Chapter 2

I didn't wake up to light. I woke up to the smell of antiseptic and the terrifying, suffocating weight of absolute darkness.

My first instinct was to reach for the light switch, but when I lifted my hand, my fingers brushed against bandages wrapped tight around my head. Panic, cold and sharp, spiked in my chest. I tried to open my eyes beneath the gauze, but they felt raw, gritty, and unresponsive.

*Seraphina?* I called out internally, reaching for the comforting warmth of my wolf to calm my racing heart.

Silence.

Usually, her presence was a hum in the back of my mind, a golden thread connecting my soul to the Moon Goddess. Now, there was nothing. It wasn't just quiet; it was a void. A hollow, echoing cavern where my soul used to be. The silver hadn't just burned my eyes; it had severed the bond.

"Seraphina!" I screamed, or I tried to, but my throat was parched, the sound coming out as a jagged croak.

"Elyse! You're awake."

Warm hands grabbed my shoulders. I flinched violently, scrambling backward on the narrow infirmary cot.

"It's me. It's Luna Ashworth," the voice was soft, trembling with suppressed tears. My best friend.

"Luna," I gasped, clutching her arm blindly. "I can't... I can't feel her. I can't see anything. Tell me it's just the bandages."

Luna’s silence was louder than any scream. I felt her weight shift on the bed as she pulled me into a hug, her body shaking.

"The silver dust... it was concentrated, Elyse," she whispered into my hair. "The toxicity destroyed your corneas and the optic nerves. And the trauma... the Elders say the shock combined with the silver severed your connection to Seraphina."

I sat frozen, the world ending in the span of three sentences. I was a Healer. My entire life, my purpose, was built on seeing ailments and channeling my wolf’s energy. Without them, I was nothing.

"Where is Jasper?" I asked, my voice hollow. "Does he know? He needs to fix this."

Luna pulled back, her hesitation chilling my blood. "Alpha Jasper... he came by while you were unconscious. He said... he said a blind Healer with no wolf is a liability to the pack." She took a ragged breath. "He’s moved you out of the Healer’s wing, Elyse. You’ve been reassigned to the Omega quarters. You’re to report to the laundry duty as soon as you can stand."

He hadn't just broken me; he had discarded me.

***

A week later, I learned that hell wasn't fire and brimstone. It was the smell of damp wool and the constant, humiliating struggle to find a bar of soap I’d just dropped.

The laundry room was humid and loud, filled with the churning of industrial machines. I navigated by counting steps—ten from the door to the sorting table, five to the washing units. My hands, once revered for their delicate, life-saving touch, were now red and chapped from harsh detergents.

I was folding a sheet, feeling for the corners, when the heavy double doors swung open. The chatter of the other Omegas died down instantly.

"Did you hear?" a hushed voice whispered near the drying racks. It was one of the guards, likely dropping off uniforms.

"Hear what?" an Omega replied.

"The Alpha. He went down during combat training this morning. Just collapsed."

My hands stilled on the fabric. Jasper? Collapsed? He was in his prime, physically perfect.

"Heat exhaustion?"

"That's what the Beta said," the guard lowered his voice further, but my blindness had sharpened my hearing. "But I saw him when they tore his shirt open to check his heart. There were... lines. Black veins, spreading out from his chest like a spiderweb. It looked like rot."

"Watch your mouth," the Omega hissed. "You want to end up like the blind girl?"

I stood paralyzed, clutching the sheet against my chest. Black veins? That sounded like a curse, or a poison. A tiny, dark flicker of satisfaction sparked in the void where Seraphina used to be. If Jasper was rotting, maybe the Moon Goddess hadn't abandoned me completely.

"Well, well. Look at the tragic little princess."

The voice cut through the humidity like a knife. I stiffened. I knew that scent—sickly sweet vanilla and expensive rosemary oil.

Kenzie.

I turned slowly toward the sound of her heels clicking on the concrete floor. "What do you want, Kenzie?"

"Just checking on the staff," she sneered. I could hear the smirk in her voice. "Jasper wanted to make sure you were... adjusting. He's very stressed, you know. He doesn't need you moping around causing more drama."

"I'm folding laundry, Kenzie. Is that dramatic enough for you?" I retorted, gripping the edge of the table.

"Don't you speak to me like that!"

I heard the swish of movement a second too late. Kenzie’s hand shoved a heavy basin of wash water off the table next to me. It crashed to the floor, splashing cold, soapy water all over my legs and shoes.

"Oops," she said, her voice dripping with mock innocence. "Clean that up. Now."

I stood there, water soaking into my socks, my fists clenched at my sides. I had healed this girl's migraines. I had listened to her cry about her lost wolf.

"Why did you do it?" I asked quietly. "You knew the cake was silvered. You watched him do it."

"You deserved it!" Kenzie snapped, but her voice cracked, high and brittle. "You were always hovering, always trying to steal him with your 'fated mate' nonsense. I had to make sure he chose me."

She stepped closer, and I smelled something else beneath her perfume—sour, acrid fear. She was terrified.

"Besides," she whispered, and I could practically feel her trembling, "you don't know what he's like now. Since the ceremony... he's changing. He wakes up screaming. If I don't keep him happy..." She trailed off, then stomped her foot near my hand as I knelt to find a rag.

"Just clean it up, Elyse. And stay out of sight. For your own good."

She turned and fled, her heels clicking rapidly as if she were running from a ghost. I remained on my knees in the puddle, blind and wolfless, realizing for the first time that while I was in the dark, they were the ones living in a nightmare.