Chapter 3

By the time we returned to the Blackwood packhouse, it was the dead of night.

Before I'd even reached my room, I heard it—the low, suppressed coughing from inside.

Caden.

My chest seized. I pushed the door open and was at his side in four steps.

He was curled into himself on the narrow cot, his frame skeletal, cheeks blazing with fever-flush.

"Leah..." he whispered, half-conscious, reaching for nothing.

I pressed my palm to his forehead.

Burning.

The medicine was gone. The healer had been clear—without Moonflower to sustain him, he would not survive the winter.

I turned out every pocket, every fold of my clothing.

Only the few coins Rowan had thrown at me. Not enough to buy even a shred of Moonflower.

I stood up, set my teeth together, and walked directly to the main house.

Seraphina's chambers blazed with lamplight.

I knelt on the cold stone outside, forehead toward the door.

"Alpha Rowan. I beg you. Caden won't last the night—"

"You promised me. You said if I followed your orders and went to Prince Alaric, you would keep Caden safe."

"Please. One Moon flower. Just enough to keep him breathing."

"As long as Caden lives, I will do whatever you ask of me—without a word of complaint."

Laughter and conversation drifted from inside the room.

After a long silence, the door finally opened.

Rowan walked out with Seraphina on his arm.

Seraphina wore a thick fur cloak, her face rosy—where was there any sign of illness?

"Leah. What scene are you making now?"

I moved forward on my knees and caught the hem of Rowan's coat.

"Alpha Rowan. My brother is critical. He needs Moon flower to survive."

"I beg you—for the sake of how many times I've taken Miss Seraphina's place—please save him!"

Rowan's brow creased faintly.

"The storehouse does have several stalks of moonflower..."

Seraphina cut him off with a soft, well-timed cough, pressing one hand to her chest.

"Alpha Rowan, the healer said I must keep the moonflower tonic for my own strength."

Rowan's attention snapped to her immediately. His hand steadied her elbow.

"Seraphina's health comes first. Naturally those Moonflower are reserved for her."

He looked back down at me, his tone turning almost gentle—the cruelty pressed beneath reason.

"Caden's illness is a bottomless pit, Leah. Moon flower only delays it. It's a bottomless well."

I stared at him, unable to speak.

I stared at him in disbelief. Seraphina only had a few coughs, while Caden was dying.

"Alpha Rowan—Seraphina only needs the moonflower for recovery. My brother needs it to stay alive—"

Rowan waved one hand without looking at me.

"Seraphina's worth cannot be weighed against your brother's cursed life. Not one Moonflower—even if it's the entire pack's supply of medicine, as long as Seraphina needs it, she gets priority!"

Seraphina leaned into his arm, tilting her gaze down at me.

That small, winning smile.

"Leah. it's not that I won't help you, but I truly cannot go without the moonflower tonic."

"How about this—I'll have the kitchen save the used herb dregs for you, they should still have some medicinal properties."

Humiliation.

Cold, deliberate, total humiliation.

I pulled myself to my feet and wiped the tears from my eyes.

"Don't bother."

Rowan wouldn't give me a way to survive—someone else would.