ra

ally around the hospital bed,

and howled a silent pra

en I wake. Do not let me forget who saved me

he sheer terror i

returned to a comatose body, the astr

would wake up and be

e door, hoping his mother, Seraphi

already moving

n, Seraphina called

r dry eyes with a silk handkerchief, playin

said, her voice t

g nervously down the hall. "Without Kaelen awake to dispute it, her f

ach plu

thick envelope and pr

re. Take it, run past the borders, and never l

my Omega conditionin

ught to obey, to submit, to

. I slowly nodded my head, unable to for

pirit wolf watched thr

aws against the glass, f

her take your glory!" he roar

lked toward the servant'

ot waste a s

Council into the hospital wing, where she spun a tapestry of falsehood

fire, painting her as the

Seraphina gave me to bribe a lowly kitchen servant into letting me s

. The Healers said it w

into the hallway to peek th

-Sight, searching for

th

was empty. The astra

med to vanish from the room, taking the very oxygen from m

m and smashed the button. "He's w

s er

closely by Seraphina, the Pack Elders, a

crowd, pushed all the way to the

elen's fingers

his eyelids

e gasp fill

, glowing gold-the pure

e very atmosphere had gained the weight of lead, muffl

nd threw herself onto his chest,

n you. I stayed by your side every sing

d not emb

head, his golden ey

s blank, cold, an

undred million dollars and a life beyond these borders-dis

past the shado

gone, and the Alph