Chapter 4

The whole room goes dead silent.

Cynthia's eyes go wide. For half a second, before she catches herself, I see triumph flash across her face.

I smile, bitter and small. My belly cramps.

"Then where do you want me to move to?"

The Alpha's cabin is the safest, warmest building in the pack. There isn't a single spare cabin in the village. He knows that.

Is he kicking me out?

Ethan doesn't speak. His breathing has gone fast and shallow.

I know he's hesitating.

But what's there to hesitate over now? You already said it, Ethan. Out loud. In front of the Pack Doctor. There's no taking it back.

Just admit it. The pup matters more than I do.

"Where do you want me to go?" I ask again, lighter this time. Almost playful. I'm not even looking at him. I'm staring at the chipped moon outside the window.

Ethan is openly hesitating now.

"Yes, Alpha," the Pack Doctor jumps in nervously, "there are no spare cabins. And Sera still tends the fields, where could she possibly—"

"I remember… there are a few abandoned cabins up on the Ridge, aren't there?" Ethan says.

The moment those words leave his mouth, the few of us in the cabin react all at once — panic, shock, glee — every eye snapping to Ethan.

The Ridge.

Where only the ones with no one and nothing left ever go.

So Ethan really is throwing me away.

I almost laugh out loud.

It doesn't matter. I'm leaving this world soon anyway.

"It's only temporary," Ethan says stiffly, refusing to look at me.

"When Cynthia delivers the pup, I'll bring you home. But if you'd rather stay—"

"I'll go."

Ethan clearly didn't expect me to agree so quickly. He freezes for a second, then rushes to speak.

"I—I meant, if you'd be willing to stay and help with Cynthia, you don't have to—"

"I'm not staSerag to look after her."

I say it again, level and final. Then I give him a small, broken smile.

"Help me move my things tonight."

I turn to leave. He blocks my path with his body.

His eyes are shaking. His voice comes out clenched between his teeth.

"Sera… why won't you step back for me. Just once."

I'm so tired. I pCynthiat my palm on his chest and push, gently.

"Because I've already stepped back too many times, Ethan. This is where I stop."

He doesn't grab me again. He just stands there, dark-faced, watching me walk away.

And then I hear him let out a cold, brittle laugh behind me.

"The path down the mountain is rough, Sera. Don't bother coming back.I'll bring your rations up to you. Every day. Until Cynthia whelps, and I bring you home."