There was a lot of silence and darkness in the Evergreen vaults.
Sienna moved slowly and deliberately between the rows of paper and leather-bound books, like a hunter. She knew what she was looking for. She knew where Lilith was hidden.
For days, the lie had been eating away at her gut. It was like there was a smell under every whisper in the pack, and she couldn't get rid of it. Finally, she saw a paper that was put in the wrong place among the plant family records.
Sienna slowly unrolled it with shaky hands.
A symbol that was made by hand. The paper was fake-aged, the ink was too new, and the Silvermane healer's name was messed up.
And wrote one word next to it.
"Barren."
A falsehood. "Bitch," Sienna growled, her rage rising in her throat like a wave.
She turned quickly, her fist tightened on the scroll. Before she could get five steps, a shadow moved into her path.
Lilith.
"Searching for stories to read before bed?" With her arms crossed across her breast and her silver hair shining in the lamplight, Lilith purred.
Sienna lifted the scroll. This isn't a story. It's how you perform it.
Lilith's smile faltered, but only briefly.
She said with ease, "You think they'll listen to you?" Jude has always looked up to you. Blind and loyal. Lovely Sienna.
"I might be loyal," Sienna noted in a controlled tone. "However, I am no longer blind."
The space between them filled with danger as she took a step closer.
In a whisper, Sienna said, "You destroyed her life." Because you were afraid that he would fall in love with her, you called an innocent she-wolf. Our laws were broken by you. Our Luna. " She was never Luna."
"She is now."
Venom glistened in Lilith's eyes. "He is not going to believe you."
"Then let's investigate."
With Lilith staring at her with her teeth bared and her downfall releasing like silk, Sienna turned.
Sienna ran into the room as Jude was pacing.
He froze as he saw the scroll in her fingers, tired and gaunt, his mate's scent still driving him mad.
His voice was scratchy as he asked, "What is it?"
"Verify it," Sienna said. "The blank report was falsified by Lilith."
Not a word.
It was short-lived.
With eyes sweeping the lines like a man reading the sentence that had broken his soul, Jude grabbed the scroll out of her hands.
After that, every breath he drew felt like fire.
Softly, Sienna whispered, "She lied." "To you. To the group. She forced you to brand her.
Jude balled her hands into fists. The paper fell to the ground like ash as the scroll ripped between his fingers.
He was gone the next second.
The ground itself appeared to shake under his anger as the pack gathered. Jude's voice was a thunderclap as he walked into the area.
"Lilith!"
A toxic smile curled her painted lips as she waited.
"Very dramatic," she noted. "You just needed to send for me."
He growled, "You lied."
"Oh, hurry up, Alpha—"
He took two steps across the room and, before she could blink, he grabbed her throat, pulling her a few inches off the floor.
Around them, the pack roared, some screaming with dark joy and others in shock.
He snarled, "Did you think I wouldn't find out?" "That I wouldn't dissect your lies?"
Lilith clawed at his hold as she choked.
He dropped her.
She coughed and her eyes flashed anger as she fell hard.
He growled, "You branded my mate." "You ruined everything for her."
"She was weak," Lilith yelled as she stood up. "She would have shattered you."
Jude moved back, voice hard and final. "No. You broke me."
The group pressed in.
"From this moment," Jude stated, voice echoing across the area, "you are no longer Ever Green. This is where your bloodline stops. Ash is your name.
Lilith's lips parted as she tripped.
"You can't banish me—"
However, he had already done so.
And he was unabated.
Already, she was nothing.
The same way she had made Natasha.
Natasha sat on a wooden bench by the lake, far from the heat of judgment, beneath Mooncrest's calm skies. The air was clear. Clean. There is no movement in the water.
Tired eyes, wind-blown hair, and the hint of new life growing in her tummy were all visible in her image in the crystal surface.
She traced the curve of her belly with her fingers. Still little. Still a secret.
Until—
A flutter.
She froze.
But then again.
A soft rumble. Like tiny wings beating inside her.
The initial kick.
Her breath caught.
Her eyes grew wide.
She mumbled, "You're real," as hot, rapid tears slipped over her lips and down her cheeks.
It's not a lie. Not a curse. Nothing is broken.
A beating heart.
A future.
Her shoulder still ached from the burn. However, the beating within her?
She was brought to her knees by it.
Weeping into the dirt, she huddled over herself with her arms around her tummy. Grief and love fall together.
He'll never know.
He can't know.
But still, her heart failed her.
It whispered his name.
The puppy then moved once more.
Jude stood on the rocks outside of Ever Green, looking at the far-off trees while the wind whipped through his hair.
All night long, he had followed her smell. Through storm, through wind, through quiet.
He didn't get any sleep. He skipped food.
He went shooting.
Finally, he found it.
Faint. Through mist and grass, threaded.
Her aroma. Changed.
He fell to his knees and took a big breath. She perspired. Her blood. She was afraid.
And new life beneath it all.
His eyes widened.
He stopped breathing.
She was expecting a child.
He let his wolf free.
This was not the snarl that left Jude's mouth. The quiet was broken. Birds were spread. The night was taken by it.
He got up. And took off running.
Don't wait any longer.
No more thoughts of guilt.
War is over.
He would find her.
He would take her back.
And this time— He wouldn't let her go.