Elara POV

The storm raged for three days. I spent every waking moment on my knees, praying.

Caleb visited on the fourth night, smelling of wine and Selene's sickening floral scent. There was no love in his eyes, only a dark, twisted need. He threw me on the bed, tearing at my clothes. The Mate bond pulsed weakly—a dying ember. I endured, tears soaking the pillows.

A knock echoed. "Alpha! Lady Selene's pup is restless!"

Caleb stopped and rushed out without a word.

Three days later, I walked into the rose garden. Selene sat on a stone bench, wearing a low-cut dress. On the juncture of her neck and shoulder was a fresh, deep bite mark. The Marking. My mate had marked another woman.

That afternoon, Caleb kicked my door open with two massive Warriors. "Grab her!"

"Her hands are a ruin of blisters," he hissed, kneeling beside me. "She claims you served her tea laced with silver."

Silver—the deadliest weapon against our kind. It burned flesh, poisoned blood, stopped healing.

"I did not! I have not left this wing!"

"You are jealous. Break her right arm."

"No! Caleb, please!"

One Warrior pinned me down. The other drew a heavy iron rod gleaming with silver plating. It came crashing down. The sound of my own bones snapping echoed through the room. A raw, bloody scream tore from my throat as silver burned into my shattered bones, sending agonizing fire through my chest.

Caleb watched blankly, then walked out.

I lay in my own vomit, convulsing.

Faye rushed in, her hands covered in mud and blood. "A messenger arrived from the south. Gamma Kael's unit was ambushed by rogues. He is dead. They said the wild wolves tore him apart. No bones left to bring home."

My brother. Dead. Eaten. Gone. I coughed dark crimson blood. My wolf let out a long, mournful howl of pure despair.

My vision faded to black.

Elara POV

Seven days of darkness and fever. The silver poison was a living fire in my veins. I felt a faint dormant power—lunar magic in my Vance blood—flicker against it, but my body was too frail.

Caleb threw grand bonfire parties to celebrate Selene's pregnancy. My right arm hung useless, twisted and swollen. The bones had fused wrong. He had ordered the Healers to stay away. My arm was crippled forever.

On the eighth morning, my father walked in—the Beta, once tall and proud, now a broken old man. He knelt and bowed his head.

"Father! What are you doing?"

"Your mother… the news of Kael's death broke her heart. She is coughing blood. The Healers say she will not survive the night."

My mother was dying. I remembered the Moon Grass—a legendary herb in Caleb's vault that could cure any illness.

"I will get it. I will save her."

I ran to Caleb's study. The heavy mahogany door was ajar. Through the crack, I saw Caleb pressing Selene against his desk, his clothes half-torn. They were making love right next to the vault that held my mother's only hope.

When they finished, I pushed the door open and fell to my knees at his boots, slamming my forehead against the floor until the skin split.

"Please, Alpha. Give me the Moon Grass. My mother is dying."

Caleb looked down with annoyance. "The Healers said Selene needs it to strengthen the pup. You cannot have it."

"Caleb, darling, come back to bed," Selene called.

I lunged forward with my good left hand, grabbing his coat. "I will give you the Luna title! I will step down! I will reject you! Just save my mother!"

The word 'reject' hung in the air like a curse. A dark growl ripped from his throat. He grabbed a small wooden box and smashed it onto the floor next to me.

"Take your pathetic grass. You are stripped of your noble status. Move to the Omega servant quarters immediately!"

I scrabbled at the splintered wood, gathered the scattered stems, and pressed them into my father's trembling hands. "Take it to her. Go!"

He begged me to leave the pack with him. I couldn't. My mother's frail cough echoed in my memory.

I moved into the damp, freezing basement of the Omega quarters. For days, I scrubbed floors and washed clothes, teaching myself to work with my clumsy left hand. The other Omegas avoided me—the fallen Luna.

One evening, I cornered two whispering servants. "Tell me!"

The younger one burst into tears. "Lady Selene fainted the day you took the medicine. The Alpha sent warriors to retrieve the Moon Grass from your father. He fought back… they broke both his legs. Your mother… she passed away that same night."

The bucket slipped from my left hand. My mother was dead. My father was crippled.

I ran out into the freezing rain, through the dark streets, until I reached the wrought-iron gates of the Vance family estate. Dark and empty. I fell to my knees in the mud, coughing violently. Blood splattered onto the iron gates as the world went black.