---- Chapter 9 No.9 Kaelen POV: The morning of the ceremony dawned bright and clear, but a storm was raging inside me. The entire pack was in a festive mood, but my heart felt like a lead weight in my chest. Elara. Her absence was a physical ache, a gaping wound in my soul. The mate bond, which should have been a vibrant, singing connection between us, was faint and silent. It felt... wrong. Seraphina was radiant in a ceremonial white gown, but her beauty did nothing to stir my senses. My wolf was agitated, pacing restlessly in my mind, whining her name. 'Elara. Where is our mate?' Elara's mother, Elena, approached me, her face a mask of strained cheerfulness. "She is probably just being difficult," she said, her voice a tight whisper. "She was never one for crowds. Lyra has gone to fetch her." Elena's words did little to soothe the growing unease in my gut. A few minutes later, Lyra returned, her face pale and troubled. "She's not there," she announced to her parents. "Her shack is empty." Elena's hand flew to her mouth. "That girl! How could she be ---- so disrespectful on a day like this?" She turned to a nearby pack servant. "Go find her. Check the kitchens, the woods, everywhere." Lyra stepped forward, her expression uncharacteristically serious. "I'll go," she said. "| know where she might be." As the servant scurried off, Lyra's eyes met mine, and for the first time, | saw a flicker of doubt in them. She had seen something. Elena, oblivious, was trying to smooth things over. "| should have arranged better quarters for her. It completely slipped my mind. But she should have said something! She's always so stubbornly silent." | couldn't listen to any more excuses. The bond was screaming at me now, a thin, high-pitched keen of distress. | reached out through the mind-link, pushing past the usual barriers, trying to find her. 'Elara? Where are you?' Silence. | focused my power, trying again, harder this time. 'Elara, this isn't funny. The ceremony is about to begin. Come to the great hall. Now.' Still nothing. It was like shouting into a void. A cold dread began to seep into my bones. She had never ignored a direct link from me before. Seraphina came to my side, slipping her arm through mine. ---- "Don't worry, Kaelen," she cooed, oblivious to my inner turmoil. "She's probably just throwing a tantrum. She'll show up. Now come, the priest is waiting." Her touch felt wrong, like a stranger's. | gently but firmly removed her arm. My wolf was growling now, a low, menacing rumble in my mind. Something was terribly wrong. "She's just being difficult, Kaelen," Elena insisted, her smile not reaching her eyes. "Let's not keep everyone waiting." Anger, cold and sharp, cut through my worry. | sent one last, powerful message through the link, lacing it with the authority of my Alpha command. 'Elara, what has gotten into you? Why are you being so childish?' The link didn't just remain silent. It felt... dead. Like a severed rope. The connection, which had been a constant presence in my life since the day we met, was gone. And in its place was a terrifying, soul-shattering emptiness. Lyra POV: | pushed open the door to the Omega shack, my heart pounding. The servant had told me she'd been living here since her release, and the knowledge had settled like a stone in my stomach. We had let her live here. In this... hovel. ---- The inside was even worse than | imagined. It was tiny, cold, and bare. The bed was nothing more than a few wooden planks laid over stones, covered with a thin, ragged blanket. The air smelled of dust and sorrow. How could she have lived like this? How could we have let her? She wasn't here. The room was empty. But on the small, rickety table, there was a worn leather-bound journal lying open. Next to it was a stack of official-looking papers. My hand trembled as | reached for them. They were healer's reports. Page after page detailing malnutrition, untreated injuries, and recurring fevers from her time in the dungeon. The final page was a stark diagnosis: chronic kidney failure in the right kidney, consistent with severe silver poisoning. My blood ran cold. Silver poisoning. From the rogue attack. The attack where Seraphina claimed to have saved Kaelen. | heard Kaelen's voice outside, calling for Seraphina. My mother was urging everyone towards the temple. | couldn't show them this. Not yet. Not until | understood. Quickly, | scooped up the journal and the reports, hiding them in the folds of my cloak. My mother called my name, her voice impatient. "Lyra, come! Elara is just trying to spoil the day. We will deal with her later." Deal with her. The words made me sick. We had been "dealing with" my sister for years, and all we had done was break her. As | stepped out of the shack and into the bright, festive ---- sunlight, a terrible certainty began to dawn. We had been wrong. 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