Annis POV:

The villa was warm. It smelled of lavender and expensive polish, a stark contrast to the rot of the Runt Quarters. But under the pleasant scents, there was something foul.

I floated in the corner of the master bedroom. Elroy was pacing.

On the bed lay Ivonne.

She was beautiful in a sharp, dangerous way. But to me, she looked like a corpse painted to look alive. I drifted closer, sniffing the air. The scent was faint, masked by layers of perfume, but I knew it. Black magic. It smelled like sulfur and old blood. It was a scent blocker, used to hide one's true nature.

"Is... is the girl really gone?" Ivonne asked. Her voice was weak, feigned. She rubbed her swollen belly.

"Dead," Elroy said, loosening his tie. "Annis didn't show up. She abandoned the child's body. She truly has no heart."

"Oh, Elroy," Ivonne cooed, reaching out a hand. "She never deserved you. Those credit card alerts from Paris prove she moved on long ago."

Suddenly, Ivonne gasped. Her water broke.

The next few hours were a blur of activity. The Pack Doctor arrived. Maids scurried with hot water. Elroy held Ivonne's hand, his face a mask of tenderness I had never seen directed at me.

When the baby was finally born, Elroy held him up like a trophy.

"A son," Elroy breathed. "My heir. The future Alpha."

I looked at the baby. He was chubby and pink. But when I looked closer, with the eyes of a spirit, I saw the truth. There was no golden aura of an Alpha around him. His energy was muddy, chaotic. He smelled like a Rogue-a wolf with no loyalty, no honor.

And he was sick.

The baby's skin turned a terrifying shade of blue. His breathing hitched.

The Pack Doctor, a nervous man named Dr. Vance, scanned the infant with a handheld medical device. His face went pale.

"Alpha..." Dr. Vance stammered.

"What is it?" Elroy snapped, his protective instinct flaring.

"The child... his spiritual core is fractured," the doctor whispered. "It's a congenital defect. His heart cannot pump the mana needed to sustain a wolf form. He will die within hours."

Ivonne screamed. "Do something! Save him!"

"There is only one way," Dr. Vance said, trembling. "A graft. We need spiritual bone marrow to stabilize his core. Specifically, marrow from a direct ancestor with high regenerative properties. The White Wolf bloodline."

The room went silent.

My blood ran cold. The White Wolf. My family. We were legends, healers, rare and hunted. I had kept my lineage a secret to protect us.

Elroy's eyes narrowed. He looked out the window, toward the direction of the Runt Quarters. Toward the incineration pit.

"The girl," Elroy said. His voice was devoid of emotion. "Emma."

"Sir?" Dr. Vance asked.

"Annis was a nobody," Elroy reasoned aloud, pacing again. "But her grandmother... there were rumors she had white fur. If the runt carried even a trace of that gene..."

"The marrow would still be viable," Dr. Vance confirmed, wiping sweat from his brow. "Even if she has passed, the bones protect the essence for up to twenty-four hours. But we must hurry before the decay sets in."

"She is trash," Elroy said firmly. "She was weak in life. Let her serve the Pack in death. Her bones will save the future Alpha."

"No!" I shouted, rushing at him. I tried to punch him, to scratch his eyes out, but I passed through him like smoke. "She is not spare parts! She is your daughter! Don't you touch her!"

Elroy didn't hear my screams. He tapped his earpiece.

"Warriors," he commanded. "Go to the disposal site. Retrieve the girl's body. Bring it to the clinic. Prep for surgery."

He looked at his dying, illegitimate son with love, and then thought of my dead daughter as nothing more than a resource container.

"I will save our son, Ivonne," Elroy promised, kissing her forehead. "Whatever the cost."

I felt a crack in my soul, a deep fissure of hatred that finally overpowered the love I once held for him.

Elroy POV:

"Gone?"

My roar shattered the crystal vase on the mantelpiece. The shards rained down onto the hardwood floor.

The head Warrior, a massive brute named Kael, bowed his head, exposing his neck in submission. The Alpha Command rolling off me was making him sweat.

"Yes, Alpha," Kael stammered. "We went to the pit. The... the body. It was gone. There were tire tracks. Heavy ones. Someone took her."

"Annis," I hissed. The name tasted like bile. "She was watching. She waited until I left and stole the corpse to spite me. She knew. She somehow knew I needed it."

My Inner Wolf paced in the back of my mind. He was agitated, scratching at the walls of my consciousness. He had been unsettled since the birth of my son, refusing to howl in celebration. Now, he was growling, a low, mournful sound.

Find her, my wolf urged. Find the mate.

I ignored him. Ivonne was my mate. My nose had been tricked once, but Ivonne was the one by my side.

"Get me the Tracker," I ordered. "The best one money can buy."

Two hours later, we were deep in the forest, miles from the Pack borders. The Tracker, a silent man with a scar running down his nose, had followed a scent trail that was over a year old.

We stopped in front of a dilapidated cabin. It was hidden by overgrown vines and moss.

"This is where she lived," the Tracker said. "Before..." He trailed off.

I kicked the door open.

The inside was small and dusty. There were children's drawings on the wall. Drawings of a wolf that looked like me. My chest tightened, but I pushed the feeling away.

"Annis!" I shouted. "Come out! Give me the body, and I will let you live!"

Silence answered me.

Then, a shadow moved in the doorway.

"You are loud for a man who is blind," a voice said.

I spun around. Standing there was Korey.

I remembered him. He was Annis's childhood friend. A weak, scrawny boy who used to follow her around. But the man standing before me was not weak. He was tall, his shoulders broad. He wore a leather jacket, and his eyes glowed with a power that rivaled my own.

He wasn't a Beta anymore. He was an Alpha. Maybe even a King of the Rogues.

"Korey," I growled. "Where is she? Where is my wife?"

"Wife?" Korey laughed, but there was no humor in it. It was a cold, sharp sound. "You haven't called her that in five years, Elroy. You called her a burden. A mistake."

"Give me the girl's body," I demanded, stepping forward. "My son needs a transplant."

Korey's face twisted in pure disgust. "You want to butcher your daughter to save that abomination Ivonne birthed? You truly have fallen."

"Watch your tongue!" I lunged, but Korey didn't flinch.

"She isn't here, Elroy," Korey said softly.

"Liar! The Tracker smelled her!"

"He smelled her memory," Korey said. He reached into his jacket pocket. "You want to know where Annis is? You want the truth?"

He pulled out a stack of photos and threw them at my chest.

They fluttered to the floor.

I looked down.

My breath stopped. My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird.

The photos were gruesome. They showed a body. A woman. Her skin was burned black in places-the unmistakable burn of Silver nitrate. Her clothes were torn. Her face... it was Annis. But her eyes were empty. Glassy.

"The police report is attached," Korey said, his voice void of mercy. "DNA confirmed. She died six months ago, Elroy. She was hunted down by Rogues. Shot with silver bullets. Tortured. I was out of the country on a mission. I only found her remains yesterday. I came back for the child, but I was too late."

"No," I whispered. I stepped back, shaking my head. "No. I saw her... I felt her... I get alerts from her credit cards in Paris every week."

"You felt nothing," Korey spat. "And those alerts? Digital ghosts. While you were playing house with that snake Ivonne, Annis was rotting in a shallow grave."

I stared at the photo of my wife's mangled hand. On her finger, visible through the blood, was the cheap silver band I had given her when we were teenagers.

My knees hit the floor.

Elroy POV:

The world was spinning.

Dead.

The word echoed in my skull, bouncing around until it became a physical pain.

Mate is gone, my Inner Wolf howled. It was a sound of pure devastation. He threw his head back in my mind and screamed, a sound that tore through my mental barriers.

I grabbed the photos, my hands shaking so hard I nearly ripped them. "This is fake. You faked this!"

"Read the coroner's report," Korey said, leaning against the doorframe. He looked tired. "Time of death: approximately 180 days ago. Cause of death: Silver poisoning and blood loss."

"She can't be dead," I gasped. "If she were dead, the bond... I would have felt the bond snap."

"Did you?" Korey asked quietly. "Or were you so drugged by Ivonne's sorcery that you missed the moment your other half died?"

I froze.

Six months ago. I remembered a night. I had been at a gala with Ivonne. Suddenly, I had felt a sharp pain in my chest, like a heart attack. I had collapsed. Ivonne had given me a drink, told me it was just stress. She had massaged my temples, her scent overwhelming everything else.

I had forgotten it by morning.

"Ivonne..." I whispered.

"She paid the Rogues," Korey said. "I found the transaction records. She wanted the Luna position. Annis was in the way. She used a blood-mimic spell to keep the bond dormant so you wouldn't suspect."

I scrambled backward, away from the photos, away from the truth. My back hit the wall. "No. Ivonne loves me. She is my Mate."

"She is a witch and a whore," Korey said calmly. "And you are the fool who let her kill your true Mate."

I couldn't breathe. The air in the cabin felt thin.

Suddenly, Korey's eyes changed. The gold of his iris shifted, swirling with a silvery mist. It was Spirit Sight. A rare ability, usually found in Seers, not Alphas.

He looked past me. He looked into the empty corner of the room.

His expression softened. The anger drained away, replaced by a profound sadness.

He began to hum. It was a low, haunting melody. I recognized it. It was a lullaby Annis used to sing to her belly when she was pregnant with Emma.

Korey raised his hand, palm open, reaching out to the empty air.

"Hello, my White Wolf," Korey whispered.

I looked at the corner. There was nothing there. Just dust motes dancing in the light.

"Who are you talking to?" I croaked.

"She is here," Korey said, his eyes fixed on the invisible spot. "She has been screaming at you for an hour, Elroy. But you are too blind to see her."

Annis POV:

He saw me.

For the first time in six months, someone looked at me, not through me.

Korey's silver gaze locked onto mine. I felt a warmth spread through my spectral form. It wasn't the heat of a fire, but the warmth of recognition. Of being acknowledged.

"Korey," I wept, though no tears fell. "You found me."

"I never stopped looking," he whispered.

I floated toward him. I wanted to touch him. I wanted to feel the solidity of a friend.

But then, Elroy scrambled to his feet.

"Stop it!" Elroy yelled, looking between Korey and the empty corner. "Stop playing games! There is no one there!"

His denial was a physical force. It hit me like a wave.

"She is right in front of you," Korey said, his voice hard again. "She is looking at you with hate, Elroy. Can you blame her?"

Elroy turned to where Korey was looking. He squinted. For a second, just a split second, I saw his eyes widen. Did he see a shimmer? A distortion in the air?

"Annis?" he whispered.

Then he shook his head violently. "No. She's dead. You said she's dead. Ghosts aren't real."

He turned and ran. He shoved past Korey and bolted out the door, into the forest.

And the curse yanked me backward.

"No!" I screamed, reaching for Korey. "Help me! Don't let him take me!"

Korey stepped forward, his hand swiping through the air where my arm was. He shivered. "I will come for you, Annis," he promised the air. "I will break the tether."

But I was already being dragged away, pulled through the trees, following the coward who was fleeing from his own sins.