---- you've been living in Jane and Gary's house, they'll turn it into some scandal." Inodded. "Okay." She told Gary to drive me. On the way to the car, he suddenly grabbed my hand. "T'll come with you to the surgery next week," he said. "When it's over... we'll talk. Just you and me. I swear, Jane and I-it's not what you think." Ismiled at him. "All right." He stared at me a little too long. Like he was trying to reach me through the silence, the pain, the months of betrayal. But I didn't reach back. We drove in silence. He opened his mouth a few times -but every time he saw my pale, blood-streaked ---- face, he shut it again. Halfway there, his phone rang. His face changed the moment he answered. "Jane fainted again. The herbs... maybe her body's still too weak." He pulled over. "T have to go back. You can take a cab from here." I looked out the window. It was past three in the morning. We were in Rogue pack territory. No lights. No people. No cabs. Isaid nothing. I stepped out of the car obediently. ---- Before I could even shut the door, he drove off-fast. The engine roared into the night, leaving me behind. The pain returned-not just in my wolf's chest, but somewhere deeper. Somewhere no healer could reach. Iclutched my heart, trying to breathe. Then I started walking. Thunder rumbled across the sky. Then came the rain. Big, cold drops like stones. And then-hail. Ice crashed down, slamming into my arms, my head, my face. It hurt. God, it hurt so much.