I dragged myself upright, every joint screaming. My inner wolf, which had been a constant low hum at the back of my mind for as long as I could remember, was silent now. Not sleeping. Gone quiet in a way that felt like a room after someone has died in it. "Caspian was here. He forced an entire dose of Severance Root down my throat. Did you know that?"

Seraphina's expression stiffened. She lowered her gaze. "I knew."

"You knew?"

I fought with everything I had to keep the tears from falling. Inside the hollow space where my wolf should have been, there was nothing. No growl of rage, no surge of betrayal. Just silence, vast and terrible, like pressing your ear to a chest and hearing no heartbeat.

She reached for my hand. I pulled away.

"Fenris, he was only protecting himself. If you and I were to have pups someday, where would that leave him and his bloodline? Where would that leave the pups? It's only natural."

I laughed, hollow and sharp. Natural. What a convenient excuse.

Seraphina set down the bowl and spoke again. "Caspian's been doubled over with stomach pains ever since he got back to his den. It's possible some dark energy from you affected him..."

She trailed off, watching me, choosing her next words carefully.

"There's a venerable elder at Moonspire Shrine. I need you to go to him, have him perform a cleansing rite for you, and then climb every one of the nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine steps in wolf form to obtain a Moon Goddess blessing charm for Caspian. Do that, and we can put this whole matter behind us. All right?"

I stared at her, my eyes burning red.

"Seraphina Blackthorn, you and I are finished. If you want a blessing charm, go get it yourself."

I forced my battered body off the bed, trying to leave this wretched place.

But Seraphina blocked my path.

She ordered her servants to drag me away. They ignored my struggling, threw me onto a horse, and rode hard to the foot of Moonspire Shrine.

"Take him up the mountain."

Two guards seized me, one on each side. The steps were inlaid with silver dust, and even through my boots I could feel the burn. I hauled my broken body forward, one step, one bow, one step, one bow. Except I couldn't shift. The Severance Root had stolen that from me. So I climbed as a man on hands and knees over silver-laced stone, and the burning was just burning, with no wolf to share the pain.