Manny’s POVAt first, I brushed it off as exhaustion, maybe I’d been spending too much time at work and the affairs of the pack. Or maybe the house was just getting too quiet without Lexi around. But then Wayne started talking about shadows that spoke to him.He came running to me one afternoon, his small hands clutching at my arm, eyes wide with both excitement and fear.“Dad” he whispered, glancing around, afraid something might overhear. “I saw it again.”I crouched down, setting aside the stack of reports I’d been trying to read. “Saw what, bud?”“A talking shadow.” His voice was trembling, but he still tried to sound brave.I smiled faintly, trying not to feed the fear. “A talking shadow? That’s new. What was it saying?”He frowned hard, trying to recall. “I don’t know. It sounded funny… like whispering. But it was standing near the kitchen window, and it looked like it was waiting for someone.”I wanted to laugh it off. Shadows waiting by windows, it sounded like something out
Sophia’s POVThere was something different about the house of recent. The walls vibrated but slowly and it pulsed through the floor like a heartbeat.Initially, when I started saying out what I saw in the book, nothing happened, but now every time I touched Clara’s book, the air shifted. The pages glowed faintly in the light, as though they were drinking in the power I hadn’t meant to summon. And whenever Danny was near, his curiosity bright and unguarded and his vulnerability high, the current grew stronger. It thrilled me.The last few days had been a blur. Every time I guided Danny through one of the simple exercises written in Clara’s hand, I felt it, something old, something patient, pushing back through the world. It wanted to breathe again, and I was letting it, but I couldn't stop. That afternoon, the house grew was still. Danny had gone with Manny to work, and the silence felt heavier than usual. My fingers itched for something to do. Reading the same passages again di
Jean’s POVThe whispers had began as faint as a sigh. At first, I thought they were memories, fragments of dreams that hadn't faded. But lately, they’ve grown louder, threading through my thoughts .They don’t shout or command. They… suggest. Softly. Patiently. Like a voice that knows it will be heard, sooner or later.Some mornings, when I wake and it's still dark, I catch the remnants of a melody I don’t remember singing. It seemed as though I was awake long before I woke up. The melodies hovered around the edges of my mind, hauntingly sweet, like something was trying to remember itself through me.The classroom had become my sanctuary, though even that word feels fragile now. The children’s laughter fills the walls with light, and I cling to that sound, to their innocence. It keeps the darkness at bay, if only for a while.“Miss Jean, can I draw the moon again?” Nia asked one afternoon, her hands already smudged with ink. “Of course, darling,” I said with a smile, kneeling besid
Jax’s POVAfter the first day I met Serena, I found myself returning to that same spot more often than I’d ever admit. I told myself it was just for the air, or maybe the quiet, but deep down, I knew I just wanted to see her again.The garden where she worked always smelled sweet with the beautiful scents of flowers. Birds scattered when I approached, and I’d hear her hum softly before she even noticed me. Sometimes, she’d glance up and give me a cute small, guarded smile. “Back again, already?” she teased one afternoon without looking up.“Maybe,” I replied. “You always have interesting company.”“Company?” she said, finally turning her gaze toward me. “You mean the flowers or the herbs?”I chuckled. “Yeah. They seem more talkative than you.”That earned me a quiet laugh, one that came and went quickly, but it was enough to keep me coming back.Over time, she stopped being distant. I started helping her gather herbs, even though I had no idea what most of them were. She’d correct
Sophia’s POVThe mornings had begun to feel even more quiet lately. Manny had been busy with his usual schedule and leading the pack. The compound no longer hummed with the chaos of planning or rebuilding, it had settled and was now calmer.And that calm left me restless.I would often find myself wandering through the garden or sitting by the window in my room, watching the few pack members who passed through the courtyard below. Then, there was Danny, bright, curious Danny, with his easy smile and unshaken eagerness to please everyone. He was light-hearted yet slightly naïve.I hadn’t intended to grow fond of him. Truly, I hadn’t. But fondness crept in quietly. When everyone left for work, kids in their classroom, he kept me company, but never a really proper conversation. One morning Manny told him to come to the office.“Danny, I need you with me today,” he said in a tone that was neither a request nor a command. “We have to go through the produce inventory. Might take the whol
Danny’s POVThe gates of the Red Fang Pack looked smaller than I remembered. Maybe it was me, maybe two and a half years away had changed something in how I saw this world. I stood at the entrance for a while, just staring, breathing in the air. It was home. It felt strange to call it that again. But I was glad to be back. I slung my bag over my shoulder and started walking in.Two guards stood by the gatehouse, their eyes following me curiously. One of them squinted, then blinked as recognition dawned.“Danny?” he said uncertainly.I grinned, throwing my arms wide. “In the flesh.”“Danny, Kiran’s brother?”“Still the same one,” I said, though his tone made me pause for half a second. “Why do you sound like I came back from the dead?”The two exchanged a quick look before forcing small smiles. “It’s been a while,” one of them said. “Didn’t expect you back.”“I didn’t expect to be gone this long either,” I admitted. “Academy life is... not for the fainthearted.”They laughed politely