جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 10

Annie held the urn even tighter.Her tiny body shook in the cold wind.She was so weak that her scent had all but vanished. No wonder Sebastian couldn't recognize his own pup."Mister, what are you talking about?"I can't find my daddy. I only have my mommy."One of the guards hesitated before speaking. "Alpha, there's a blizzard outside, and this pup has no adult wolf to protect her."Sebastian stared at the name "Tina" carved into the urn.He sneered, utterly sure of himself."Her supposedly dead mother is around here somewhere."He let out a scornful laugh and tore the bills in half."She knows how much I value bloodlines. Ever since I threw her out of the pack, she's been using this pup to gain my sympathy."The scraps fluttered down into the muddy slush.I stood next to him, too drained to even manage a bitter smile.So even ghosts could feel the cold.For four years, I'd tried to reach him through the guards more than a thousand times.Once, Annie had a fever so high she couldn't

His fingers trembled as he slowly reached for Annie's ear."How old are you?""Four.""When's your birthday?""Mommy said it was the day the blood moon set."Sebastian's breathing faltered.The day the blood moon set.That was the day, a little over four years ago, that I'd sent him my very first call for help from outside the wire fence.His Adam's apple bobbed as he opened his mouth to ask another question."Seb!"Daphne's anxious voice rang out from the altar.She hurried over, carrying her five-year-old son, Leo Cross.She was wearing Sebastian's black wolf-fur coat.I'd sewn it for him by hand, stitch by stitch, from my own shed winter fur mixed with silver fox.Now Daphne wore it, its hem carrying the scent of marigolds."Seb, I think Leo has a fever. He's burning up!"Daphne's eyes were a little red, and her voice was shaking.Sebastian glanced down at Annie in the mud, then at Leo, whimpering in Daphne's arms.In the end, he shoved the urn back into Annie's arms.He strode over

Sebastian went still."Seb, she stinks. Throw this bastard out to the wolves too!"Leo whined in Daphne's arms and kicked at Annie.The brief flicker of emotion in Sebastian's eyes vanished.He scoffed and crumpled the death certificate into a ball."She even forged a death certificate. Tina really went all out."He tossed the crumpled certificate and the tablets down beside him and turned to comfort Leo.While he was distracted, Annie lunged, snatched back the packet and the crumpled paper, and stuffed them deep inside her clothes.They pulled up at the pack's medical center.The moment the car door opened, Annie shot out from under Sebastian's arm like a frightened little animal!"Stop!"Sebastian reached for her, but managed to grab only a few strands of her brittle, yellowed hair.Beside him, Daphne was crying with worry."Seb, leave her! Something's wrong with Leo! He's barely conscious!"Sebastian looked at the strands of hair in his palm, then at Leo in his arms.He gritted his

I knew she couldn't see me. It was the fireflies she saw.Before I died, I'd stroked her face and told her Mommy was going to become the stars in the sky and the fireflies in the woods. Whenever Annie missed Mommy, she could talk to the fireflies.Annie burst into tears. Hugging the broken urn, she sobbed out loud."Mommy, are you here to take Rusty to heaven?"Annie hurts everywhere. That mean man hit Annie, and he kicked Rusty so hard he died."Mommy, Annie doesn't want to find daddy anymore. Daddy's a bad man. Annie only wants you..."She told the fireflies everything that had happened over the last few days, her words tumbling out in a jumble.Her fever and blood loss weakened her voice until she finally collapsed against Rusty's body, unconscious.I used the last of my spirit's power to gather the fireflies above her head, hoping their warmth would protect her heart.My legs began to dissolve into tiny, transparent specks of light."Sleep, baby. Mommy's right here with you."Just

Sebastian brought Annie back to the medical center.Owen knelt by the bed to examine her, then wiped the sweat from his forehead and reported, "Alpha, Annie has been badly malnourished for a long time. Exposure to the cold has triggered a severe flare-up of her bloodline wasting disease and the wounds through the soles of her feet are infected. She needs your blood right away to sustain her."Sebastian stood beside the bed, his face whiter than the sheets.Without a word, he picked up a silver knife, cut open his own wrist, and let his golden blood drip between Annie's cracked lips.Just then, Marcus walked in on shaking legs, carrying a thick stack of investigation files."Alpha, we found out everything..."I had died three days before the Day of the Dead, in a dark, underground back-alley clinic in the slums. My wolf had faded completely, and both my lungs were badly infected.My medical records said I'd never had any terminal illness at all.The night he banished me four years ago,