In Galathia Pack, the emergency room's light glowed through the night. Ethan Stone sat on a bench outside, staring at the blood-red "In Surgery" sign above. Julian Chase had swallowed charcoal, a desperate act to end his life.
When Ethan grasped the full weight of it, the world felt absurd, laughably cruel. In just a week, he'd nearly lost both of his closest packmates. The light flickered off with a thud, snapping him back. He wiped his face. "Healer, how is he?"
The healer sighed. "We pulled him through, but he's set on dying. There's little we can do. The car crash's damage to his brain hasn't healed, and this blow… whether he wakes depends on his will."
The words pinned Ethan like a boulder. In the ward, Julian lay with a ventilator, his chest barely rising. His hand clutched someth
