Page 98 of The Wolf Prince's Mate

I grimaced.

Before I could accept or turn them down, my phone buzzed once. Then again. And a third time.

“Want me to check it?” Sydney asked. She knew my password. I wasn’t all that private.

“Sure.” It was probably just Clay, but if he was coming to the studio, I wanted a warning.

Syd picked it up as I refocused on Aspen’s arm.

A moment of silence passed.

Then another.

Finally, Syd cleared her throat. “I think you’re going to want to turn the machine off for a minute.”

I frowned, but did so, tugging my gloves off and accepting the device she handed to me.

When I saw the message thread she had opened, my eyes widened.

My stomach dropped, too.

There were two texts, with a picture of my sister Olive sandwiched between them.

Olive

Dancing through life

The picture was of her with a beanie on her head and an IV in her arm. She was much skinnier than she’d been in the picture she’d sent me before, and she looked deathly pale.

Olive

Good thing no one mourns the wicked

Between the picture and the lastWickedreferences, her message was clear.

She was dying.

“Fuck,” Aspen whispered.

She and Syd knew everything about my situation with my sister.

I tapped on the contact and pressed the button to call her. She didn’t answer immediately, but right before it went to voicemail, she finally did.

“I hope you’re calling to sing to me.” The sound of her voice made my eyes sting.

“What happened, Oli?” I didn’t beat around the bush. There was too much panic coursing through me.

“Breast cancer. Guess it runs in the family. Would’ve been nice if good old mom warned me, huh?”

“How bad is it?” I demanded.

The moment of silence that followed answered the question for her.

“There’s nothing you can do,” she finally said. “There’s nothing anyone can do. It already spread too far. I don’t have much time left. I’m just glad you’re a wolf, so you don’t have to deal with this.”

The sting in my eyes grew to a burn. “Human women can become wolves now too.”

There was another pause. “Wait, what?”

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