooperate."I said get up." Morgan's foot swept Elena's legs as she struggled to rise, sending her crashing again. "Your enemies won't wait for you to catch your breath.""I wasn't... ready," Elena gasped."Death doesn't announce itself." Morgan circled her like a predator. Despite being in her forties, she moved with lethal economy. "Rogues don't send invitations. Assassins don't wait for proper stance. Get. Up."This time Elena rolled aside as Morgan's foot descended