MasukJax’s POV“Ughh…” I grunted as the sun reflected into my eyes, stinging me terribly, but I overcame the heat and kept on with what I was doing. The hammer hits the nail with a satisfying thunk. The sound echoed across the open yard, mixing with the laughter of pups playing near the training field. The scent of paint, sweat, and freshly cut grass filled the air. Danny balances on the other side of the fence, smirking at me like he was waiting for me to mess something up.“Bro, you are holding that brush like it’s a sword,” he said, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.I glanced up from the plank I was repainting and arched a brow. “And what if I am? Maybe this fence needs a warrior’s touch.”Danny snorts. “A warrior who can’t paint straight lines? I know what sort of man you are. Hehehe.”I looked down. The streak of white I had just applied looked more like a wave than a clean edge. I grumbled. “You know, it adds character.”He laughed, shaking his head. “Sure, tell that
Sophia’s POVI honestly never thought silence could be this loud. Every corridor I walked through echoes back pieces of who I used to be, Sophia, the Luna of this pack, mother of the Alpha, the proud matriarch, the one who commanded fear instead of earning respect. Now all that was left was the whispers of my footsteps and the ghosts of my own making. I kind of feel like I caused my downfall, but no one really loves taking the blame for certain things, especially this. The packhouse now felt… foreign. It was not that the walls had changed or anything, but the way people looked at me has. Once, heads bowed whenever I passed. Now, eyes shift away. They do not spit my name or curse me anymore, that would have been easier. It was the quiet that hurt more, the kind that says we see you, but we no longer care to know you.Danny didn’t come around anymore. I kept telling myself it was because he had found a way to finally fit into the pack, and he was busy with Manny, and some other warr
Lexi’s POVThe drive back was quiet, yet the silence didn’t sit between us like it used to. It wasn’t heavy or awkward, just... peaceful. He requested to drive and though I was concerned I let him do it. Manny’s hand rested loosely on the steering wheel, his gaze focused ahead, his expression soft. There was something different about him now, something steady, like the storm inside him had finally begun to calm.But even in that peace, my chest felt unsettled. My thoughts kept drifting, tugging at something I couldn’t quite name.Maybe it was the memory of Serena. Maybe it was guilt that she sacrificed herself for us and never got to see what we’d become. Or maybe it was something far more complicated, the feeling that everything was about to change again.“Manny,” I said finally, my voice low but firm.He glanced at me briefly. “Hmm?”“Can we stop by Serena’s grave before heading home?”He didn’t hesitate. “Of course.”I gave a small nod. I hadn’t visited it since. I’d been so cau
Manny’s POVI had barely been sleeping now. Every time I closed my eyes, faces of those I’d failed came crawling out of the dark. My father’s grave had been calling me all week, quietly, insistently. I finally gave in. Maybe I needed to hear the silence there to make sense of everything.I dressed slowly, slipping on my jacket and reaching for the cane propped against the wall. The limp was worse in the mornings, a constant reminder of how much had been lost, and how much still ached to heal.When I turned, Lexi was by the doorway, her hair still damp from her shower, she had a tray in her hand and I knew it was for me, but I wasn't exactly hungry now. “You’re heading out?” she asked.I nodded, my voice low. “Yes, need to see my father.”Her gaze flickered with understanding. “Should I come with you?”For a moment, I wanted to tell her no. I didn’t want her seeing me that way, broken and bleeding on the inside, talking to a grave as if it could talk back. But instead, I surprised mys
Lexi’s POVMorning rose over the packhouse slowly, pale and quiet, the kind of morning that felt like the world itself was catching its breath after a long, unbearable nightmare.The last two nights have been crazy, but I believed we were all past that now.The air was crisp, carrying the faint scent of wet leaves and the electric tang of ozone, remnants of the chaos that had raged through the night.Everything looked cleansed, though nothing could ever truly erase the scars left behind. I stood at the window, watching the first rays of sunlight slip through the trees, touching the remnants of our field with a delicate, almost mocking softness.Danny moved through the garden below, carrying the ashes in his hands. I couldn’t see his face clearly, but the way he carried them, with a careful reverence, told me everything.Jax was beside him, silent, a steadfast shadow. I could sense the tension coiled in his posture, the same tension that always lingered after we had faced the worst the
Danny’s POVThe night after the fire clung to the packhouse like a weight I couldn’t shake.Smoke still lingered in corners.The house, which had been alive with the chaos of Clara’s final battle, now felt hollow, a vessel emptied of everything but grief.Jean was gone. Serena had sacrificed herself. Clara was dead, finally. And yet, nothing in the stillness told me that the danger had truly passed.It was as if some unfinished thread remained, pulling at the edges of my consciousness, whispering that the end was never really the end.I tried to move, trying to organize my thoughts, but the weight pressing on me was unrelenting. Each sound from outside, a crackling branch, the distant call of a bird, made me flinch.Then it came. A howl, unlike any I had heard before. It cut through the night, splitting the darkness like a blade. The sound was raw, aching, and instantly familiar, Kiran. I heard the howl that day we were together.I froze where I stood. My blood reacted before my mind







