Aysel's POV That night, Yuna Ward found me crying behind the garden wall. She knelt beside me, her scent heavy with something sweet and strange. "If your parents find the pup," she whispered, "they'll kill it. You must hide him. Take him to the glade. I'll help you." I believed her. I searched the forest for hours, following his scent until the sun bled out. I never found him-only a patch of red-stained earth where his trail ended. Finally, after my relentless efforts, I found the injured and starving Ember in the woods. I couldn't bring the pup home. The anger in my family's scent, sharp and suffocating, made it impossible. My claws itched to defend, my wolf snarled at the thought of returning empty-handed, but I had no choice. Quietly, I slipped back to the only one who had ever helped me-my aunt. She had told me to hide the pup in the park and not be found. She would bring salves and healing herbs herself. I waited. Hours stretched, the forest shadows lengthened, and the wind carried the scent of rain long before the sky broke. My paws were soaked, my fur matted with grass and bramble scratches, the pup trembling against me, weak and crying. My heart hammered with desperation and guilt. The rain fell in sheets, soaking me to the bone, washing mud and blood over my skin. The pup's cries grew faint, nearly swallowed by the storm. Fear finally outweighed patience. I couldn't lose him. Not like this. I had to take him home, to my mother, to beg her to save him. At the edge of the park, where two paths crossed, I saw her-or thought I did. My aunt's form lingered in the rain, empty-handed, shadowed, almost like a phantom. I ran toward her, tears mingling with the downpour, my wolf leaping with hope. The pup, struggling in my arms, twisted and wriggled. Its claws caught, and we stumbled. My body slammed against the wet earth. Everything happened in a blur. My vision flickered with streaks of gray and green. A scream pierced the storm, then a sudden, violent impact. I saw her thrown aside, a fleeting, almost unreal sight. The pup was under the wheels before I could react. Orange fur flattened, small life extinguished in an instant. Blood, vivid and bright, blended with the rain, painting everything crimson. My senses overloaded-the coppery scent of death, the wet fur of the pup, the thunder of my own heartbeat in my ears. Before I could even process the grief, I felt another force slam into me. I was knocked to the ground, boots sliding in mud. Alpha Remus's roar cut through the storm. "Why did you run away from home? Do you know how long we searched for your aunt? You've killed her!" The sound was a tidal wave-his fury, Celestine and Luna Evelyn's sobbing at the side of my mother, the screaming of humans, the wail of sirens mingling with the rain, the frightened cries of birds taking flight. Even the echo of the pup's final whimpers burned into my memory, along with the whisper of my aunt, carried away by the wind: "I'm sorry." My senses spun, the wolf within me screaming in anguish, but my body went numb. The world tilted, colors and scents blending into a nightmare haze. And then, darkness. When I awoke, everything had changed. The rain had passed, leaving the world slick and cold, but the scar of what had happened lingered in every scent, every whisper of wind. Celestine was leaning over me, eyes sharp and predatory. Her claws traced lightly along my cheek-not enough to mark, but enough to make my skin crawl. "Do you remember her?" she asked, voice low, dangerous, like a growl laced with poison. My mind immediately went to the last look my aunt had given me before she was struck, that fleeting smile, that gaze-soft, full of warmth and trust, now ripped from the world. My wolf snarled in silent grief, teeth bared at the injustice of it all. Celestine's words cut deeper than any claw. "Why are you still alive? The Moonvale Pack needs only one daughter. When you weren't here, everything was fine." Her voice dropped even lower, thick with venom and promise. It curled around me like smoke. "Aysel Vale... everyone in this world can thrive... everyone... except you."