Tears streamed down her face as she gently took Marcus’s pale hands in hers. She lifted them to her lips again and again, pressing soft kisses against his cold skin while quiet sobs shook her shoulders.
His wolf aura—once warm, steady, and vibrant—was now so faint that she could barely sense it through their blood bond.
It flickered weakly, like the last glow of a dying ember.
Why was fate always so cruel to those who had done nothing wrong?
Why were innocent wolves always the ones forced to bear the heaviest punishment for crimes they never committed?
Meanwhile Caleb, his sister, and their mother continued their lives as if nothing had happened.
They twisted the truth within the pack.
They whispered lies through their mindlinks and swayed the council with influence and power.
Aria, on the other hand, had faced everything with honesty. She had believed that truth alone would be enough to clear her brother’s name.
If she had been willing to fight with dignity… why couldn’t they?
She knew Marcus had been suffering for months.
She had seen the pain in his eyes, the way the accusations slowly crushed his spirit day after day.
She knew he had fallen into a deep darkness.