Chapter 2

I kept one arm around the urn as I drove back to the ranch.

Cole followed in his truck. He stayed close enough to make sure I could not disappear, but he never once asked about Noah.

When I stepped through the front door, he was already waiting in the kitchen.

His cheek was still clean. Mine was swelling fast.

“Selene was shaken,” he said. “You had no right to attack her.”

I set the urn on the counter. “You hit me.”

“You were going to hurt a pregnant woman.”

“You were sleeping with her.”

His jaw tightened. “This is exactly what I mean. You turn every disagreement into a scene.”

He reached into a paper bag and pulled out a small denim jacket. A carnival ticket stuck out of the pocket.

“I bought this for Noah,” he said. “We’ll go next weekend. The fireworks will still be there.”

I stared at the jacket.

“He won’t need it.”

Cole held it out. “Stop talking like that.”

“He died tonight.”

The jacket slipped from his hand.

For a second, he only stared at me. Then he let out a short, angry laugh.

“You’re trying to punish me because I missed one evening.”

“I watched him die.”

“Enough.” His voice rose. “Noah has been sick for years. You know how many times you’ve used that to drag me away from my duties?”

I picked up the urn. “You don’t get to call it a duty when you were between Selene’s legs.”

His eyes hardened. “Watch yourself, Elena.”

The front door opened.

Selene walked in with her thirteen-year-old daughter Mara beside her, who never hid how much she hated Noah.

Selene carried a casserole dish. “I brought dinner. I thought everyone might need something.”

Mara looked around the kitchen. “Is Noah here?”

“No,” I said.

“Good.” She kicked at the fallen denim jacket. “He always ruins everything anyway.”

Cole’s face softened toward her. “Mara.”

“What? Dad promised to take me to the carnival too. Then Noah got sick again.”

Selene touched Mara’s shoulder. “Don’t say things like that, sweetheart. Elena is grieving.”

She looked at me with wet eyes. “I’m sorry. I never wanted to come between you and Cole. I only want to be near the man I love, and I want my daughter to have her father.”

“You have taken enough,” I said.

Cole stepped between us. “Selene has done nothing wrong.”

“She knew it was Noah’s birthday.”

“She didn’t know you would become violent.”

I grabbed the jacket from the floor and held it up. “He picked this himself?”

Cole nodded.

“Then tell him why he never got to wear it.”

“Put it down,” he said.

I tossed it onto the table. “No. You’re going to look at it.”

Cole’s eyes flicked to the jacket, then away.

Selene moved closer to him. “Cole, maybe I should leave. I don’t want to make things worse.”

“You’re staying,” he said.

I laughed. “Of course she is.”

His hand slammed against the table. The urn rattled beside it.

“Do not threaten her again,” he said. “If you touch Selene or my unborn child, I’ll strip you of your position and lock you in the north holding cells.”

I lifted the urn off the table. “You can take the title. You can take the house. You can’t take him from me.”

“I’m trying to protect this family.”

“You don’t even know which family you’re talking about.”

I turned toward the hall.

“Where are you going?” Cole demanded.

“To my son’s room.”

“You need to calm down.”

“No. I need to find out who killed him.”

His expression changed. “What did you say?”

I kept walking.

Noah’s room was exactly as I had left it. His toy trucks lined the windowsill. His red boots sat beneath the bed. I placed the urn on his desk and opened the closet.

Behind the folded blankets, I found the denim jacket he had worn to the clinic that morning. A strip of black thread was tied around one sleeve.

I pulled it free.

A hard object dropped from the pocket and hit the floor.

It was a small bone shard carved with a gray wolf’s head.

I crouched to pick it up.

The door clicked shut behind me.

Selene stood in the doorway.

Her tears were gone.

She ran one finger over Noah’s toy train. “Such a pity.”

I closed my hand around the bone shard. “Get out.”

She glanced at the urn. “He was always a weak child.”

“Leave.”

“A cursed child was never going to live past five.”

The room went silent.

I stepped toward her. “What did you just say?”

Selene blinked, then widened her eyes. “I said he was sick. You must have misunderstood.”

“No.” I held up the carved bone. “You knew about the curse.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“No one knew. Not Cole. Not the doctor. Not Mara.”

Her smile faltered.

I grabbed her wrist and shoved her against the wall.

“What did you do to my son?”

The door burst open.

Cole seized my shoulder and ripped me away from her.

Selene collapsed into his arms, gasping. “She tried to kill me.”

Cole looked at me with fury.

“You’re done, Elena,” he said. “Tomorrow, we’re going to the elders. I’m ending your claim as Luna.”