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.

Selene’s POV

The bond dissolution papers were still warm in my hands when the door opened.

I did not need to look up to know who it was.

My mother walked in like she always did.Like every room belonged to her.

She stopped in the middle of the floor and folded her arms.

“Verra just gave birth,”she said.“She needs to recover.You will make her moon-root broth.The one with slow-simmered bone marrow.”

I looked at her.

“That takes eight hours to prepare.”

“Yes,”she said.“It does.”

No softness.No apology.She said it like she was reminding me of my purpose.

“Start now.It should be ready before she sleeps.”

My father appeared at the door behind her.He did not speak.He only looked at me the way he always had.Like I was a disappointment.

I set the papers down.

“I will start now,”I said.

They were stunned and nodded approvely,and left without another word.

Not one question about my ribs.Not one look at the injury on my jaw.Not one moment of seeing me at all.

I had stopped expecting it a long time ago.

...

I stood at the fire,cooking for eight hours.

My burned hand ached the whole time.I kept going.

By the time the broth was done,the den had gone quiet.Caelan was with Verra.I could hear their voices through the wall.Low and easy.The way people talk when they feel safe.

I carried the tray upstairs and left it outside her door.

Just as i turned to go.

Her door opened.

“Selene.”

Verra’s voice was soft.The kind of soft that means nothing good.

I stopped.

“Thank you for the broth,”she said.

I said nothing.

She stepped into the corridor.Her slippers made no sound.She came close enough that I could see her face clearly in the low light.

There was nothing weak about her.Nothing tired.Just that calm,waiting look she got when she had already decided what she was going to do.

“You looked at me a certain way at dinner,”she said.“I noticed.”

“I did not mean anything by it.”

She smiled.

“Of course not.”

She stepped even closer.

“You should be careful up here,”she said.“Near the stairs.”

My stomach dropped.

Then her hand shot out and grabbed my wrist.

Not a push.A pull.

She yanked me toward her,twisted her body sideways,and together we came tumbling down the stairs.She made it look exactly like something I had done.

“Ah…!”

The cry that came out of her was perfect.Frightened.Helpless.

She tumbled down four steps and caught the railing.Then she folded against it,clutching her side,tears already falling.

I tumbled down the stairs too slow to grab the railing and my injured hand made it hard,and I could feel my whole body ache from the pain.

The door at the end of the corridor flew open.

“Verra!”

Caelan reached her in seconds.His hands moved over her,checking,searching,his voice tight with fear.

“Where does it hurt?Look at me.Verra,look at me.”

She pressed herself into his chest and sobbed.

“She pushed me.”Her voice cracked.“I only came out to thank her.I didn’t do anything,Caelan.I didn’t do anything.”

His head lifted slowly.

He looked down at me.

There was no question in his eyes.No hesitation.He had already made up his mind before he even looked down.

“What did you do.”

It was not a question.

“I did not push her,”I said.“She grabbed my wrist.She pushed me…”

“Enough.”

He passed Verra gently to my mother,who had appeared at the top of the stairs,and walked me my room.

My chest tightened.

I shut up to my feet ignoring the pain all over my body,and followed him.

He was already at the shelf when I reached the door.

His hand closed around the small clay urn.

My pup’s ashes.

I stopped breathing.

“Caelan.”My voice came out quiet.“Put it down.”

He turned it over in his hand.Slowly.Like it was nothing.

“Apologize to Verra,”he said.

“I did not push her.”

“Apologize.”

“Please put it down.That is all I have left of…”

“Then apologize.”

His voice had no anger in it.No cruelty.Just emptiness.He was not trying to hurt me.He simply did not care enough to think about what he was holding.

That was worse.

“I’m sorry.”The words tore coming out.“I am sorry.Please.Put it down.”

For one moment I thought he would.

His fingers opened.

The urn dropped.

It hit the stone floor and broke apart.

The sound it made was so small.

That was the part that undid me.All that was left of my pup.And the sound it made when it shattered was barely a whisper.

I could not move.

He was already walking out.

He stepped over the broken pieces without looking down.He did not glance back at me.His whole body was already turned toward her.

“You are safe,”I heard him say,his voice going soft the moment he reached her.“I am here.”

...

I went down slowly.

Onto my knees.Onto the cold floor.

I gathered every piece with my bare hands.The sharp edge of one piece cut my palm.I kept going.

Some of the ash had scattered too far.Already lost.

I sat there for a long time.

Down the hall,I heard Verra laugh.Soft and easy.The laugh of someone who felt completely safe.

And I was on the floor,bleeding,holding what was left of everything I had lost.

I let myself feel it.All of it.The grief.The fury.The deep,hollow ache of it.

I did not fight it.I let it come.

And then,slowly,it settled.

What was left when it passed was not sadness.It was something quieter.Something cold and clear and steady.

I looked at the bond dissolution papers on the desk.

The pardon scroll in my bag.

The memory crystal with every piece of evidence already stored inside it.

He had just given me the last thing I needed.

Not a reason to stay angry.

A reason to leave.

I finished packing that night.Slowly.In the dark.Without a sound.

By the time the house went fully still,I was ready.

...

Let them sleep.

Let them feel safe.

By the time they opened their eyes,everything they thought they had would already be coming apart.