Sage's POV
The syringe came at my face.
I didn't think. My hand shot up, catching the attacker's wrist. The moment my skin touched theirs, the Mark on my shoulder erupted.
Not golden light this time. Silver. Blazing, furious silver.
The attacker screamed. The syringe clattered to the floor. I watched in horror as their eyes went wide, pupils shrinking to pinpricks. They fell to their knees, clutching their chest.
what did you do to me? they gasped.
I stared at my hands. Silver light still flickered across my palms. Whatever I'd just done, it wasn't healing.
It was the other power. The one Lyra warned me about.
Kael moved past me, grabbing the attacker by the throat and slamming them against the wall. In the light, I finally saw who it was.
Marcus. One of the young healers who'd been in the room during my first treatment of Kael.
Why? Kael's voice was deadly calm. You've served this pack for years. Why betray us?
Marcus laughed, the sound broken. Served? I've been a slave. All of us healers are. Bound to serve you, never allowed to leave, never given a choice.
So you tried to kill me?
I tried to free us! Spit flew from Marcus's mouth. With you dead, the pack would fracture. The healers could finally escape.
You poisoned innocent wolves, I said. That gray wolf that came to my door that was you testing the poison.
Marcus's eyes found mine. You weren't supposed to save him. You weren't supposed to exist. Hatred twisted his face. Lunar Healers are supposed to be dead. All of them. That was the deal.
What deal? Kael demanded.
The one your precious elders made twenty years ago. Marcus coughed, blood staining his lips. They voted to exterminate the Lunar Healers. Every single one. Because healers who could neutralize shifters were too dangerous to exist.
My blood ran cold. The elders ordered the genocide?
Of course they did. Led by Marcus's words cut off as his body seized. Foam bubbled from his mouth.
He's been poisoned! Lyra rushed forward, but it was too late.
Marcus convulsed once, twice, then went still. Dead.
No! Kael slammed his fist into the wall. He was about to tell us who gave the order!
Lyra examined the body, her face grim. Cyanide capsule. Hidden in his tooth. He bit down rather than reveal who he was working for.
Cole appeared in the doorway, taking in the scene. What happened?
We found our poisoner, Kael said bitterly. And lost our only lead.
Not the only lead. I stared at my still-glowing hands. He said the elders ordered the genocide. Someone on that council knows who killed my parents. Who's still hunting me.
Lyra's hand landed on my shoulder. Sage, we need to talk. Now. Somewhere private.
Minutes later, we were in the library, door locked, guards posted outside. Lyra paced while I sat, still shaking from what I'd done to Marcus.
I took his wolf, I whispered. When I touched him, I felt it. His wolf just... disappeared.
That's your neutralizing power. Lyra knelt in front of me. It's why Lunar Healers were feared. You can strip a shifter's wolf from their body with a single touch.
I didn't mean to
It was self-defence. He was trying to kill you. Her eyes held mine. But now you understand. This is why they hunted your kind. Why they murdered your parents.
Tell me everything, I demanded. No more secrets. What were my parents? What am I?
Lyra sat back. Lunar Healers are an ancient bloodline, blessed by the Moon Mother herself. You have two powers: healing and neutralizing. For centuries, your kind served as peacekeepers. You could heal wounded shifters or strip power from those who abused it.
Then what happened?
Fear. As shifter packs grew more powerful, they began to see Lunar Healers as threats instead of allies. What if a healer decided to neutralize an entire pack? What if they used their power for control instead of peace?
So they killed us all.
Twenty years ago, the Council of Elders representatives from every major pack voted to exterminate Lunar Healers. They sent hunters. Assassins. Your parents were among the last to fall.
Tears burned my eyes. They died protecting me. That's why they locked me in the cellar. They knew the hunters were coming.
They died so you could survive. So the bloodline wouldn't end. Lyra's voice cracked. I tried to stop it, Sage. I voted against the genocide. But I was outvoted.
Who led the vote? I asked. Who wanted us dead?
Lyra hesitated. The head elder at the time. The one who convinced everyone that Lunar Healers were too dangerous to exist.
Tell me their name.
Sage
Tell me!
Lyra's face went pale. Vera Thorne.
The name hit like a physical blow. Vera. Kael's aunt. The woman who'd interrogated me this morning. The head elder who'd demanded I prove I wasn't a threat.
She killed my parents, I breathed. She ordered the genocide. And now she wants me dead too.
We don't know that she
She knows what I am! She saw the Mark! That's why she's setting up the test tonightto force me to reveal my powers in front of witnesses!
The library door burst open. Cole stood there, blood dripping from a cut on his forehead.
They're coming, he gasped. The elders. Vera called an emergency tribunal. They're coming for Sage right now.
On what grounds? Lyra demanded.
Cole's eyes met mine. Murder. They're saying you killed Marcus in cold blood. Vera has witnesses who claim you attacked him unprovoked.
That's insane! He tried to poison Kael!
The syringe is gone. Someone took it. Cole grabbed my arm. Sage, they're calling for your execution. Tonight.
Footsteps echoed in the hallway. Dozens of them. Coming closer.
Where's Kael? I asked.
That's the worst part. Cole's voice dropped. He collapsed right after you left. The poison there was more of it in his system. Hidden deeper. He's unconscious. Dying.
Then I need to heal him!
They won't let you. Vera's locked down his room. She says you're too dangerous to be near him. Cole's jaw clenched. She's going to let him die, Sage. And then she's going to execute you for murder.
The footsteps stopped outside the library door.
A voice rang out cold, commanding, utterly merciless.
Sage Winters, Vera called through the door. By order of the Elder Council, you are under arrest for the murder of Marcus Grey and suspicion of conspiring to assassinate Alpha Kael Thorne. Surrender now, or we will take you by force.
Lyra and Cole moved to stand between me and the door.
What do we do? I whispered.
The Mark on my shoulder blazed silver.
And I realized I had only one choice left.
Fight.