Semua Bab When My Heart Died, There Was No Way Back: Bab 1 - Bab 10

When I woke up in the pack clinic, the healer was standing beside my bed with the results of my examination in her hands, her expression grave."Elara, your Wolf Soul Decay Syndrome has reached its final stage. At this point, only Silver Spring water can save you."The Silver Spring produced only one vial of healing water each year, and that vial was reserved for the pack's Saintess.The Moon Goddess had chosen me for seven years in a row, yet once again, Kael had handed both my title and this year's vial to Rosalie.As I pushed myself upright, a hollow ache opened beneath my ribs. My wolf, Astra, stirred faintly in the back of my mind, but she was too weak to form a single word.The healer lowered her voice. "Would you like me to notify Alpha Kael or your family?"I shook my head. "No. I'll speak to Kael myself."If Kael saw the results, perhaps he would return the vial that should have been mine.I left the clinic alone and made my way to the Moonlight Bakery. The laughter inside f

My head snapped to the side as a metallic taste spread through my mouth."Rosalie is willing to give up the one trip she's wanted for years just to make you feel better, and you can't even answer her. This is her Saintess ceremony, Elara. Does everyone still have to revolve around you?"I no longer had the strength to explain myself.The slap sent my already blurred vision reeling, and I had to brace myself against the counter to keep from collapsing in front of them.Astra gave a weak whimper somewhere deep inside me. She tried to spare me some of the pain, but her presence faded again almost at once.The allergic reaction was draining Astra's last reserves, while her failing strength left my body unable to heal itself.Caught between the two, even my heartbeat had begun to falter.Kael finally frowned. "That's enough, Aiden. This is Rosalie's Saintess ceremony. Don't turn it into a spectacle."I looked up at him and realized he had not even asked whether I was hurt. He had only stopp

My mother's eyes rolled back, and her body went limp.Aiden caught her before she hit the ground.My father shoved through the pack members gathered outside the bakery and stumbled inside.The storage room door had been split down the middle. Silver-moon flowers lay crushed across the floor, and a faint trail of blood still marked the threshold."Elara!"He called my name again and again, but the empty room gave him no answer.Kael stood in the doorway, staring at the blood. For once, he could not hide the fear in his eyes."No. She was fine a few hours ago. She has to be fine."He sounded as if he were trying to convince himself.My father carried my unconscious mother to the car, and the others hurried after him.Rosalie was forgotten in the confusion. She had to gather the skirt of her moonstone gown and run after them.No one spoke on the way to the clinic.Kael called me again and again, but every attempt went unanswered.In the front seat, my father kept insisting that it had onl

By the time the warriors broke down the storage room door, I had already lost consciousness.The healer injected me with a cleansing remedy and rushed me to the clinic.Night had fallen by the time I opened my eyes again."The allergic reaction caused severe swelling in your airway," the healer told me. "We traced the location from your emergency call. Another few minutes, and we might not have reached you in time."She placed my test results beside the bed."The injection treated the reaction. It did nothing for Astra. Silver Spring water is still the only thing that can restore a wolf this weak."I gripped the papers and held on to the only thought that mattered.I wanted to live.I did not call my family.Instead, I contacted Lyra, an old friend who had once worked at the Northern Moon Clinic.After hearing what had happened, she told me the Frost Moon Pack still followed the oldest laws governing the selection of a Saintess.If I was willing to sever my bond with the Silver Moon Pa

I held Kael's gaze until he realized what he had said and looked away."You're right."I gave a small nod."I gave her the title. I gave her the Silver Spring water. Now I'm giving her you too."Kael recoiled as if I had struck him."That isn't what I meant.""I thought you were exaggerating because you wanted the title. If I'd known the report was real, I never would have—""I told you."My voice remained calm."At the bakery, I told you what the healer had found and held the report out to you. You decided I was lying without even reading it."Kael opened his mouth, but nothing came out.My father took the journal from inside his coat.The cover had softened and curled from being handled too often."We read it."His voice was heavy."We didn't know how much you had suffered until after you left."He explained that when I was young, my parents had struggled to make a living and had little time to care for me.When they adopted Rosalie, they believed a younger child without her birth pa