Chapter 35
Fern
Isentence you to suffer this heat alone.
Fern clenched her teeth through the next wave as it tore through her, stealing even the ability to breathe. Hoping it would finally be enough to render her unconscious.
She didn’t think she could take it anymore.
Not just the heat, the all-encompassing ache that promised to ease only with an alpha’s touch.
But also the pain of her alpha’s heartbreaking yet inevitable betrayal.
She should have known better than to believe that Darion would ever do the right thing for her. That he would ever rule against Kyntha in her favor.
What could Kyntha have even said to Darion to villainize her heat? To turn the most vulnerable moment in her life into a weapon against her?
Her wolf howled inside her, Darion’s ruling almost hitting her even harder than it did Fern.
He is dead to us.
I told you…
There is no time for that, her wolf snapped. This is serious.
Her pulse fluttered unevenly beneath her skin, and her limbs trembled as she let out a barking laugh. When isn’t it?
Because it was certainly serious when he’d forced her to stand against the wall, when he’d named her the Ashpaw for something she’d had no control over, when he’d let Mauricia’s attack go unpunished, when he’d almost cut off her hand, and then punished her distrust of Darion’s impartiality by using her fear to punish her.
And this is what finally convinces you he is a terrible man?
Not a man. He is a terrible wolf.
Fern dug her nails into her palms hard enough to draw blood, to distract herself from the next ripple of pain.
Man… wolf…
Fern didn’t think the distinction mattered at this point, as stars formed in the edges of her vision.
Her body felt cold, and a tear of relief slid down her cheek as she closed her eyes and welcomed the plunge into darkness.