"What is it?" I asked. He hesitated. Theo. Say it." He sighed. "While treating her, I noticed an old scar. Lower left side of her back. It's clean, surgical. Maybe a year old." I frowned. "And?" "Kael. Riley's missing a kidney. Everything inside me stilled. "What "Her left kidney. It's gone. Removed cleanly, with precision. Likely during her time in confinement. I don't know how the hell it happened-those records are sealed tighter than a vault-but it's gone." My legs almost gave out Theo saw it and reached for me, but I waved him off. I stumbled back a step, then caught myself. My chest heaved with every breath, the air feeling thick, poisonous. She'd lost a kidney. In prison. And we'd never known. No-worse. We'd never asked. Theo stepped forward. "Kacl... that kind of trauma? It might explain something else." I looked up. "Riley's wolf" My heart skipped. "You've always wondered why she never shifted. Why her bond with her wolf never formed. Well, if her body was mutilated, if her wolf was forced into deep submission from pain or betrayal, it could suppress the transformation." He paused. "She didn't reject the wolf. The wolf was caged" Based on the faint trace of wolf pheromone I just caught from Riley, it suddenly all made sense. I had always assumed she was too weak to complete her shift-but it wasn't that she didn't have a wolf. Her wolf had been trapped all along... because she was missing a damn kidney. I'd forgotten-she carried pure Alpha blood. She was supposed to have a powerful Alpha wolf. I stood there, reeling. My sister had been torn apart, piece by piece, inside and out, while I sat on my throne and believed every word Scarlett fed me. I didn't deserve the title of Alpha. Theo placed a hand on my shoulder, then walked off. I stood there a long time. Eventually, I went to her. At the threshold of her room. I hesitated. I wasn't ready to face her-not like this. Not when the truth had stripped me bare. I heard Theo's voice from inside. "You're awake!" A long silence. Then a rustle of sheets. "You know, every time I see you, you're covered in wounds. It's like you've made it your thing Send Gifts 264