I reached her grave and froze.
Winona Lei stood there, flanked by her ever-loyal followers. Two wolfguards were already knee-deep in the earth, shoveling dirt from my mother’s resting place. The urn containing her ashes lay discarded like trash on the side, replaced by another. Winona’s dog.
“What are you doing?!” I screamed, my voice hoarse with rage as I rushed toward them.
Winona stepped back, feigning innocence, her hands resting lightly on Scott’s arm. “This is my baby’s new home,” she said sweetly, her syrupy tone cutting like broken glass. “The inscription fits so well, doesn’t it? I’m sure you don’t mind sharing, Ariana.”
My hands curled into fists, nails biting into my palms. “You dare—” I grabbed a shovel from one of the wolfguards and began to undo their desecration.
“Ariana, stop!” Scott’s voice thundered as he pulled the shovel from my hands. His touch burned, not from heat but from betrayal.
“How could you let this happen?” I demanded, my voice cracking. My hands hit the soil, clawing at the earth with raw desperation. My mother’s urn was still there. I had to save it.