Jana POV:

They didn't take me to a normal hospital room. They took me to the Pack Meeting Hall.

It was a vast room with high ceilings and banners of the Silver Moon Pack hanging from the walls. But now, it was set up like a studio. Cameras were set up on tripods. Bright lights blinded me.

Kyleigh sat in a wheelchair in the center of the room. She was wearing a pale blue hospital gown that made her look fragile and angelic. Her face was perfectly made up to look pale but beautiful.

"Put her there," Kyleigh said, pointing to the floor beside her wheelchair.

The guards threw me down. I hit the polished wood hard. My hip slammed against the floor, and I bit my tongue to keep from screaming.

"What is this?" I asked, looking around.

"A confession," Kyleigh said. She smiled, but her eyes were dead cold. "The pack needs to know the truth about the sabotage. We are going live in one minute."

Axel stood behind Kyleigh's chair, his hand resting protectively on her shoulder. He looked like a statue of judgment.

"You will admit to your crimes," Axel said. "You will tell the pack that you tried to ruin the Defense Wall because you were jealous of the future Luna."

"I won't lie," I said, my voice trembling.

Axel leaned down. His lips brushed my ear, but there was no intimacy in it. "If you don't, I will declare you a Rogue right now. I will banish you. You will die alone in the woods, hunted by vampires and strays. Is that how you want to end? Or do you want to save your sister and at least die with a name?"

It was a cruel bargain. To die as a Rogue meant my soul would be lost forever, unconnected to the pack lands. To die as a pack member meant I could find peace with the Moon Goddess.

"One minute!" a tech guy shouted.

"Kneel," Axel commanded. The Alpha Voice slammed into me again.

I scrambled to my knees. I felt small. I felt dirty.

"Action!"

Kyleigh's face instantly transformed. She looked into the camera with tears welling in her eyes.

"My dear pack members," she said, her voice trembling perfectly. "I come to you with a heavy heart. Today, we found a flaw in the new wall designs. A flaw that could have killed us."

She looked down at me. The camera zoomed in on my face. I knew I looked like a monster-messy hair, dirty clothes, sullen eyes.

"My sister, Jana," Kyleigh continued, "has something to say."

Axel nudged me with his boot. A silent threat.

I looked into the black lens of the camera. I saw my reflection. I saw a girl who had lost everything.

"I..." My voice cracked. "I admit it."

"Louder," Axel growled.

"I admit it!" I shouted, tears finally spilling over. "I changed the numbers. I wanted to ruin the design. I was jealous. I am... I am a fake."

I could see the comments scrolling on the screen set up to the side.

'Traitor!'

'She should be executed!'

'Why does the Alpha even keep her around?'

'Waste of space.'

Every word was a knife.

"Thank you for your honesty, sister," Kyleigh said. She reached out and patted my head, like one would pet a dog. "I forgive you. The pack forgives you. And now, you will do the right thing and help me heal, won't you?"

"Yes," I whispered.

'Suddenly, Kyleigh gasped. Her hand flew to her chest, her back arching off the wheelchair.'

'"Axel!" she screamed, blood spraying from her mouth onto the polished floor. "It burns! My core... it's breaking!"'

'The monitors hooked up to her portable unit began to wail. Her skin turned a terrifying shade of gray instantly.'

'"Cut the feed!" Axel roared, catching her as she slumped forward.'

'"She's crashing!" a medic shouted, rushing in. "Her Essence levels are zero. If we don't operate now, she's gone in ten minutes!"'

'Kyleigh looked at me, her eyes wide with genuine terror for the first time. "Take it," she gurgled, pointing a shaking finger at me. "Take her kidney now!"'

'Axel turned to the guards. His eyes were pure panic.'

'"Get Jana to the OR," he bellowed. "Forget the prep. Forget the scans. Just cut her open and get that organ!"'

'I closed my eyes. Deep inside me, I felt a shift. It wasn't physical. It was spiritual.'

My inner wolf, the white wolf that had been suppressed for so long, let out a long, mournful howl. It was a sound of absolute despair.

And then, silence.

She was gone. My wolf had retreated into the deepest darkness of my soul. She had severed her connection to the world to spare herself the pain.

I was truly Wolfless now.

"Take her!" Axel screamed again.

The guards hauled me up. I was a ragdoll. I didn't look at Axel. I didn't look at my parents. I just stared at the floor, counting the steps to my execution.

'

Jana POV:

The operating room was cold. It smelled of antiseptic and steel. It was a smell that promised nothing but oblivion.

I lay on the narrow table. They had stripped me of my clothes and covered me with a thin blue sheet. Above me, the surgical lights were like giant, unblinking eyes.

"Heart rate is erratic," a nurse said, looking at the monitor.

Dr. Hermine Sanchez walked in. She was the Pack Healer, a woman known for her stern face and 'Magical Sight'. She could see illnesses that machines missed. 'But today, she looked flustered, dragged in from her home on a Sunday.'

'"Where are the pre-op scans?" Dr. Sanchez demanded, snapping on her gloves. "I haven't seen the donor's chart. I need to check her aura compatibility."'

'"There's no time!" Axel burst into the room. He was wearing a surgical gown over his suit, disregarding protocol. "Kyleigh's heart stopped twice in the hallway. Her personal physician sent over the files yesterday-they said Jana is a perfect match. Two healthy kidneys. Just do it!"'

'Dr. Sanchez hesitated, her eyes narrowing as she looked at me. "She looks septic, Alpha. Look at her skin color. I need five minutes to-"'

'"You don't have five seconds!" Axel slammed his hand on the metal tray. "That is an order, Healer Sanchez. Save your Luna, or get out of my pack!"'

'Dr. Sanchez clenched her jaw. She was bound by the Alpha's order. She couldn't refuse, and she couldn't delay.'

'"Fine," she spat. "Anesthesia?"'

'"Administered," the nurse said nervously. "But... she's burning through it. Her metabolism is spiking."'

'Dr. Sanchez looked at me with pity. She didn't see the poison yet-the adrenaline and the chaotic energy in the room were masking my aura. She just saw a dying girl.'

"Jana," she said softly. "We have to use silver scalpels. It's the only thing that cuts wolf skin. Because of your... 'resistance'... the anesthesia won't work fully. 'We can't wait for it to take effect.'"

"I know," I whispered. "I will feel it."

"I'm sorry," she said. And she meant it.

Axel walked up to the table. He looked down at me. For a second, his hand hovered over my hand, as if he wanted to hold it. But then he pulled back, clenching his fist.

"I deposited two million dollars into an account for you," he said. His voice was stiff. "When you wake up, you can go anywhere. Paris. Tokyo. You always wanted to travel."

I looked at him. He remembered. He remembered that silly dream I told him when we were teenagers, sitting on the roof watching the stars.

"You can't buy a life, Axel," I said. My voice was calm now. The fear was gone. Only exhaustion remained.

"It's not payment," he snapped. "It's... care."

"Care," I repeated. I let out a dry, rattling laugh. "Goodbye, Axel."

He flinched. "It's not goodbye. You're just giving a kidney. Stop being dramatic."

He turned his back on me. He walked to the observation window where Kyleigh was being prepped in the next room. He put his hand on the glass, looking at her with longing.

"Start," he ordered.

Dr. Sanchez sighed. She picked up the scalpel. The blade was made of pure silver. Even the sight of it made my skin crawl.

"Count backward from ten, Jana," she said.

"Ten," I said.

The blade touched my skin.

It wasn't just a cut. It was fire. It was liquid lightning pouring into my body. The silver reacted with my wolf blood, searing the edges of the wound instantly.

"Nine."

I gritted my teeth. I would not scream. I would not give them the satisfaction.

"Eight."

The pain dug deeper. They were cutting through muscle now. I felt the retractors pulling my ribs apart. Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes, hot and fast.

"Seven."

My heart monitor began to beep faster. 'Beep-beep-beep-beep.'

"Six."

I looked at the ceiling. I imagined the moon. I imagined running through a forest of snow, free, strong, loved.

"Five."

The pressure changed. They were clamping the artery. My breath hitched.

"Four."

The darkness was creeping in at the edges of my vision. It was a soft, welcoming velvet darkness.

"Three."

I saw a flash of white light. A wolf. A magnificent white wolf stood at the foot of the table. She looked at me and bowed her head.

'Come,' she seemed to say. 'It is time to rest.'

"Two."

The monitor changed its tone. The frantic beeping slowed down.

"One."

I didn't say zero.

The pain stopped. The cold stopped. The sound of Axel's voice shouting something in the distance faded away.

The line on the monitor went flat. A long, continuous tone filled the room.

I closed my eyes, and I let go.

'

Jana POV (Spirit Form):

The first thing I noticed was the silence. The constant, thrumming pain in my side was gone. The heaviness in my chest had vanished.

I opened my eyes. I was floating.

I looked down. Below me, chaos had erupted.

My body lay on the table, pale and still. My eyes were half-open, staring at nothing. Dr. Sanchez was frantically working, her hands deep inside the open cavity of my abdomen.

"Code Blue!" the nurse was screaming. "She's crashing!"

"I can't find it!" Dr. Sanchez yelled. She wasn't trying to restart my heart. She was looking for something else. "Where is the other one?"

Axel was pounding on the glass of the observation window. "What is happening? Save the organ!"

Dr. Sanchez pulled her hands out. She was covered in blood-'but it wasn't red. It was a thick, oily black sludge.' She grabbed the chart and threw it across the room.

"She only had one!" Dr. Sanchez shouted, her voice breaking with horror. She looked up at the observation window, directly at Axel. "There is no second kidney! The left one is gone! There is only scar tissue!"

I floated higher, hovering near the ceiling lights. I felt light as a feather. I looked at my spirit hands; they were translucent, glowing with a faint silver light.

"That's impossible!" Axel's voice came through the intercom, sounding tinny and panicked. "'Kyleigh's doctors swore-'"

"Look at the scars, you idiot!" Dr. Sanchez screamed back, forgetting all protocol. She pointed at my dead body. "'Look at the necrosis! This isn't a birth defect. This was surgically removed years ago!'"

She stopped. She leaned closer to my open incision. 'Now that I was dead, the magical veil Kyleigh had paid for was lifting. The true scent was hitting the air.'

"Wolfsbane," she whispered. "Her organs are saturated with it. She's been poisoned for years. 'That's why the anesthesia failed. Her body was already fighting a war.'"

The realization hit the room like a bomb.

"We killed her," the nurse sobbed behind her mask. "We just harvested her only kidney."

"We have to finish," Dr. Sanchez said. Her face was gray. She looked like she wanted to vomit. "If we don't put this kidney in Kyleigh, it dies too. And then Jana died for nothing."

I watched as they took the last piece of my life-my remaining kidney-and placed it into a cooler. They wheeled it out to the next room.

I didn't follow the kidney. I didn't care about Kyleigh anymore.

I drifted through the wall. It felt like walking through mist.

I emerged in the waiting room. My parents were there, sitting on the leather couches looking at a wedding magazine.

"I think lilies for the altar," my mother said. "Kyleigh looks good with lilies."

"Whatever she wants," my father replied, checking his phone.

They didn't know yet. They didn't know their daughter was a corpse in the next room.

Axel came bursting through the double doors from the surgical wing. He looked wild. His hair was disheveled, his eyes wide with a terror I had never seen in him.

He stopped in the middle of the room. He took a deep breath, inhaling the air.

"Jana?" he whispered.

I floated right in front of him. I reached out and touched his cheek. My hand passed through his skin, leaving a trail of cold mist.

He shuddered violently. He grabbed his chest, right over his heart.

"Axel?" my mother asked, standing up. "Is it over? Is Kyleigh okay?"

Axel ignored her. He was spinning around, looking at the empty air. Looking for me.

"I can smell her," he said, his voice trembling. "Why does it smell like... like rain? Like fading rain?"

Dr. Sanchez walked out. She had taken off her surgical mask. Her face was grim.

She looked at my parents. Then she looked at Axel. And then, her eyes shifted.

She looked right at me.

Dr. Sanchez was a Healer. Her gift allowed her to see the flow of life and death. 'Now that the chaos of the emergency was over, she saw the shimmering outline of my spirit floating in the center of the room.'

Her eyes widened. She covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a gasp.

'I see you, child,' her voice echoed in my mind. Not a Mind-Link, but a spirit connection.

I smiled at her. It was a sad smile.

'Tell them,' I thought. 'Tell them everything.'

Dr. Sanchez straightened her spine. She looked at Axel, who was still frantically searching the room for the source of the scent.

"The surgery was a success," Dr. Sanchez said. Her voice was cold as ice. "Kyleigh will live."

My parents cheered. My mother clapped her hands.

"However," Dr. Sanchez continued, her voice cutting through their celebration like a blade. "There is a price."

"What price?" Axel asked. He stopped moving. He looked at the doctor.

"Go to the morgue," Dr. Sanchez said. "And see what your silence has cost you."

Axel didn't wait. He ran. He ran toward the room where my body lay cooling on the metal table.

I watched him go. A strange pull tugged at my back, like a hook in my navel pulling me upward toward the sky, toward the Moon Goddess.

But I resisted. Not yet.

I wanted to see him break.

'