Mag-log inAmber’s POVThe bell stopped as Richard stepped out of the pack house. He stood at the top of the steps with one hand on the open door, looking past the men gathered in front of him. I knew when he found me because his shoulders settled. His eyes moved over my face, down my clothes, then to Flynn walking beside me. I caught myself straightening before he could tell me to. Flynn’s hand brushed mine. I caught his fingers for a moment, then let go when Richard started down the steps. He made it halfway before he saw Lyra.“You brought her here?”His voice carried across the space between us. A few people behind me stopped talking, and I heard somebody pull a child back out of the road. Lyra kept walking until she was beside me. Kael stayed close to her other side, his weapon already drawn.“She’s with me,” I said.Richard looked at Flynn. “Get away from my mate.”“I’m standing where I want to stand,” I told him.“I’m talking to Flynn.”“And I’m talking to you.”His jaw tightened. Behind
Amber’s POVBy the third time Flynn told me to stay behind him, I stopped pretending I hadn’t heard him.“I’m walking beside you.”“I noticed.”“Then quit trying to move in front of me every time the trail narrows.”Flynn stepped over a root cutting across the path and caught a low branch before it smacked me in the face. “I’m not moving you anywhere.”“You’ve done it three times.”“Maybe you walk slow.”I gave him a look.He let the branch go after I passed. “There. Problem solved.”“You’re irritating.”“So you keep telling me.”The trail down toward Star wasn’t wide enough for all of us, and nobody was in good enough shape to rush it anyway. Lyra and Kael were ahead with Rourke because the three of them could move quietly without arguing every thirty seconds. Cassian and Rowan were behind us, which should have made the walk quieter.It didn’t.“I don’t need help walking,” Cassian said.“You just grabbed a tree,” Rowan answered.“I touched a tree.”“You put your whole hand around it.
Cassian’s POV“That’s my girl.”The man behind me pulled harder on my hair and pushed the knife tighter against my throat.“Drop them.”Lyra kept coming.He jerked me back. “I said drop the fucking weapons.”“Lyra.”“I heard him.”“That wasn’t why I said your name.”Kael stood a few feet behind her, blood dried down one side of his shirt. Rourke was farther back with a sword in his hand.The guy holding me looked between them.Bad idea.Lyra threw the knife.It hit him in the throat.His grip loosened and I caught his knife hand before the blade could slide across my neck. I slammed his wrist into the stone beside me until the knife hit the floor, then drove backward into him.Kael was already on the next man.Rourke took the other.The bastard behind me grabbed the chain between my wrists and yanked. I planted my feet, pulled forward and took him with me. His head hit the iron ring bolted into the wall.Once was enough.He went down behind me.Lyra stepped over him and crouched by th
Lyra’s POVRourke stopped walking.“Also?”Rowan made a noise against Kael’s shoulder that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.I pointed at him. “Don’t.”“I didn’t say anything.”“You were about to.”“I’m bleeding. I should be allowed a little entertainment.”Amber reached up and pressed two fingers against his neck again. “You should be allowed to shut up.”Rourke was still staring at me.I sighed. “Yes. Also.”His eyes moved to Kael, then to Rowan.“Three?”“There it is.”“Lyra.”“Yes, Rourke. Three.”He looked at Rowan again.Rowan lifted his head enough to meet his eyes. “Before you start, you already knew Lyra and I were sleeping together.”Rourke’s mouth tightened. “That isn’t the part I’m trying to understand.”“Good, because I really don’t want to discuss that while Kael’s carrying me.”Kael looked down at him. “I don’t want to discuss it either.”“You knew too.”“I did not know Rourke knew.”“Everybody knew.”I stared at Rowan. “Not everybody.”“You weren’t exactly subtle.”“W
Lyra’s POV The first warrior made it halfway down the slope before I moved. He was watching Amber instead of the trees above him, which told me everything I needed to know about Richard’s men and the amount of confidence they still had despite their territory burning around them. His sword was already drawn, his attention fixed on the woman their Alpha had apparently decided belonged to him whether she wanted him or not, and he never once thought to look behind him. I came out of the trees fast enough that he barely had time to turn. My boot caught the back of his knee and sent him forward. I hooked an arm around his throat, drove my knife into the gap beneath his armor, then let his body drop before the warrior beside him understood what had happened. Kael hit that one before I could. The clash of steel cracked through the ravine, and every man on the slope spun toward us. “There are two more!” someone shouted. I pulled my second knife free. “Technically, I’m worth a
Lyra’s POVI had seen Aurelia burn before.Buildings.Fields.Bodies.I knew what smoke looked like when it came from something nobody was going to save.But I had never stood on the side of a mountain and watched an entire werewolf pack tear itself apart.Another horn echoed across the valley.A howl answered somewhere beyond the trees.Then another came from farther south.I looked toward the columns of black smoke rising above Star Pack territory and tried to wrap my head around how quickly everything had gone to shit.Richard’s warriors had been hunting us less than an hour ago.Now his own wolves were fighting each other.Flynn had warned us there were wolves inside Star Pack who were done living beneath Richard’s rule. Wolves who had spent years keeping their mouths shut because speaking against their Alpha could get them killed.Apparently, they were done being quiet.Beside me, Amber hadn’t moved.She stared across the valley at the smoke.“Amber.”“That’s my home.”“I know.”
Kael’s POV The commotion in my dormitory was annoying as fuck. Fifty male werewolves were running around my floor like their tails had been set alight, just because the Headmaster, Alpha Leon, called a last-minute mandatory meeting. Thanking the Moon Goddess silently for giving me my own suite s
Lyra’s POV Pulling away from Aurelia, we gradually started driving down the five-mile driveway that led to the main road. It had once been beautifully paved, smooth and free of bumps, potholes, or sinkholes, providing a seamless surface for travel. But, like anything, add a bit of neglect and a ce
Lyra's POV My alarm went off at six a.m. on the dot. You'd think, after years of training with us, waking up at 5:30 a.m. to run and do calisthenics, I'd be a morning person. The truth of the matter is, I hate the morning; no matter how much coffee I drink, I still feel like a zombie. Rolling out
Rowan's POV I left Lyra's room, my feet pounding down the hall towards Commander Rourke's office. Climbing down the stairs, I reach the hallway leading to his office. Stilling myself, I take a minute to calm down. I couldn't let her do this alone. We've taken every step together since we were six.







