GARRETT’S POV I tapped my boot repeatedly against the cold stone floor of the main hall, every agonizing tick of the clock driving me closer to the edge.
It had been well over an hour since Kael ran into the blinding snowstorm to bring Clara back as she was the only real hope our pack had left.
The storm outside was howling like a wounded beast, and with every passing minute, the dark knot of dread in my mind pulled tighter.
The clock struck again.
I snapped.
I couldn’t just sit here waiting like a helpless soldier while my Alpha pushed his broken body through a blizzard.
Just as I stood up to head for the main gates, the heavy courtyard doors burst open.
A squad of guards marched into the hall, led by the traditionalist Pack Elder.
My wolf instincts flared instantly, a cold, violent wave of panic flowing through my veins.
Something was terribly wrong.
A thick, sickening stench flooded the room.
The smell of fresh blood mixed with the chaotic, wild tang of Kael’s failing Alpha pheromones.
My body moved before my brain could process the command.
In the blink of an eye, I pushed past the guards and dropped to my knees at Kael’s side.
The man who had stood tall on his own two feet just an hour ago couldn’t even open his eyes.
His skin was gray, his breathing ragged and wet.
A heavy rag cloth was pressed tightly against his chest, but it did almost nothing to stop the dark blood pouring through the fabric and staining his clothes.
My head snapped toward the Elder, my jaw clenching so hard my teeth hurt.
“What happened out there?” I demanded, my voice dropping into a dangerous snarl.
“Where is she?” “Watch your mouth, pup,” the Elder barked back, his old eyes flashing a cold gold as his wolf threatened to surface at my disrespect.
“You do not address an Elder in such a manner.” “Bring Dr.
Clara to his chamber right now,” I ordered, turning to the surrounding guards.
Not a single warrior moved.
They stood frozen, their eyes darting nervously between me and the old man.
Before I could draw my dgger and force the issue, the Elder stepped into my path, a sneer twisting his wrinkled face.
“The human girl is locked in the eastern tower dungeon where she belongs.
She is the reason that our Alpha is lying on the verge of death.
She used dark, witchcraft magic to tear open his wounds.” I stared at him in complete disbelief.
“That’s impossible.” There was no way a doctor who had risked her life to treat a deadly poison would suddenly turn around and try to murder the man she saved.
It made zero sense.
But as I looked at Kael’s pale, blood-soaked face, I knew arguing with the man right now was useless.
“Get him up to his room,” I shouted to two guards.
“Now.” We carried Kael up the grand staircase and laid him across his bed.
Within minutes, the pack healers rushed into his room, unpacking bowls of warm water, clean bandages, and traditional herbal creams.
Among them was my mother, the head healer of the Northern territory.
I paced back and forth at the foot of the bed, my heart hammering against my ribs, watching my mother press hot cloths against Kael’s chest only for the black blood to soak right through them.
My mother paused, wiping sweat from her forehead, and looked up at me sternly.
“Garrett, stop it.
You are going to tear a hole straight through the stone floor.
Go outside, take a short walk, and grab some fresh silver-leaf herbs from the lower greenhouse.
Give us room to work.” I wanted to refuse, but seeing the exhaustion in her eyes, I nodded slowly and walked out into the freezing night.
I walked through the deep snow of the courtyard, my mind racing as I tried to piece together what the Elder was hiding.
As I rounded the corner near the eastern wall, a small, shivering figure blurred through the thick fog ahead.
The smell hit my nose a second later, rain and wild honey.
I knew it was her.
“Dr.
Clara!” I called out, breaking into a run.
My wolf howled in absolute delight inside my chest.
I knew it.
I knew the Elder was lying.
I reached her just as her knees locked up and her body began to fall forward.
I caught her before she hit the frozen ground, scooping her small, freezing frame up into my arms.
Her skin was blue, her bare hands bruised and bloody.
She looked up at me through heavy, exhausted eyes, her chattering teeth clicking together.
“Take me to him…
Garrett, please…
If I don’t get to him right now, he’s going to die…” “I’ve got you,” I said, turning on my heel and rushing back toward the main house.
I ran up the staircase, taking three steps at a time, and kicked open the bedroom doors.
The metallic smell of blood in the room was suffocating.
My mother and two other healers were surrounding Kael, their faces pale as his pulse faded slowly.
“Everyone out,” I commanded, my Beta authority echoing through the room.
My mother looked shocked.
“Garrett, what are you doing—” “I said leave us.
Now,” I barked, holding the door open until the reluctant healers and my mother cleared out into the hallway.
I set Clara down gently on the edge of the mattress.
Without wasting a single second, she leaned over Kael, hovering her trembling, ice-cold hands directly over his torn chest.
I watched her, expecting the same blinding, sun-like explosion of golden light that had healed the dying child in the courtyard.
Instead, a weak, tiny spark of pale light flickered from her palms.
It was nothing like what I had expected.
It washed over Kael’s wound for a brief second, but the dark blood kept pouring out of his skin.
The light went out completely, leaving her hands dark and helpless.
Clara gasped, pulling her hands back to her chest.
I leaned in, grabbing her wrists, my eyes wide with concern.
“What’s wrong?
Why didn’t it work?” Clara turned her head back to look at me, her dark eyes wide in sheer, helpless surprise and confusion as if she had fully expected the power to flow through her veins just like it always had.
“I…
I don’t know,” she whispered, her voice cracking as a tear slipped down her freezing cheek.