Chapter 8

Lyra worked swiftly. Within two days she found the healing house where Grandfather was being tended, and gave me the name of another wolf, one who could see to it that every trace of Selene was struck from the world entirely. All was nearly ready. Only one thing remained.

See Grandfather before it was too late.

The morning I left, I dressed with care, even brushing a little color onto my cheeks to hide how worn I looked. Along the way I gathered a bundle of wildflowers. For the first time in years, I felt something close to nervousness.

When I was sentenced, I had begged Lucien for only one mercy. Do not tell Grandfather.

He was the wolf who had raised me, who had taught me to sit a horse, who had walked beside me on the path to the training grounds, who had always saved the largest cut of meat for my plate at supper. He knew nothing of the rumors, nothing of the lies, nothing of what the pack claimed my brother had done to me.

Because none of it was true. My brother had never once touched me.

He was dead now and could not defend his own name, yet the pack still dragged it through the mud regardless. Grandfather was old, his heart weak with age, and I could not bear the thought of those accusations ever reaching his ears.

Standing outside his chamber, I tightened my grip on the flowers and let myself smile, just slightly. Perhaps all would be well. Perhaps I would finally see him.

My fingers touched the door.

Then something shattered within the room, followed by a sharp voice.

Evelyn laughed. "Look closely, old man. See these visions? Your precious granddaughter, bound to a bed. I have dozens more, should you wish to see them."

My blood ran cold.

Evelyn pressed on, merciless. "Do you know what your granddaughter's dead brother did to her, all those years? He defiled her. Again and again. He ruined her."

Every word a lie.

She laughed again. "But that isn't even the worst of it. You were the one who sent Selene to live under his roof. What does that make you, old man? An accomplice? A failure? Perhaps you deserve this too."

My breath caught in my throat.

Evelyn stepped closer to the pallet. "Your granddaughter is a disgrace. The whole territory knows it now. They know what manner of wolf she is, what manner of bloodline bore her. Tell me, old man, why does a creature like her still draw breath?"

I kicked the door open so hard it struck the wall.

"GRANDFATHER!"

My ruined voice cracked through the chamber.

Evelyn spun around, the smile falling from her face, replaced by something that looked almost like disappointment at being interrupted.

My bundle of flowers slipped from my hands.

I looked straight at Grandfather. His face had gone the color of ash. His hands trembled violently. Tears streamed down his weathered cheeks as one hand clawed weakly at his own chest. The moment his clouded eyes found me, more tears spilled free.

His lips trembled. "O... Selene..."

I ran to his side. "Grandfather, I'm here. I'm here now."

His shaking hand reached toward me. "Oli..."

The healer's ward-stone at his bedside, the small crystal that watched over a failing heartbeat, suddenly flared bright and shrieked with warning light.

Healers rushed forward. Apprentices called out orders. The chamber fell into chaos.

Then Evelyn screamed. "My foot! It's bleeding!"

I turned and saw dark blood spreading beneath her slipper. She had stepped upon the shards of broken porcelain she herself had thrown earlier.

The door burst open. Lucien rushed inside. "Marga, what's happened?"

The moment he saw her weeping, his gaze locked onto her entirely.

Evelyn seized his cloak. "Lucien, I'm frightened. My foot hurts so terribly."

Without hesitation he lifted her into his arms. Only then did his eyes find me, sweeping from my tear-streaked face to Grandfather lying senseless upon the pallet. Somehow, even then, he reached the wrong conclusion.

"Selene," Lucien said coldly, "how many times must I say this? Why must you keep causing Marga such grief?"

I stared at him, unable to believe what I was hearing.

My grandfather lay dying. And he troubled himself over Evelyn's foot.

The ward-stone shrieked louder as healers labored to save him.

Evelyn suddenly clutched at her chest. "Lucien, I can't breathe."

Panic swept across his face at once. "Marga, stay calm." Then he turned toward the healers. "I said, attend to her."

One apprentice hesitated. "But my lord, this patient—"

Lucien's expression darkened. "I said attend to her. Do not make me repeat myself."

The entire ward fell silent.

His voice thundered through the stone chamber. "If anything befalls Marga, every soul in this room answers to me."

My heart stopped.

The healers looked helplessly between Grandfather and Evelyn, caught and terrified.

I stumbled forward and caught at Lucien's sleeve. "Please," I begged. "Grandfather has collapsed. Please, let them save him." Tears blurred my sight. "Please."

For one moment I thought he might listen. Instead, disgust flickered across his eyes.

"Your grandfather had strength enough to strike at Marga," Lucien said coldly. "Cease pretending he's at death's door."

I shook my head frantically. "He never touched her. Never."

But Lucien had already decided, as he always did. He pulled free of my grasp, turned, and walked from the chamber carrying Evelyn in his arms.

The healers exchanged helpless glances. Then one drew slowly toward me. Before he even spoke, I already knew.

"My lady," the healer whispered, his voice breaking, "I am sorry."

No.

"Your grandfather has passed beyond the veil."

No!

The world stopped turning. Tears struck my arm, one after another. I hadn't wept in years, yet suddenly I couldn't stop.

I shook my head, over and over. "No."

The healers began withdrawing, already ordered from the chamber, nothing more within their power to do. I grabbed at their sleeves desperately. "Please, save him. I'll do anything." My knees struck the stone floor. "Please!"

I bowed my head again and again until my brow struck the ground, blood running down my face, though I felt none of it. "Please save him." But no one stopped. One by one, they left, until only Grandfather and I remained.

The chamber lay painfully silent. I stared at his still form, and something within me finally broke apart entirely. A scream tore loose from my throat, raw and broken, the sound of a wolf who had lost every last thing left to lose.

This time, no one remained to hear it.

**

On the day I was meant to leave the territory, the sky looked ready to collapse in on itself, dark clouds smothering every trace of sunlight. It matched my life well enough.

The days before had been spent seeing to Grandfather's rites. I signed the pack ledgers, received kin I barely knew, accepted condolences, and repeated the same hollow words until they meant nothing at all. By the end, I felt nothing whatsoever.

I returned to the house one final time, only to gather my belongings.

The moment I stepped inside, I found Lucien seated in the main hall. For a heartbeat I scarcely recognized him.

He had not come to Grandfather's rites. He had not sent word through the bond, had not asked once how I fared. And yet there he sat, comfortable in our house, as though nothing at all had happened.

Shadows ringed his eyes. A stack of parchment sat upon the low table before him. The moment he saw me, he rose and pushed it toward me.

"Look this over," Lucien said wearily. "I've already reviewed it myself. Read it, and tell me if anything troubles you."

I lowered my gaze.

A severance scroll, unbinding our mate-bond before the Council.