Chapter 3

Cole kept one arm around Selene.

“Give me the bone,” he ordered.

“No.”

“Elena, I’m warning you.”

I slipped the carved shard into my pocket. “You can threaten me tomorrow in front of the elders.”

Selene pressed a hand to her throat. I had grabbed her wrist, but she acted as if I had strangled her.

“She’s dangerous,” Selene whispered. “What if she comes after Mara next?”

Cole pointed toward the door. “Leave Noah’s room.”

“This is my son’s room.”

“This is my ranch.”

I looked at him. “No. It isn’t.”

His face tightened.

I had bought the ranch six years ago, after the war left Red River buried in debt. My mother’s estate had paid off the bank, repaired the fences, and rebuilt the homes along the southern road.

Cole called it pack property whenever it suited him.

I picked up Noah’s urn and walked past them.

Cole did not stop me.

I locked myself in the room after they left. Then I pulled out every box from under Noah’s bed.

Medical bills. Prescription receipts. Clinic reports.

Cole’s name appeared on each form under “Father.”

My signature appeared everywhere else.

For the last two years, he had missed every specialist visit. He always had a border meeting, a patrol, or some problem at the ranch.

I had handled Noah’s care while running the town’s food supply and paying the workers Cole forgot to pay.

I had blamed myself for missing the signs.

At the clinic, after Noah died, a black mark had appeared over his heart. It looked like a burned circle crossed by three lines. It vanished before the doctor returned.

I had kept quiet.

If the Grayridge family learned someone had cursed Cole’s bloodline, they could use it as proof that Red River was weak. Another fight would put every family in town at risk.

Now one of their priestesses was inside my home.

I lifted Noah’s mattress.

A folded sheet of paper lay beneath it.

It was a child’s drawing in purple marker. Mara had written her name across the top. She had drawn herself, Selene, and Noah standing inside a building with a tall bell tower.

Behind them was a stone table marked with the same gray wolf’s head carved into the bone shard.

I opened the door.

Mara sat alone at the kitchen table, eating a slice of the casserole Selene had brought. Cole and Selene were arguing in his office.

I placed the drawing in front of her.

“Where is this?”

Mara stopped chewing.

“I don’t know.”

“You drew it.”

“It’s just a church.”

“Which church?”

She pushed the paper away. “Why do you care?”

“Because Noah was there.”

Her eyes moved toward Cole’s office.

I sat across from her. “Did Selene take him?”

Mara folded her arms. “Mom said it was supposed to help.”

“What was supposed to help?”

“The prayer.”

“What prayer?”

Mara shoved back her chair. “Stop asking me.”

I caught the drawing before it slid off the table.

“When did she take him?”

“I said stop.”

The office door opened.

Cole stepped into the kitchen with Selene behind him.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m asking Mara about a old church.”

Mara ran to him. “She won’t leave me alone.”

Cole put his arm around her. “Elena, back off.”

I held up the drawing. “Selene took Noah to a church with a Grayridge altar.”

Selene looked at the paper and laughed softly. “It’s a child’s drawing.”

“The symbol matches the bone I found in Noah’s jacket.”

“You could have put it there,” Cole said.

I stared at him. “Why would I curse my own son?”

“To blame Selene. To keep me tied to you.”

Mara hid behind his arm.

I turned to her. “Did Selene take Noah to the old border church?”

“She said it was a blessing!” Mara shouted. “She said it would make him stronger.”

Selene’s face changed. Only for a second.

Then she pulled Mara into her arms. “Sweetheart, that was months ago. Noah was sick, and I wanted to help.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.

“You would have refused.”

“Because you had no right to touch him.”

Cole moved between us. “That’s enough.”

“No. She took our son to an enemy altar without permission.”

“She tried to help him.”

“He got worse after she touched him.”

Cole grabbed the drawing from my hand and tore it in half.

“You’re scaring Mara,” he said. “You will not question her again. You will stay away from her and Selene until the elders decide what to do with you.”

I looked at the torn drawing on the floor.

Then I took out my phone and called the head elder.

“Elena,” Cole warned.

The elder answered.

“This is Elena Harrow,” I said. “Call every elder and every adult in Red River to the main hall tomorrow. Cole and I are ending our mate bond.”

Cole went silent.

“And tell the town accountant to bring the complete property records,” I continued. “I’m taking back everything my family paid for.”

Cole snatched the phone from my hand.

“What the hell did you just do?”