RIKA
"I'll help you, Rikalous." Athena's voice was smooth as silk that night. Calm and reassuring in a way that made my skin crawl even through the panic. "All you need to do is keep quiet about everything. Can you do that for me, baby? Can you be a good boy one last time?"
I couldn't speak. Could barely breathe. My mother's blood still covered my hands, my chest, my face. She was dying. Actually dying because of me. Because I'd been so consumed by rage, so desperate to end my nightmare that I'd stabbed the wrong person.
"Please." The word came out broken. "Please save her. I'll do anything. Just save her."
Athena smiled then like I'd just signed a contract written in blood.
She did save my mother. Called for help and told the pack healers she'd heard screaming. That she'd found me in
