Kaelen's POV
The sentinels wheeled my mother's stretcher through the doorway. I stood frozen as they disappeared down the corridor. My chest constricted with each breath. My fists kept opening and closing at my sides, as if my body couldn't decide whether to fight or surrender.
I spun toward Silas.
He remained motionless in the center of the room. His complexion had turned ashen. His hands trembled violently. Words seemed to die on his lips before he could speak them.
I moved closer to him.
"You call yourself this pack's healer," I snarled, my voice dropping to a lethal growl. "Yet you failed to recognize that my mother suffered from poison, not the rot."
Silas's legs gave out beneath him. He crashed to his knees, the impact echoing through the stone chamber.
"I understand," he whispered, his voice fracturing. "I have disappointed you terribly, Alpha."
"Wrong."
His head jerked up, confusion clouding his features.
