~AMARIS The white diagnostic paper lay between my trembling fingers like an official execution warrant, the bold, black ink of the final verdict burning straight into my retinas. Less than six months. The words didn't just register in my mind, they sank into my marrow, freezing the blood in my veins until my lungs felt completely lined with ash. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move. I was a twenty-year-old wolf whose core was actively rotting from the inside out, trapped in an elite pack of predators where weakness was a crime punishable by total social execution. Willow stepped closer to the edge of the mattress. The detached, clinical aura she had held a moment ago dissolved, replaced by a deep, maternal sorrow that softened the sharp lines of her middle-aged face. She reached out, her large, warm hand covering my icy fingers, gently prying the crumpled medical sheet from my paralyzed grip. “Listen to me, Amaris,” Willow whispered, her voice a low, steady vibration that carried an
Read more