Since Charolette had told me she had cancer this morning, I couldn't stop thinking about it. It had been on my mind for hours, playing through it, terrorizing me. We skipped the rest of practice, despite Marcel telling her she needed to train to be strong, and went to get ice cream at Pink's Parlor.

She told me everything, that doctors were giving up on her, telling her that all this treatment was doing nothing to slow the spread, that the money Ares was pouring into treatments was for nothing, that they thought she only had a few months at best unless the Moon Goddess presented her with a miracle.

When I got home and could finally think again, I locked myself in Ruffles's bedroom and cried. It was the first time all day that I allowed myself to cry. Ruffles hopped up onto my lap and rubbed her face against my cheek, knowing that something was wrong.

Ares had disappeared down into his office all day, doing work, while I stayed up here. I cried; I ate some more ice cream; and I tried to figure out a plan. We needed to find the other half of the stone... but I didn't even know where it was.

Did the Hounds have it? If they did, would only half of the stone work? Could that treat her cancer, could it keep her alive? What if it didn't? I brushed my fingers across the stone in my back, feeling its power vibrating through my fingers.

If it didn't, then I would give her my half. I had to give it to her. I didn't have any other choice. If I had to spend the rest of my life unable to walk and unable to shift, then I would do that for Charolette. I didn't know her as much as I wished I did, but she had helped me so much already--even if it was just hiding Ruffles from Ares for me.

But until then... I would try my hardest to find the stone.

I placed Ruffles on the bed, opening a bag of chips to distract her so I could get some work done. I picked up the phone, listening to her little crunches, and dialed Elijah's number. He had told me to call him to talk about the second half of the stone.

Though I didn't think he had any information about the stone that he hadn't told me yet, I needed to talk to him. His doctor had been the one to put the stone in my back, maybe I could convince him to put the other stone into Charolette's back once we found it. And... if my stone was attracting the Hounds like Ares thought... maybe we could somehow find the other half of the stone using this one.

Something.

Anything.

Elijah didn't answer, so I called him again. For the second time, it went straight to voicemail. "Elijah, please answer. I need to talk to you as soon as possible about the second half of the stone. We need to find it as soon as possible. Call me back whenever. I will answer."

Ares knocked on the door and peeked his head into the room. "Are you ready? My dad wanted us over at six."

I gazed at the clock, noticing that it was 5:50pm, and hurried to the room, throwing on a nice dress and hoping that I looked presentable enough. Ares grabbed my hand and led me out of the packhouse and down the street.

"Your sister is sick," I said, breaking the silence between us. I hadn't told him that I knew about her. Hell, we barely talked all day.

He paused right in the middle of the street, tensing. "She told you?"

"Yes." I grabbed his hand. "I'm sorry for getting angry at you and for calling you power hungry. I'm sorry for... for what is happening. I didn't know, but..." I grasped his hand tighter and tried to smile up at him. "But I am willing to do everything to find the other half of the stone. And, if we can't find it in time, then I'm going to give her the stone inside of me."

The soft expression on Ares's face completely disappeared and was replaced with a hard stare. "No." He grabbed my hand and continued to walk toward his dad's house.

"I'm not asking you for permission." I pulled my hand out of his and stared at him. "I'm going to do it, if she needs it."

He growled. Some people who were walking down the road looked over. He glared down at me with those hard eyes. "You're not going to give your life for hers. I appreciate your offer, but Charolette nor I will accept you doing that."

"If it's life or death, Ares?" I shook my head. "I am going to do it."

His jaw twitched. "I am not going to fight with you about this. You will not risk your life. You're the luna in this pack. You need to be strong and stay strong. You need to be strong for me, for when shit hits the fucking fan and I spiral out of fucking control..." He swallowed hard, as if he had been preparing for that moment, when shit hit the fan and his sister died. "You need to lead this pack."

"Well, you need to understand that--"

"Aurora!" someone shouted from the front door of Ares's father's home. "Ares! You're here!" Mr. Barrett smiled from the door, holding it open for us. "Come on in."

Ares grabbed my hand and pulled me to the house, staying deathly quiet. When we walked in Charolette was already sitting at the table with Liam, kicking her legs back and forth, with a giant smile on her face.

"Hi A!" She smiled widely at me, that twinkle in her eye had reappeared. Ares nodded at her, and she scrunched up her nose. "I was talking to Aurora, not you Mars."

Ares pulled out a chair for me, and I sat, giving him a side glare. He sat next to me, his jaw clenched hard, staring from me to his sister and back. I smiled at her and pressed my lips together, not wanting to say anything that would cause Ares to lose absolute control. If we were back home, I would. I would fight him on this. But... we were eating with his family for the first time, and I wanted to make a good first impression.

Mr. Barret's house was decorated in family photos. I stared at one on the wall across from us and smiled softly. Ares, Charolette, Mr. Barrett, and Mrs. Barrett. It looked as if it had been taken years ago, when Ares was in his early teens. Mrs. Barrett stood behind him, her arms around his neck, her head resting softly on top of his. Ares had this huge grin on his face, eyes closed in utter delight. I had never seen him look so happy.

After following my gaze, Ares frowned at the picture and placed a tense hand on my inner thigh. He squeezed lightly, and I could feel all of his hurt. He hurt in so many places, so badly, it was difficult for me to even begin to imagine what had happened to her.

Mr. Barrett placed a heaping bowl of mashed potatoes down on the table and sat at the other head of the table, across from Ares. They fell into an easy conversation, and I glanced between them.

Though nearly a spitting image of his father, Ares didn't act anything like him. He sat stone-faced, picking up conversation with him, while his father was smiling. I frowned at Ares, still angry but wondering what had hurt him so bad to have him change from that smiling boy to the distant and domineering man he was today.

All I wanted was to see him happy like that again, all the time.

I grabbed some mashed potatoes and placed them on my plate. Mr. Barrett gazed at me. "Has Ares cooked for you yet, Aurora?"

I glanced at Ares. "Ares knows how to cook?"

Mr. Barrett raised a brow at him. "You haven't made your mate dinner?"

"He's made me pretzels and cheese," I said, playfully elbowing Ares.

Mr. Barrett's pointed stare softened, and he smiled at me. "Ares and his mother always used to make those together. That was their go-to midnight snack, wasn't it?"

Ares's lips curled into a smile, and he nodded at me. His eyes softened, and I placed my hand on his thigh, squeezing lightly. My heart felt warm, and it seemed as if every single one of those rumors about Alpha Ars was slowly starting to disappear. He wasn't heartless; he was heartbroken.

When dinner was over, Ares took my hand and led me down one of the hallways. It was decorated with pictures of his mother and him. He pushed open a door and walked into a room. "When the packhouse got too hectic, my family came here." He closed the door behind us and pulled back the curtains to stare out into the woods. "My mom used to bring me and Charolette here to play."

The room was decorated with football posters, and there was a big toy box near the window that had a pink teddy bear on it and a family picture. I walked over to it and smiled, grasping it in my hands.

Something about it was so terribly sad, yet I didn't know what it was. I gazed down at the picture, feeling his fingers glide across my waist from behind me. He rested his head on my shoulder, pulled me closer to him, and smiled. "She would've loved you," he said softly in my ear. "I wished that you could've met her."