LOGINNALANIThe library doors closed behind me and I let out a sigh of relief. The whispers and murmurs that followed me everywhere had become worse. Every corner I turned, there was a pack member glaring at me like I was a bad omen.My stomach twisted as I took a seat at the corner of the library and pulled my knee to my chest.“That didn’t last at all” I whispered to myself as I remembered the gratitude they had felt barely a week ago. “People are so weak when it comes to feelings and decisions."I felt my wolf move. “When are you going to come out?” I whispered.Everyone believed it was too late. My father said it didn’t matter that I felt her. What mattered was that I didn’t shift, and at 18, and now, I was 20, and my wolf still wouldn’t come out. We had sought out solutions, and none knew why my wolf had refused to show.She reacted. She moved. She was there. But she had never spoken or reached out to me.My mother believed it was because of my healing powers. It took too much from me
SAMAELMy hands remained clenched as I walked outside the house and towards the garden.“Are you tormenting yourself because you defended our mate?” My wolf asked.“Shouldn’t I?” I muttered. “What if they think I care? And she is not our mate. Amara is,”Rhaegar grunted in disapproval. “I loved Amara, but she is gone. The goddess has given us someone new. Nalani is our mate, and you cannot continue to fight it," he argued.I pushed him to the back of my mind because I wasn’t ready to argue with him about that topic or remind him that for reasons still unknown to me, Nalani wasn’t aware we were mates.It made everything easier.The garden smelled wrong when I stepped inside. The smell of herbs and plants had disappeared, and instead, it was filled with the stink of ash, old smoke, and something dark I couldn’t identify.“Anything yet?” I asked Adler as he approached, and he shook his head.“We’ve gone through all the beds, and this was the only one." He pointed at the charm Nalani had
NALANIMy injury had cooled by the time I reached the packhouse doors.Whatever was wrong with my injury had faded, and now only the faded throbbing reminder that an injury lay under the bandage was left. I pressed my hand against my side and kept walking.I couldn’t tell anyone what I had just experienced.What would I have said? That a charm of black thread and tiny bones had made my injury flare like a warning? I was barely starting to get liked. I didn’t want them to turn around and call me crazy.No one knew what my blood could do, and they could never find out. Samael may have been willing to keep it a secret, but how many of them would ignore and not hunt me down like a wild animal?I went back to my room briefly to change and went in search of Mabel. I knew she would be upset.I found her in her bedroom. She sat by the window overlooking the garden, looking down at it.She heard me come in, but she didn’t turn around. I walked towards the window and looked down.Some pack warr
NALANISamael’s strides were large and almost impossible for me to keep up with. He took a turn and entered an empty hallway.“Samael!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, letting my anger and frustration bleed into my voice.I didn’t even know why I was chasing him, but I hated how he was treating me like I was invincible.He stopped, but did not turn.“Are you finally going to stop running?” I wheezed sarcastically, anger bleeding through my words.He looked over his shoulders with a cold expression. “What?” he demanded harshly.I caught up with him and walked around him so we were facing each other. “You don’t get to act cold to me when you were the one watching me earlier,” I crossed my arms over my chest to hide how hard I was breathing from playing chase with him.“I wasn’t watching you. I was on my way to a meeting,”“Liar,” The words were out before I could stop them and his eyes narrowed. “You were standing there for a while. I could feel your eyes on me,” I accused.“What mak
NALANIThe first thing I noticed when I woke up was that the ache in my bones had finally dulled enough for me to move without feeling like I was breaking apart.It had been three days since the rogue attack, three days since I had pressed my bleeding palm to Sera’s lips and prayed that the Goddess would not take her from her parents.The pack doctor had continued to visit every morning to check my progress. I couldn’t tell him he didn’t need to without revealing why, so I kept quiet and let him do his work.This morning, he studied me for a long moment before sighing. “I still don’t know what caused the sudden weakness in your body, but you must refrain from doing any difficult task for now,” he said.“Okay,”He gave me a look that suggested that he didn’t believe me and then left.As soon as the door closed behind him, I pushed the covers off me and changed into a simple cream dress. I braided my hair over one shoulder. My hand was still wrapped in a clean bandage, and the wound ben
SAMAELI needed to get out of the pack house. It was infuriating the way her smell clung to me after I carried her back to her room. I had taken a shower to get rid of the scent, but it did nothing.The packhouse felt suffocating, so I left. My legs carried me deep into the forest until I was where I needed to be.Vharos’s large body lounged nonchalantly beside the large rock, hiding his body like a predator as he blended into the night. I knew he was there because we shared a bond else someone else would have missed him.His golden eyes tracked me as I took a seat beside him.“Don’t look at me like that,” I muttered with a small grunt.Vharos didn’t speak or move. He just watched me with eyes that felt like they could see through whatever lie I tried to make myself believe was the truth.What lie?It wasn’t a lie. It was the truth. There was nothing to force myself to believe.“It was nothing,” I said flatly. “The only reason I bothered to carry her to her room was because she fainte
NALANII sat still, trying hard not to fall off the beast as it bounded through the moonlit forest to the Blackthorne pack. I had not expected Samael to ride with me. Maybe he thought I would escape.He had not said a word since we left, but his presence was suffocating. My skin prickled with every
NALANII had been in the Blackthorn pack for a week, and I was not going to lie and say that things had gotten easier. I had just learnt to live one day at a time.I spent my mornings in the library. The smell of the old books was comforting, and it gave me a sense of calm, like I wasn’t living in
NALANI“Lani”, Esme’s timid voice invaded my thoughts as she peeked her head through the bedroom. “Can I come in?" She asked carefully."I sat up with a tired sigh and rubbed my eyes. They were dried and puffy from crying all night. “Yes,” I croaked, my voice raspy from all the crying I did at nigh
NALANII hummed my favourite song as I bounced on my way to Esme’s room. We had promised to meet up so we could go to town to see the new festival that was happening in the pack. I finally got my father’s approval to leave the pack house, and I didn’t want to waste any more minutes.“… is madness.







