LOGINAidenElla had stopped looking at me like I might disappear if she blinked.I noticed it around midmorning on the third day, when I came back from a brief meeting with Leo and found her sitting up in bed with one of the books from the packhouse shelf open across her knees. She looked up when I walked in and said, "There's tea on the table if you want it," the way a person says something like that when they've been sharing space long enough to start knowing each other's habits. Casually. Without the measured caution she'd had when we first got here.It was a small thing. I stood in the doorway for a second longer than I needed to, and then I went and got the tea.The truth was, I had been handling her as if she might break, and she had noticed, and she had decided at some point to stop tolerating it. I wasn't certain exactly when the shift had happened. Somewhere between the moment she'd said I know in response to my confession about the mate bond, and now. She had decided, in that qui
I woke in the middle of the night to find Leo sleeping soundly beside me. Careful not to disturb him, I slipped out of bed and quietly left the room. The room was dark and silent as I made my way to the couch in the mini living room. Once seated, I reached up and removed the necklace, letting it rest in the palm of my hand.I'd been thinking about what Ella said ever since. ‘Don't think. Just hold it.’ I had been wearing it around my neck for weeks, and nothing had happened, which made me wonder if the instruction was more specific than it sounded. I stared at the pendant in my hand and touched its cold surface, waiting for something to happen even though I did not exactly know what I was waiting to see. Maybe holding it wasn't enough. Maybe she meant something else by it. Maybe she meant: hold it the way you hold something you're afraid of losing. Hold it the way you hold the last thing a person you love left for you.I sat in the chair by the window with the pendant in my palm an
The door to our room was slightly open when I arrived, which meant that Kelly was still awake. She never left a door fully open when she was sleeping. I pushed the door open slowly.She was sitting at the edge of the bed with the three journals stacked beside her and the small pendant from her mother's necklace resting in her open palm. She wasn't reading. She wasn't doing anything except looking at the pendant like it owed her something.She looked up when she heard me.Neither of us said anything for a moment. It’s funny how we tend to stay silent when we both have a lot of things to say. The room glowed with a soft amber light, cast by the fae lamps that gave everything the hazy warmth of an old memory. Outside, the palace lay silent. Silence has never been this deafening.I crossed the room and sat beside her on the edge of the bed. Not close enough to crowd her. But close enough to make her feel my presence."You found something," I said. Stating the obvious."Yes." Her reply
I found Mateo in the training yard behind the packhouse, running drills with three of my Moonlight Warriors as if he'd been born into this pack instead of visiting it. Aerin apparently assisted him here because he wanted to make sure my daughter was safe. I watched him as he took his position as three of my men began attacking him all at the same time. I know that he is a great fighter. He had proven that over and over again. And, as his friend, I also know when he’s distracted. Just like how he is right now. It was one of the things that I admired about him. How could he still be calm and composed despite the chaos in his mind? He moved efficiently, quietly, but not as flawlessly as he could be if his focus was on the task at stake. It is the minor details that no one would notice unless you have known the man all your life. The sparring had ended with one of my warriors almost getting close to him. I took that sign to walk up to him.He saw me coming and called a halt. The warrior
Aerin led me through the palace in silence. She didn’t ask any questions, just continued walking ahead of me, leaving me alone with my thoughts that had been in complete chaos ever since I left the Fae King’s office. Watching Aerin’s composed silhouette in front of me made me think of my mother. She was a great fighter, one of the best. It makes me wonder what kind of control she had just to survive everything she went through before everything fell apart.Aerin guided me to a door near the place where my mother was now lying in her endless sleep. Knowing all of her and the Fae King’s sacrifices didn’t help ease the guilt that I was feeling. Instead, it just made it worse. “Here,” Aerin said as she held the door open for me. “You’ll be at the packhouse where your brother is once you step inside. And you have a little surprise waiting for you as well.” She added with a smile. “Thank you,” was all that I could muster to say as I walked closer to her. But before I could take a step ins
“It’s okay, Kelly,” the Fae King said, a bittersweet sadness woven into his words. “If it’s too much, you don’t have to wake your mother. But… is it alright if she stays here with me?”I knew the Fae King only said it to ease the weight I kept piling onto myself, but that didn’t stop the pressure from building.“Kelly?” he called gently, but I couldn’t bring myself to turn around.“Is everything all right?”There was real worry threaded through his voice, and my pulse skipped. If I didn’t say something, anything, I know he’d come closer. I heard the scrape of his chair as he pushed it back. My eyes fluttered shut as I tried to gather every fraying emotion and pin it down before it spilled out.Just before he could take that first step toward me, my voice finally broke free.“I’m fine,” I managed to say. My voice was higher than usual, but there was nothing I could do about it. I swallowed and pushed on. “It’s just… everything is happening all at once. And I’m trying to keep up, I real
There’s something about the hut that comforts me. Aside from how it makes me feel closer to my mother, I just know that when I am inside of it, I will be safe. I also know that I can find the answer within, but I have to be honest that so far, I don’t feel like I will find it here. The frustration
As we dig deeper into my mother’s journals, I couldn’t help but get angry at my father. I was slowly seeing things in a different light. Even the Moonlight Warriors team leaders are surprised at all the revelations that we were getting. Anderson, my father, seemed to be nothing like the person tha
I left early in the morning because I knew that if I didn’t, I wouldn't be able to leave at all. I am worried for my family, my people, and my friends, but I know that if I didn’t do this, we would have more problems. Clint told me over the phone that they were caught, but instead of bringing them
Leo had left early this morning. He didn’t bring anyone with him, and I couldn’t help but get worried. I know that he’s capable enough to protect himself, but he will be facing someone we haven’t encountered in our lives. However, I don’t really have the time to be worried right now, because time







