---- Chapter 2 The silver bars burned through my palms like acid as I pried at the cage with desperate strength. Each touch seared my flesh, but I didn't care. Nothing mattered except reaching my son. When I finally created an opening large enough to pull him through, my hands were ribbons of torn flesh and bone. But the sight that greeted me made my injuries meaningless. Blood. So much blood pooled beneath the tiny cage that it looked like a crimson lake. And in the center lay my little boy, his small body pale as winter snow. "No, no, no..." I whispered, gathering him into my arms. His skin was ice cold against my chest. " Please, baby, please wake up." I pressed my ear to his chest, listening desperately for any sound of life. Silence. ---- This had to be a nightmare. Just this morning he'd been tugging at my skirt, begging me to make his favorite pancakes. His bright laughter had filled our home. Now he lay motionless in my arms, his little fingers already stiff. I stumbled through the pack grounds, clutching his body against me. Pack members stepped aside when they saw me coming, their faces a mixture of pity and fear. No one offered to help. No one dared. The pack witch lived in a cottage at the edge of our territory. I burst through her door without knocking, my son still cradled in my bleeding arms. "Healer Morgan, please!" I begged, laying him on her examination table. ''Please, you have to save him!" The elderly woman approached slowly, her ---- experienced eyes taking in the scene. She placed a gentle hand on my son's forehead, then checked his wrist for a pulse. "Child..." she said softly. "Fix him!" I screamed. "Use your magic! Use whatever you have to!" "Aria." Her voice was firm but kind. "This little one was weak from birth. The silver poisoning, the blood loss... can't you see? He's been gone for hours." The words hit me like physical blows. I sank to my knees beside the table. "No, you're wrong. He was fine yesterday. He was laughing and playing and..." "I'm so sorry." Healer Morgan covered my son. with a clean white cloth. "There's nothing anyone can do now." I knew she was right. Deep down, I'd known the