Chapter 1

The sharp pounding on my door jolted me awake. I blinked in the darkness, my heart already racing before I'd even registered what was happening.

"Healer! Healer Keyla!" Gamma Ryan's voice carried through the wood, urgent and clipped. "Alpha commands your immediate presence at the hospital."

I fumbled for my glasses, my fingers trembling slightly as I pulled on the robe hanging by my bed. The digital clock read 2:17 AM. No emergency call ever came at this hour unless something was terribly wrong.

"I'm coming," I called, quickly braiding my hair as I rushed to the door.

Gamma Ryan's face was grim in the hallway light. "It's Kara," he said, not meeting my eyes. "She's been hurt during the pack run."

My stomach twisted. Kara Wagner—Vincent's favorite. The woman who looked at me like I was dirt beneath her designer heels. The woman who'd somehow managed to convince half the pack she was carrying the Alpha's heir despite her scent never changing.

"Is it the pup?" I asked, grabbing my medical bag.

"Just get there," Ryan snapped, already turning away.

The pack hospital was only a five-minute walk, but tonight it felt endless. My wolf stirred weakly within me—dormant for so long that sometimes I wondered if she'd ever fully awaken. *Stay calm*, I whispered to her. *We'll need steady hands tonight.*

The smell hit me first—burnt flesh and wolfsbane. My nose wrinkled as I pushed through the emergency room doors. The acrid scent made my eyes water.

"Keyla!" Vincent's voice boomed across the room. He stood beside the examination table, his massive frame tense with barely contained rage. His Alpha aura pressed against my skin like a physical weight.

Kara lay on the table, her perfect blonde hair fanned out around her like a halo despite her supposed agony. She was screaming—high, theatrical cries that seemed to pierce right through my skull.

"It hurts! It burns!" she wailed, clutching at her leg where blood seeped through a makeshift bandage.

I approached cautiously, setting my bag down. "Alpha, what happened?"

"Hunters," Vincent growled. "Silver trap. If you can't fix this—" His eyes flashed dangerously. "If anything happens to my future Luna or the pup, it's your head."

I swallowed hard, my throat suddenly dry. "I'll do everything I can."

The wound was worse than I'd expected. Silver shrapnel had torn through Kara's calf muscle, leaving jagged edges that no normal healer could safely extract. But I wasn't a normal healer—my gift was rare, even among werewolves.

"I need to perform the extraction ritual," I said, pulling on latex gloves. "It will be painful, but it's the only way to ensure all the silver comes out."

"Do it," Vincent commanded, his Alpha tone making me flinch.

I placed my hands over Kara's leg, closing my eyes. The golden light began to emanate from my palms—a warm, pulsing glow that had saved countless pack members over the years.

"Stop!" Kara shrieked. "You're burning me!"

But I couldn't stop. The silver fragments were already responding to my energy, rising slowly through the skin. One by one, they emerged—gleaming deadly shards that could have killed her if left inside.

"It's working," I murmured, focusing intently as the last piece of silver hovered just beneath the surface.

Then everything went wrong.

Kara's body arched violently on the table. She began to convulse, her screams turning into guttural gasps. "She's poisoning me!" she shrieked between spasms. "She's using dark magic because she's jealous of my baby!"

"What?" I stared in confusion as Vincent's face transformed into something monstrous.

"She's lying," I whispered, but Vincent was already moving toward me.

"Alpha, look at the wound—it's clean! The silver is out!"

But Vincent wasn't listening. His eyes had taken on that dangerous gold glow that meant his wolf was close to the surface.

"You did this on purpose," he snarled, his Alpha command tone crashing over me like a physical blow. "KNEEL!"

My knees hit the floor hard as my body responded to his command. The golden light flickered and died as my concentration shattered.

"Vincent, please—"

"Silence!" His fist slammed down on the table beside me. "You've committed treason against your Alpha and attempted to harm your future Luna through professional malpractice."

The pack elites had gathered at the commotion. Now they watched with wide eyes as their Alpha towered over me.

"I strip you of your title as Healer," Vincent announced, his voice carrying to every corner of the room. "You are no longer welcome in this pack."

Two Delta guards seized my arms, dragging me to my feet.

"Take her to the dungeon," Vincent ordered coldly. "She'll learn what happens to those who betray me."

As they hauled me away, I caught Kara's eye. Behind Vincent's back, her lips curved into a triumphant smile that chilled me to my core.