Chapter6

My hands began to shake uncontrollably.

So it would end the same way after all. The timeline had shifted, the details had changed, and still it was Kael's own hands that would rip my wolf out of me.

The healer's assistant burst through the door.

"Alpha! The new shipment of numbing draught doesn't come until tomorrow. We have one dose left. Only one. It won't cover them both!"

Kael looked over his shoulder at Vivienne, twisting and whimpering, and then down at me on the cold stone.

He didn't even need to think about it.

"Vivienne gets it."

The assistant faltered. "And Ms. Ashvale—"

"She's a white wolf. She heals faster than any of us. She'll manage."

He silenced the assistant with a look and came toward me, the silver needle glinting in his fist.

How hard could it be, pulling one core? He had killed. He had waded through more blood than he could remember. This should mean nothing to him.

Then his eyes met mine, and his palms went damp. A memory surfaced from when we were both ten.

I had skinned my hand on a rock and bawled like the world was ending, and he'd had to buy my silence with ten lollipops before I'd stop crying.

No one alive knew better than him how badly I feared pain.

Panic started to climb up his throat.

But Vivienne's whimpering kept drifting into his ears.

He shoved the panic down and spoke quietly, not noticing that his own voice wasn't quite steady.

"Don't be scared, Lyra. I'll go slow. It'll be over before you know it."

I only stared at the ceiling, eyes empty, as though he hadn't spoken at all.

He rolled me onto my side. The instant the silver needle slid between the bones of my spine, the pain hit every inch of me at once.

Silver burns a werewolf from the inside like a living flame. My veins stood out against my skin. My whole body jerked and seized. I could feel my wolf screaming, clawing, fighting as the needle caught hold of her and began pulling her out of me a little at a time. I bit through my own lip and still didn't let a single sound escape.

Somewhere in the middle of it, the pain carried me under.

It was more than an hour before it was done.

I woke to a terrible emptiness, right in the place where my wolf had always lived, ever since I was born. The wound in my back pulsed with every breath I took.

Out of habit, I reached inward for her, the way I had every single day of my life.

There was no answer.

I was a wolf without a wolf.

The room around me was empty. No one had stayed. Not one person.

A hollow smile tugged at my mouth. I dragged myself upright and staggered out into the hall, one hand pressed to the wall to keep from falling.

Kael was in the next room, Vivienne's hand cradled in his, murmuring to her. "Shh. The worst is over. The core is still new. Your body just needs time to accept it."

He caught sight of me and looked away for half a second, then scowled. "What are you doing out of bed?"

I ignored the question. My voice came out flat. "You made me a promise, Alpha Kael. Make the announcement."

His face fell. He'd thought I had come looking for comfort. Instead I'd come to cut the last thread.

"You really are—fine! Have it your way!"

A rush of anger he couldn't explain flooded through him. "If you're going to be this ungrateful, you can have exactly what you asked for! Owen!"

He jerked his chin at his beta and barked the order.

A few minutes later, a new notice sat pinned at the top of the pack forum.

"Official Notice: White Wolf Lyra Ashvale has chosen to leave Duskfall Pack. As of today, she is no longer under the protection or authority of Alpha Kael Duskmane."

When I saw it at the top of the page, a small, relieved smile finally touched my bloodless face.

I didn't wait around. I hauled my broken body out of the healing center.

That was it. The end.

I never wanted to lay eyes on Kael again.