Vivian survived the night, though only barely, and Rhea's grim assessment the next morning left little room for comfort. The bullet had lodged too close to her spine for safe removal without proper surgical care, and the best Ashwood's healers could offer for now was stabilizing her enough to survive the journey to a pack hospital better equipped to handle it, a journey that would keep her, and her testimony, far away from Elder's Crossing entirely."She wanted this to matter," Elena said quietly, standing at Vivian's bedside before they left, watching her stepsister's chest rise and fall in shallow, medicated sleep. "I'm not letting a bullet take that away from her too.""It won't," Damian said. "We'll carry what she gave us. The map, the checkpoints, everything she risked her life to tell us. That's still hers, Elena, whether she's standing in that room or not."Rhea stayed behind to watch over her, along with two of Ashwood's most trusted guards, and Elena pressed a hand briefly to
Last Updated : 2026-08-28 Read more