LYSANDER
I stood outside the infirmary with wolfsbane powder hidden in my pocket and my resolve crumbling like wet paper.
The decision that had been made days ago. Nights added, if I counted the sleepless nights spent cataloging my father's crimes against my mother. Against every decent person who'd crossed his path. Against the stability of our entire pack. I'd rehearsed the justifications until they felt like truth. He was a monster. He needed to be stopped. Someone had to do it.
But knowing something and acting on it still lived in different worlds entirely.
My hand closed around the vial through the fabric. The glass felt too small, too fragile to contain something capable of hurting and ending a life. Especially his life. The man who'd taught me to shift. Who'd sat with me through my first rut and explained how to anchor myself when the animal tried to take over. Who'd looked at me with something almost like pride when I'd passed his trials.
