جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 20

Draven POVThe first year was hard.Not because of the distance from the pack.I had been away from Arctic Moon plenty of times before. School and Alpha training had kept me from my home for months at a time. Distance had never been the problem.The problem was what the distance used to hold.Layla Voss.When she was still in the pack and I was away at the Academy, every mile between us had an end. Every journey ended with me coming home. Even before we realized we were fated mates.After she disappeared...There was nowhere left to come back to.That first year, I spent more time on the western perimeter trails than anywhere else.I ran until my lungs burned. When running stopped exhausting me, I trained until every muscle shook. When training no longer worked, I buried myself in strategy lessons and leadership drills until sleep claimed me before I reached my bed.My instructors praised my discipline and focus. They were impressed with my willingness to push beyond limits that other

~ Earlier ~Layla POV"Okay, mom." Aiden climbed out of the car, backpack already slipping off one shoulder.I walk around to meet him and adjust the bag."Hey." I crouched to his level. "I mean it. No more fighting at school, okay? Even if he started it.""He said you're not a real doctor 'cause I don't have a dad.""Well, he's wrong. You know it, don't you."That got the smallest smile out of him. The one that made his father's face flash before me without warning. I kissed his forehead quickly and watched him disappear through the gates with the rest of the kids. Then I was back in the car and speeding to work.Glancing at the digital clock on my dashboard, I began composing the apology I'd give the chief when I arrived at work. I was already six minutes late. The hospital was chaos when I walked in.One of the janitors was mopping blood off the lobby floor. Nurses moved past at a near-run with arms full of supplies. Somewhere down the hall someone was shouting coordinates for

Draven POVI walked back toward Simon's room slowly.The hallway had quieted. Somewhere down the corridor, a monitor beeped in a steady, indifferent rhythm. A nurse passed with a cart, wheels squeaking against the polished floor. Normal sounds. A normal afternoon at the edge of the Realm.Nothing about the last few minutes was normal.Someone called, "Doctor Wallace." The name followed me down the corridor, tying my stomach into painful, bitter knots.I stopped outside Simon's door with my hand on the handle and didn't go in.The badge clipped to her coat flashed in my mind. White lanyard. Her photo in one corner, with clean black letters below it.L. Wallace, M.D.I'd caught the name when Simon gripped her hand earlier. Just before it flipped to the back. And I'd read it clearly moments ago when she stood in front of me. Now the name was lodged somewhere in my chest and wouldn't leave.Wallace.Not Voss. Not any name I could trace back to anything I knew about her. She'd left the B

Layla POVThe Goddess was merciful in one way at least.The rest of the day was chaos.The warrior I'd treated that morning was not the only one who had come in from whatever territorial dispute had broken out at the border. More had followed through the afternoon. Three with lacerations deep enough to need suturing, one with a fractured collarbone that his wolf was already fighting to close around before I could set it properly. I worked through all of them without stopping.It was better that way. Moving kept the panic at a manageable distance.Draven's words cut through everything else regardless.Layla Voss is still a wanted name in all territories.Me? Wanted?I hadn't taken anything from Beta Gordon's household. Nothing that wasn't mine. Theft? Jewelry? The only jewelry I'd unintentionally packed with my jacket was a gift from Carla. She'd pressed it into my hand on my sixteenth birthday. The same morning I was relocated from the main house into the cottage. It was given to

Layla POVGold and emerald necklace.I read the words twice. Then a third time before setting the document down.I hadn't been mistaken. The missing jewelry was the same jewelry I'd unknowingly packed. Knowing that eased my mind a little. At least it was clear I didn't take anything deliberately.I could picture the necklace now. The fine gold chain, the tear drop shaped emerald pendant the size of a thumbnail. I remembered the way it had caught the light when Carla held it out, then pressed it into my hands. On my sixteenth birthday.We had been sitting on the floor of my new, smaller bedroom when she gave it to me. It was the evening I was relocated to the cottage at the back of the property. Her parents had decided the room I'd occupied for eight years was needed for the steward's new office. They had moved my things without telling me.Carla had found me in the cottage that evening, quiet, depressed and trying to hide my sadness.The gift had been her silent way of consoling me.