Selene's POV

I pressed my thumb to the communication moonstone and cut the connection.

"What bonding ceremony were you talking about?"Caelan asked again.

My fingers tightened around the Communication moonstone for just a moment.

"A friend of mine,"I said calmly."She is preparing her bonding rite.She asked me to help."

Caelan studied me.Then he nodded slowly.

"You always loved ceremonies,"he said."You even planned our moon-rite anniversary like a second bonding."

I did not reply.

Three years of being his mate.

For three years,I begged him to acknowledge our bond before the pack.

He had finally agreed.He promised that on our anniversary,the whole territory would know I was his.We were supposed to stand before them together,our newborn pup in our arms.

The anniversary was two days away.

My pup was gone.

And the wolf standing in front of me was the one who had taken him.

I kept my eyes low so Caelan would not see what was burning inside them.

"Why are you here?"I asked quietly.

He seemed relieved that I was not fighting him.

"I know you are hurting,"he said,his voice softening."But I will make it right.Verra only has a few months left.If you can just be a little kind to her...when she is gone,things can go back to how they were."

When she is gone.

The words almost made me laugh out loud.

He had no idea.I had already decided to leave.There was nothing to go back to.There never would be again.

But I simply nodded.

"Alright."

Caelan visibly relaxed.

"Actually,"he continued,"Verra will be leaving the den soon.Could you prepare that healing broth for her?The one with the moon-herb and bone root.You know the one.It helps her strength come back faster."

So that was the real reason he had come.

To ask the wolf whose pup had just been taken to cook for the wolf who helped take him.

Anger moved through my chest like fire through dry grass.

Then I remembered something my mother used to say before she became someone I no longer knew.

If you want to defeat your enemy,never let them see your true face.

I pressed a faint smile onto my lips.

"Of course,"I said.

Caelan blinked."You...agree?"

"Why wouldn't I?"I replied."Verra is my sister."

A satisfied look settled on his face.The look of a wolf who believed he had the situation under control.

"I knew I could count on you."

He stepped forward and moved to press his lips to my forehead.I turned slightly so that his mouth met only air.

"I still feel unwell,"I said.

He paused,then nodded."I will go arrange Verra's release."

The door closed behind him.

The moment it did,the smile left my face.

Two hours later,I walked out of the Sacred Den.

The bright afternoon light washed over me.I had to stop and shield my eyes.I had been inside for three days and the world outside had simply...continued.The trees still stood.The wind still moved through the valley.No one knew that I had buried my pup without a burial.

I pulled my cloak around me and walked to the pack's transit post.

"The lower valley,"I told the escort quietly.

He nodded and we moved.

As the forest passed on either side,my hand moved slowly to my stomach.To the place where my son had been.The pup they had taken.

A dull ache spread through my chest like a chill settling inside me.You deserved to live.

My eyes closed for just a moment.But the tears did not come.If I wept now,they would win.And I would never let them win again.

My Communication moonstone pulsed.It was Elder Brennan,my pack counsel.

"My lady,"his voice was careful."I received your message.Is everything alright?"

"I am fine,"I said."I need you to prepare a few things for me."

"Of course."

"The bond-breaking papers must be ready today.I will sign them in two days."

"Understood."

"And one more thing."

"My true name needs to be restored."

A pause settled on the line.

"You mean the name your uncle spoke of?"

"Yes."

"I want the name Selene of Caelan's pack removed from every record."

Elder Brennan drew a short breath."That will require a formal blood declaration before the Moon Goddess's seal.It is not a small thing."

"I will send you everything you need to begin."

"It can be done,"he said."It will take time to complete.But we can start today."

"Good."

I looked out at the trees moving past.

"My bond has lasted three years,"I said quietly."My leaving will take two days."

Elder Brennan was silent for a moment.Then he said gently,"I understand,my lady.I will handle everything."

"Thank you."

I lowered the Stone and leaned back.

For two more days,I would play the part.The quiet,understanding mate.The good sister.The wolf who had been broken.

And then Selene of Caelan's pack would vanish.

And the world they had built on top of her would begin to crack.

Selene's POV

The moment I stepped through the den's entrance,the smell hit me.

Smoke.Thick and bitter and wrong.

My heart clenched.Something inside me screamed to move faster.

I pushed through the corridor,my steps unsteady,my body still not fully healed,but I could not slow down.The smell grew stronger with every step.

I opened the door to the common chamber and froze.

A stone basin sat in the center of the room.Flames danced inside it,wild and hot,burning something I recognized before my mind could fully process what I was seeing.

Dried stems.Rare petals.Roots wrapped carefully in treated bark-cloth.

They were Mira's herbs.Her entire collection.

My chest seized so hard I lost my breath.

And standing beside the fire,arms folded and smiling,was Verra.

"Oh.You're back,"she said.

"Stop!"My voice cracked as I ran across the room.

I dropped to my knees and reached straight into the flames.Pain tore through my hand,sharp and blinding,but I barely felt it.I grabbed what was left of the nearest bundle.

It crumbled.Turned to ash in my fingers.

"No..."

A broken sound came out of me that I had no name for.

That was the last herb bundle Mira ever gathered.The last thing her hands had prepared.

Mira.

My best friend.Born with a spirit so thin the healers said she would never survive her first shift.She had survived everything,right up until the night she did not.

"Every herb has a purpose,"she used to say,pressing a dried root into my palm."Learn them and you can help someone someday."

She had wanted to become a healer since she was small.Not for glory.But for wolves like herself.The ones born fragile,born into bodies that fought them.She spent years gathering every rare herb she could find,learning each one,dreaming of the cures she would make.

"Keep them safe,Selene,"she said the morning she gave them to me."One day they will save someone."

She gave them to me the morning before the fire.

That night,fire swallowed Caelan's house.Everyone called it an accident.But the scent in the air proved otherwise.Someone had set it deliberately,and no one ever looked into it.

It was Mira who ran in.Not the guards.Not Caelan's warriors.Mira.Small and fragile and afraid of nothing.

She pulled Caelan out with the last of her wolf-strength.By the time the healers reached her,there was almost nothing left to save.

She made me promise,three days before she passed.

"Keep them safe,Selene.Those herbs could heal someone no one else can reach.No matter what happens."

I held her hand and promised.

"Why are you making such a fuss?"

Verra's voice dragged me back.I lifted my head.Her face was unbothered.Almost bored.

"Why?"My voice broke apart."Why did you do this?"

She tilted her head."Do what?"

My burned hands shook as I clenched it into a fist.

"Those were mine!Who gave you the right to touch them?!"

She glanced at the fire like it was of no interest to her at all.

"After the den healers discharged me,Caelan gave me the alpha chamber,"she said lightly."It gets the morning light better than my old room."

My breath stopped.The alpha chamber was mine.

"He also said I could deal with your things however I saw fit."

Her lips curved.

"Those herbs smelled like decay,"she said."Like death stored in jars.Something that unpleasant does not belong in the alpha chamber."

She paused."Maybe that is why your pup never had the luck to take his first breath."

Something inside me broke completely.

"You evil creature!"

I shot up to my feet,my eyes bloodshot,my hand already moving.

A grip caught my wrist mid-air.

"Enough!"

Caelan.

His grip was tight and strong,like I was the one who had done something wrong.

"How dare you raise your hand to her?"he said."She just gave birth."

A hollow laugh escaped my mouth."She burned everything.Those were Mira's herbs.Years of work.Gone."

"So what?"

The two words landed quietly,dangerously,more than shouting ever could.

"So what?"I stared at him."Mira saved your life!She was the most fragile wolf in this pack and when someone set your house on fire she ran in.Not your guards.Not your warriors.Her.And it killed her!"

Caelan's face tightened with irritation."I didn't ask her to."

The ground felt like it shifted.

"How..."My voice came out tiny.

"How can you say that?"

"That was years ago,"he said,coldly.

"She is gone.Those things do not matter anymore.You need to stop living in the past."

Each word pressed hard like a stone being laid on top of my chest.

"You have no soul,"I whispered.

"Stop making a scene,"he said."The pup is sleeping.I will not have you waking him."

My pup was dead.And I was being asked to be quiet for hers.

I smiled.It was the most bitter thing I had ever felt on my face.

Verra pressed herself softly against Caelan's arm.

"I didn't mean any harm,"she said gently."I only thought those herbs did not belong here anymore.I was trying to help."

Her eyes met mine for just a moment.They were bright with private laughter.

My whole body shook.

"I never asked for your help,"I said."You lying,evil…"

"Enough,"Caelan cut me off."Say one more word and you will regret it."

"Let go of me!"I pulled from his grip.The burned skin on my hand strong.

Then a kick connected with my side.

Pain exploded through my body.I went down hard,the air leaving me all at once.I lay on the cold stone floor and could not breathe.My chest heaved and nothing came in.

"I'm sorry!"Verra gasped,her voice all soft and shocked."She was going to hit you.I reacted without thinking!"

"It is alright,"Caelan said,wrapping an arm around her."You were protecting me.She is the one who brought this on."

My fingers curled against the floor.

My hand burned.My side pounded.My chest ached.

None of it came close to what was inside.

They had taken my pup.Now they had burned the last piece of Mira I had.Every herb she gathered.Every cure she never got to make.

"Keep them safe,Selene.Those herbs could heal someone no one else can reach."

I had promised her.

A tear slid down my face unto the cold stone floor.I had not been able to keep it.

The edges of my vision darkened.The last thing I saw before everything went dark was Verra,placed safely and warm against Caelan's side,watching me with quiet,satisfied eyes.

Selene's POV

Pain was the first thing I felt when I woke up.

My side hurt badly.My burned hand hurt too.For a moment I just lay there and stared at the ceiling.

Then it all came back.The fire.Mira's herbs.Caelan's cold voice.My dead pup.

My fingers curled against the floor.

I looked around.No one had come.Not one person.Not even a cup of water.I was still on the floor where Verra had kicked me.

I sat up slowly.It hurt.I breathed through it until the room stopped spinning.Then I got up.

The floor was cold under my feet.

As I walked into the hallway,I heard voices coming from further down.

I did not mean to stop.But I did.

"...Lady Verra said her foot hurt after she kicked Lady Selene.The Alpha did not wait at all.He carried her out himself."

"He looked so worried.Like something very bad had happened."

"And Lady Selene?"

A pause.Then a careless voice.

"She passed out.No one called a healer.The Alpha does not care about her."

A soft laugh."Next to Lady Verra,she does not matter."

I stood still and listened.Those words should have hurt me.

They did not.

No anger.No tears.Just quiet,like something inside me had gone very cold.I walked away as if I had not heard a thing.

Back in my room,I opened the wardrobe.

Cloaks Caelan said looked good on me.Things he said reminded him of me.Gifts he said I needed.

I used to think those things meant he loved me.Now I know better.

I folded them one by one and put them in a box.

When I was done,I called one of the den helpers.

"Take these to Moonhaven Shelter,"I said."The ones that take in wolves with no pack."

"Yes,my lady."

I went back to packing my own things.

Then I found something in the bottom drawer.It was hidden under a pile of papers.Easy to miss.

A thin rolled parchment.

I opened it.Then my breathing slowed.

It was a pardon scroll.It had the Moon Goddess seal on it.

I read every word.

It was about the fire.The one that took Mira.Someone had looked into it.They had found who did it.And someone had marked to forgive that person.

That someone was me.

The name of the wolf who set the fire was Verra.

I read it again.My hands started to shake.

Caelan had told me they found nothing.He had stood over Mira's grave and promised he would find who took her from me.

Three months after Mira died,Caelan said he had a gift for me.A moon-bloom field,he said.

"Just mark here,"he had said,his voice soft."It is yours."

I did not read it.I trusted him.I pressed my seal to it with tears still wet on my face.

A short,bitter sound came out of me.

"I will find whoever did this,"he had said,standing at Mira's grave,his hand on my shoulder.

"I promise you,Selene.They will not get away with it."

I cried into his chest and believed every word.

He had known the whole time.

Verra had set that fire for me.

She planned it while I carried my pup.She sent the guards away and lit the house on fire.She wanted to burn me alive.No one around to help.No witness.

What she did not know was that I had left that morning.I had found a wounded wolf near the border and brought him to the healer's den.That wolf turned out to be my uncle Aldric.I did not know that yet.

She also did not know that Caelan had come to the den that same morning to get some papers.He was still inside when she lit the fire.

Mira came to visit me like she always did.She found the house burning and Caelan trapped inside.

So she ran in.

Mira ran into a fire that was meant for me.She pulled Caelan out using the last bit of strength she had.

When the pack finished looking into the fire,Caelan found out the truth.He went to Verra.

Verra cried and said it was a mistake.She said she did not know he was inside.

Caelan chose to believe her.She was carrying his pup.She was dying,or so he thought.So he hid the truth.He put my name on the pardon and hid it where I would never find it.

He was scared of what I would do if I ever found out.

For a moment I wanted to pull Verra before the pack elders and let everyone know what she did.

Not yet.

I copied every word into the Stone's memory crystal,made a copy on bark-cloth,then put the real parchment back exactly where I found it.

I had just gone back to packing when the door opened.

"What are you doing?"

Caelan stood in the doorway looking at the boxes.

I finished folding the cloak in my hands before I looked up.

"These are old,"I said."I do not need them.I am sending them to the Moonhaven Shelter."

He looked around the room."All of this?"

"I do not need them anymore."

He nodded."About earlier...Verra did not mean to hurt you.She thought you were going to hit me."

"I understand,"I said.

The words came out calm.Like I meant them.Caelan relaxed.He believed me.

"I knew you would,"he said.

I said nothing.I took out the bond dissolution papers Elder Brennan had made and held them out to him.

"Mark this."

He looked at it."What is it?"

"I want a memory stone made for our pup,"I said."It needs your mark as Alpha."

Guilt moved across his face.Then it was gone.

"Do what you want,"he said."But move on.We will have more pups."

My hand tightened for just a second.My face did not move.

"Just mark it,"I said.

He took the pen.He did not read one word.He signed his name and gave it back.

Three years of being his mate.Ended with a seal he did not even look at.

I took the papers back.My hand was steady.

We will never have more pups.We will never have anything again.

Then his Communication moonstone pulsed.

His face changed at once.Soft in a way it had never been for me.

"Verra."His voice went gentle."What is wrong?Your foot...I am coming."

He walked out without looking back.

I stood in the quiet room for a long time.The signed papers in my hand.My half-packed things beside me.

Then I smiled.

Very soon he would wish he had read what he signed.