Chapter 2

Outside, I heard the deliberately hushed voice of Rosalind Blackwood, Damon's mother. "Vanessa, don't take it to heart. Damon has handled everything. Head back and rest up. Your health comes first."

Nobody said a word about my wolf.

It was as if the voice that had spoken inside my head since my eighteenth birthday, the one that got me through every full moon, had never existed at all.

Later, Damon came in once. He stood at the foot of the bed and stayed quiet for a long time.

Then he said, "I've got you a place at Silver Springs. Focus on recovering."

He never apologized. Nor did he bother to ask if my wolf would wake up again.

*****

The next day, Maya showed me something preserved by Theo, a warrior who was with us that night.

It was a faint memory fragment saved through the mind link. In the vision, Damon lunged for the giant log that pinned me first; his hand was already on it.

But in the next instant, he let go, spun around, pried open the other side, and dragged Vanessa free.

I stared at the fragment, my nails digging into my palm.

So it hadn't been that Damon didn't have time. He'd already made his choice.

That night, for the first time, I stopped waiting for footsteps at the den door.

*****

When it was time to return to the den, Damon came to Silver Springs to pick me up.

His hand hovered at my back, gentle as if I were made of glass. I stayed silent the whole way.

As soon as I opened the main den's door, a strange scent greeted me.

There was a cream-colored fox fur shawl draped over the bench, and it wasn't mine.

On the wall hung a charcoal memorial portrait of Cassius in a black frame, staring right at the entrance.

I stood still at the doorway.

Damon paused behind me. "Vanessa has been waking up at night, and she can't handle being alone. I let her stay in the main den for a few days. Once she feels better, she'll move back."

I kept quiet, headed straight for Luna's bedroom, and pushed open the half-ajar door.

Vanessa sat on the edge of my bed, sorting a line of tiny herb vials. She was wearing my soft indoor slippers.

She stood up right away when she saw me walk in. "Sienna, you're back."

Vanessa kept her voice low. "I'm only scared of the dark. I can't cope alone. Damon said I could stay for a couple of days. Once I'm better, I'll leave. I promise I won't be any trouble to you."

My gaze fell on the slippers she wore.

Those were the soft shoes I switched to after my inner wolf was injured. They didn't tug at my wounds. Damon spent a long time helping me pick out the perfect pair.

I turned to look at Damon. "Vanessa is staying in Luna's bedroom?"

Damon leaned against the doorframe, looking a bit embarrassed. "Vanessa had a night terror once. Folks only found her after she'd fallen onto the floor. This room is close to the outer halls, easier to reach if something happens."

"You can stay in the east guest quarters these next few days. I've had someone make up the bed for you."

My throat felt tight, and I couldn't utter anything.

It wasn't that I dared not speak. I'd suddenly realized that in this den, my place could be pushed aside at any moment.

*****

At dinner, Vanessa sat at the long table and ladled soup for Damon.

She shot me a quick look before dropping her gaze. "Sienna, I know you got back from Silver Springs not long ago, and I shouldn't be bothering you.

"But Damon is Cassius's only brother. If he doesn't look after me, I don't know who else I can count on."

Damon placed some meat onto my plate. "Sienna, Vanessa has been through a lot. Focus on healing your inner wolf. I'll handle everything else, and I won't let you get wronged."

I stared at the meat on my plate but didn't take a bite.

That night, I pushed open the door to my little room. It was the space I'd made for Sable.

In the corner used to sit things I'd collected for it: the old blanket it loved to curl up on during full moons, moonstones I'd picked up piece by piece, and an animal bone it cracked the night of its first shift.

But now, everything was gone.

In the center of the room stood an easel, with a few boxes of paint stacked beside it. There was a card hanging from the easel that read: [Emotional Healing, Art Therapy].

I stood in the doorway, staring at the easel, and finally, the tightness in my throat melted away. I turned around.

Damon was standing in the hallway. "Vanessa is too pensive. The healer said painting would help her let it out, and there aren't any spare rooms left in the den."

I cut him off. "This was Sable's space."

Damon paused for a few seconds. "I had someone pack up all your things. Nothing got thrown away. Once Vanessa moves out, I'll put this room back to how it was."

I didn't have it in me to argue with him anymore.

In the middle of the night, I slipped into the storage room. But none of Sable's former belongings were there.

All that remained was an old label with a date, lying at the bottom of an empty box.

The servant who followed me in whispered, "Luna, Mrs. Blackwood said keeping such stuff would bring back bad memories, so she had everything sent to Vanessa's shelter to be gotten rid of."

I bent down and picked up the label. It was the date I'd written myself, the night Sable awakened.

I clutched it, my fingertips tightening slowly. It turned out that even the traces of my wolf had to be erased from this den.

I closed the storage room door. The latch clicked softly when it fell into place.

But after that soft sound, something inside me locked tight for good.