Jana POV:

The next morning, the hospital staff didn't bring me breakfast. They brought me a drafting table.

I was weak. My skin was the color of old paper, and dark circles bruised the skin under my eyes. But Axel had returned.

"Kyleigh is awake," he said. He stood by the door, refusing to come closer, as if my uselessness was contagious. "But she is too weak to hold a pencil. The deadline for the Northern Defense Wall is tomorrow. She needs to finish the blueprints."

He placed a heavy roll of paper on the table.

"You want me to draw it?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

"I want you to be her hands," Axel corrected. "She will tell you what to do via Mind-Link. You will draw exactly what she says."

I looked at the blank paper. Architecture was the only thing I had left. It was the only thing Kyleigh couldn't fake. She didn't know the difference between a load-bearing wall and a decorative column.

'Start with the main gate,' Kyleigh's voice slithered into my head. It was the Mind-Link, the telepathic connection shared by all pack members. Her mental voice sounded sickeningly sweet. 'And don't make it look like your trash, Jana. Make it look like mine.'

I picked up the charcoal pencil. My hand trembled, but as soon as the tip touched the paper, instinct took over. I began to sketch.

I drew the reinforced arches that would withstand a Rogue attack. I drew the hidden tunnels for emergency evacuations. I poured my soul into the graphite lines.

Hours passed. Axel watched me. For a moment, just a fleeting moment, I saw a spark of admiration in his eyes as he watched the complex structure emerge on the paper.

"It's brilliant," he murmured, stepping closer. "Kyleigh's vision is... extraordinary."

My heart cracked.

"This is my design, Axel," I said softly. I couldn't help myself. "Look at the shading style. Look at the rune placement. I've been drawing this since I was twelve."

Axel's face darkened. "Do not try to take credit for your sister's genius. You are just the tool she is using."

My mother, Joyce, bustled into the room then, carrying a bowl of soup. She walked right past me and placed it on the side table, presumably for Axel.

"Is it finished?" she asked. "The Elders are waiting. They want to see the future Luna's contribution to the pack's safety."

"Almost," Axel said. He picked up the drawing. "It is perfect. The pack will be safe for generations."

He looked at the drawing with such love, such pride. But that love was directed at a ghost, a lie.

'Good job, little sister,' Kyleigh's voice echoed in my head. 'Now, destroy the evidence.'

I froze.

'Do it,' she commanded mentally. 'Go to your attic. Burn your sketchbooks. Burn those little awards you won online under a fake name. If Axel finds out you can actually draw, he might get suspicious. We can't have that before the surgery, can we?'

I looked at Axel. He was rolling up the blueprints, talking to my mother about the wedding ceremony.

I stood up. My legs felt like jelly. I walked out of the room, and neither of them stopped me.

I climbed the stairs to the attic of the Pack House, where they let me sleep. It was a dusty, cramped space. Stacks of sketchbooks lined the walls-my life's work. My dreams of building a home where I was loved.

I grabbed a metal trash can. I threw the books in. My hands were shaking so hard I could barely strike the match.

The flame caught the edge of a page. It was a drawing of Axel I had made three years ago, sleeping under a tree. The fire curled the paper, turning his face into ash.

I coughed. It started as a tickle in my throat, then exploded into a violent spasm. I doubled over, clutching my chest. When I pulled my hand away from my mouth, my palm was covered in thick, black blood.

It was the sign of a dying wolf. My body was shutting down.

Suddenly, the attic door burst open. Axel stood there, my parents behind him. He held the blueprint I had just drawn.

"What did you do?" he roared.

I wiped the blood on my jeans, hiding it. "What?"

"The calculations on the west wall!" He threw the paper at my feet. "They are wrong. If we built this, the wall would collapse on our own warriors!"

"That's impossible," I gasped. "I checked them twice."

"Kyleigh says you changed her numbers," my father spat. "She says she felt you altering the design through the Link. You tried to sabotage her!"

"No!" I cried. "She doesn't know the math! She must have read the runes wrong when she checked it!"

"Silence!" Axel used the Alpha Voice again.

I fell to my knees. The impact sent a shockwave of pain through my failing kidneys.

"You are jealous," Axel said, his voice dripping with venom. "You are petty and cruel. You would endanger the whole pack just to spite your sister."

He looked at the burning trash can, at the ashes of my work.

"Burning the evidence of your incompetence?" he sneered.

He didn't see the art. He didn't see the love. He only saw what he wanted to see.

"Get her out of my sight," Axel ordered the guards who had appeared behind him. "Take her to the prep room. The surgery is in two hours."

Two guards grabbed my arms. They dragged me down the stairs. I didn't fight. My wolf was silent. She had already given up.

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.