Cain stayed by my bed all night.

He kept tucking in the blankets, pressing his hand to my forehead to check for fever.

But I pretended to sleep the entire night. I didn't want to respond.

The next day I was still resting in the medical wing.

The door slammed open. Cain walked in, his face like stone.

He strode to my bed and threw something onto me.

A moonstone necklace, smeared with blood.

I recognized it—the one Cain had the Beta deliver to me before.

I'd never worn it. Not even once. I'd thrown it straight in the trash.

How was it here?

"Vivienne disappeared last night." Cain's voice was cold and shaking. "The only thing on her pillow was this necklace of yours."

I froze.

"Yesterday you accused Vivienne of hiring rogues to attack you. Today she's gone." He stepped closer, his eyes boring into mine. "You wanted revenge, didn't you?"

"I had nothing to do with this." I said. "I was in the medical wing all night. I never left."

Cain scoffed.

"Explain the necklace. I gave it to you. It's one of a kind."

I looked at the blood-stained necklace.

Vivienne.

She must have fished the necklace out of the trash.

Smeared blood on it, placed it on her own pillow, and vanished.

A perfect frame job.

But I had no proof.

The necklace was mine. The blood was Vivienne's. Anything I said would sound like excuses.

Cain wouldn't believe me.

Just like every time before.

Cain turned and walked to the door. He gave an order to the guards in the hallway.

"Bring Ethan out of the silver prison. Take him to the basement of the Alpha residence."

My blood went cold.

"Cain!"

He didn't look back.

Half an hour later, I was brought to the basement.

Ethan was bound to a punishment post.

Silver chains locked all four limbs, his hands raised above his head, his toes barely touching the ground.

He'd been in the silver prison too long. His face was ashen gray, his cheekbones jutting out—he was wasted to nothing.

But when he saw me, he still managed a smile. "I'm fine, sis."

Tears flooded my eyes.

Cain stood before me.

"I don't want to do this." His tone was a mix of anger, urgency, and exhaustion. "But Vivienne could be somewhere out there, hurt or dying. I don't have time for a thorough investigation."

He looked at me. "Tell me where she is, and I'll release Ethan right now. He'll never be imprisoned again."

I dropped to my knees.

"I don't know." My voice was trembling. "I swear, Cain. I don't know."

Cain looked at me and hesitated for one instant.

In that instant, I thought he might believe me.

The door burst open.

The Beta rushed in. "Alpha! A note was found under Miss Vivienne's bed!"

He held out a crumpled piece of paper.

Scrawled in shaky handwriting—*Luna... help me...*

Cain read the note and crushed it in his fist.

The last trace of doubt in his eyes vanished completely.

He gave the guards a cold order.

The silver chains began to tighten. Silver toxin started seeping in through Ethan's limbs.

Ethan clenched his jaw and let out a stifled groan. His arms turned silver-gray.

"Stop!" I lunged forward and grabbed Cain's arm. "Cain! Please stop!"

Cain looked down at me, his gaze ice cold.

"Tell me, and I'll stop."

The chains tightened another notch.

Silver toxin seeped into Ethan's hands and ankles.

Ethan let out a strangled snarl, veins bulging across his forehead, his body arched taut as a bowstring.

I knelt on the ground, pounding Cain's legs like a woman possessed. "I don't know! I swear I don't know! Believe me just once! Just this once!"

Cain stood there, motionless.

When he'd torn up the mating contract for me, when they'd locked him in the silver cage, when they'd exiled him to the wilderness—he'd been just as immovable.

But back then, his stubbornness was to protect me.

Now, his stubbornness was crushing me.

The chains tightened a third time.

Blood seeped from the corner of Ethan's mouth. His entire arm had turned silver-gray.

I tore free of Cain and threw myself at the punishment post.

I shielded Ethan with my own body.

The silver chains dug into my waist and arms.

Wolfsbane-coated silver barbs pierced my skin. Both toxins detonated at once.

Blood sprayed from my mouth.

"Stop!" Cain roared.

The guards released the chains immediately.

Cain rushed forward and pulled me off the post.

I was drenched in blood, consciousness slipping fast.

Through the haze I heard frantic footsteps.

The Beta came running in again.

"Alpha! Vivienne's been found!" He was gasping. "In an abandoned cave outside the territory. Slightly shaken, a few scrapes. She won't let anyone near her—keeps calling your name."

Cain held me, motionless.

Vivienne's sobbing came through the phone.

He closed his eyes for a moment.

Then he carefully set me down on the ground.

He took off his coat and draped it over me.

"Get a senior healer to treat the Luna's injuries immediately," he told the Beta. "I'm going to get Vivienne. I'll be back soon."

His hands were shaking when he stood.

He looked back at me one more time. Something flickered in his eyes—hesitation—but it was gone just as quickly.

Then he turned and walked away.

Ethan and I were rushed to the pack's medical wing.

My injuries were critical—double infiltration of silver toxin and wolfsbane. My wolf could collapse at any moment.

The senior healer's expression was grave. "We need to use the pack's last vial of moonlight essence immediately, or the Luna won't survive the night."

The healer turned to retrieve the medicine.

The door slammed open.

Cain burst in carrying Vivienne.

Vivienne had a few scrapes on her right hand. She was trembling and crying against his chest.

"There's rogue venom in my wounds!" She held up her injured hand, sobbing. "If we don't use the moonlight essence to purify it right now, the toxin will spread into the deeper tissue and I'll never be able to work as a healer again!"

She clutched Cain's collar. "Cain, if my hand is ruined, who's going to research how to save Iris? This is the only hope!"

Cain looked at me on the treatment table.

Then at Vivienne in his arms.

He called the Beta over. "Ask the healer if the moonlight essence can be split in half."

The healer shook his head. "Split, there won't be enough for either of them."

Cain closed his eyes.

"Give the moonlight essence to Vivienne." His voice was low. "Her hand can't be lost."

He paused. "Use standard silver-toxin purification on Wren for now. I'll send someone to buy moonlight essence from another pack immediately."

I lay on the treatment table and heard every word.

I didn't have the strength to speak.

Or to laugh.

Minutes crawled by.

Several times I felt my wolf on the verge of disappearing entirely.

But I couldn't die.

I held on, breath by agonizing breath.

After what felt like an eternity, the emergency supply of moonlight essence from a neighboring pack finally arrived.

The healer spent six hours pulling me back from the edge of death.

* * *

The moment I regained consciousness, I slid my hand under the pillow and found the phone I'd hidden there.

I sent Alaric a message: "I need to leave immediately after it's done."

Confirming the staged-death plan and the extraction route.

I was still typing when the door opened.

I shoved the phone back under the pillow.

Cain walked in. Seeing me awake, he let out a breath of relief.

He sat beside the bed and placed a rare piece of moonlight amber in my palm.

"Making you wait those extra hours was my fault." His tone was laced with guilt.

Then he said, "Vivienne's hand has been treated. The toxin was fully removed. Thank god we used the moonlight essence in time, or her hand really would have been destroyed."

I listened quietly.

"How much toxin did they end up clearing from her hand?"

Cain blinked.

"The healer said it was... minor infiltration."

Minor infiltration.

I nearly died.

And what it bought was a case of "minor infiltration."

I placed the moonlight amber back in Cain's hand.

"Cain, let's sever the Mate Bond."

Cain went completely rigid.

"I want to sever the Mate Bond." I looked into Cain's eyes and repeated it, word by word.

Cain's tall frame went stiff.

There was no anger on his face—only the raw, ugly look of someone who'd been struck deep.

The room was deathly silent. After a long time, he slowly rose from the chair.

"You're just lashing out, Wren." He deliberately kept his voice low.

I looked at him coldly. It was almost laughable.

"Once you've calmed down, you'll understand that the choice I made today was absolutely right." He continued in that tone of absolute certainty.

"Vivienne's hand could not be sacrificed. She's the key to whether your mother ever wakes up."

"I couldn't not save her. Do you understand?"

I stayed silent. I didn't want to say another word to him.

Cain took a piece of moonlight amber from his pocket and set it gently on my nightstand.

"Keep this. It'll help your damaged wolf recover."

He turned and walked toward the door.

His hand gripped the handle. His steps faltered for a moment, but he didn't look back.

"Heal well."

The door closed.

The day I was discharged, I didn't tell anyone.

I went straight to the critical care ward at the healing center to see Ethan and Iris.

The silver toxin had destroyed Ethan's nerves. He was completely paralyzed in all four limbs.

Iris remained in a deep coma.

They'd been placed in the same room.

I pushed open the door and stopped dead.

A woman in a healer's white robe stood with her back to me at Iris's bedside, doing something quickly with her hands.

Vivienne.

I glanced at the wolf-spirit monitor beside the bed. The machine had been switched to silent mode.

Vivienne was holding a syringe, forcing a dark purple liquid into Iris's IV line.

"What are you doing!" I shouted and lunged at her.

I seized Vivienne's wrist and wrenched her away.

The syringe shattered on the floor.

"What the hell are you injecting into my mother!" I glared at her.

Vivienne was startled, but the moment she realized it was me, the panic vanished from her eyes.

A cold, satisfied smile crept across her lips.

"Did you really think your mother couldn't wake up just because of the wolfsbane aftereffects?" she said in a low voice.

My blood turned to ice.

"I come give her a booster shot every week." She looked at me with contempt.

"As long as she's alive, I carry the reputation of being the healer who ruined someone."

"Only when she's dead and gone can this whole thing finally be put to rest."

I was shaking from head to toe. I raised my hand and slapped her across the face with every ounce of strength I had.

The crack echoed through the room.

Vivienne shrieked and crashed to the floor, clutching her face.

Rapid footsteps sounded at the door.

Cain appeared in the doorway.

He immediately saw Vivienne on the floor crying, and my clenched fist.

"She was injecting something into my mother! She's trying to kill her!" I pointed at Vivienne and shouted.

Cain's gaze dropped to the shattered glass on the floor, then snapped back to Vivienne with a deep frown.

"I didn't... I was just doing a routine check on Iris, adjusting her dosage..." Vivienne wept pitifully.

"The Luna came in and hit me without even asking..."

She crawled up and shrank into Cain's arms, trembling.

"My face hurts so much, Cain..." She pressed her swollen cheek against his chest.

"I know the Luna doesn't like me, but I was just trying to help... If you don't believe me, test that liquid. It's just standard wolf-spirit nutrient solution!"

Cain looked down at the shattered vial on the floor.

The dark liquid had already seeped into the cracks between the tiles. There was no way to identify it.

"Wren, you do this every single time." Cain raised his head and fixed me with a hard stare.

"Have you ever considered that maybe you're wrong about her again?"

I stared at him in disbelief.

"Vivienne comes every week to adjust your mother's medication. Instead of thanking her, you attack her on sight?" Cain's voice was thick with disappointment.

"I'm wrong about her? She just confessed to my face that she's been trying to kill Iris!" I shouted.

Cain turned to look at Vivienne in his arms.

Vivienne shook her head frantically, tears streaming harder.

"I never said that! I swear I never said anything like that!"

Cain closed his eyes.

When he opened them, he'd made his decision.

"Yesterday you were screaming about severing the Mate Bond. Today, the moment you're discharged, you come here and assault Vivienne." Cain looked at me coldly.

"Wren, I think your mental state has been extremely unstable lately."

He turned to Vivienne, his tone gentle. "Do you know a shaman who specializes in psychological trauma?"

Vivienne nestled obediently against him and nodded.

"I know a very good one. He can help the Luna."

"Arrange it immediately." Cain gave the order.

"I'm not insane! I don't need some goddamn shaman!" I backed away.

But Cain waved to the guards outside.

Two burly guards rushed in and locked their arms around mine.

"Let go of me! Cain, she's a murderer!" I fought with everything I had.

Cain didn't look at me again.

I was dragged from the room. The heavy iron door slammed shut in my face.