The first thing Evelyn noticed was the silence. Not the peaceful kind that you find when your wanding through the woods listening to the birds sing. Not like fresh snow on a dark sleeping village before the hustle of the day begins. This was thick, heavy, suffocating. And all too familiar too Evelyn. The village square hadn’t changed, not really. The stone well still sat in the center, flanked by timber houses whose windows stared like blank eyes. But there were more people than she remembered. More faces. Wolves standing shoulder to shoulder, their eyes sharp with expectation. And every single one of them was here to watch her fall. The moment they crossed the border, guards closed in. Wolves in black leathers, their insignias stitched in silver thread, weapons gleaming. Damon and Kael flanked her immediately, muscles tensed. Surrounding her and Brina, keeping them out of reach from the guards. “Don’t move,” one guard barked. Evelyn raised her chin. “We’re guests. We came as s
The scent of blood lingered in the clearing. Iron-rich and sickly, mixing with the damp smoke curling from the fire. It made her want to throw up. Damon sat rigid against a fallen tree, eyes locked on the treeline where shadows stretched like reaching claws. His muscles burned, gashes along his ribs throbbing, a deep tear near his shoulder weeping crimson. He didn’t move. Pain had never mattered. Survival was instinct. HIs wolf would heal him as he always did. His wolf prowled beneath his skin, but not from injury, not from the lingering scent of Adrian’s scouts... from her. Evelyn knelt beside him, quiet as moonlight, a bowl of steaming water balanced in her hands. “You’re bleeding.” “I’ll heal.” His voice came flat, automatic. “Not fast enough.” She set the bowl down, dipping a cloth, wringing it gently. When her fingers brushed his arm, Damon tensed. “I can do it myself, do not worry yourself with petty tasks like this.” “No. You fought for us. Let me, I want too.” The w
Wolves prowled at the edge of the firelight, their eyes gleaming all kinds of colours, their bodies half-shifted, fur rippling over humanoid forms like smoke. Lips curled to bare jagged teeth. Brina whimpered behind her, clutching Evelyn’s coat. Kael was already moving, blade flashing in the firelight as he stepped between them and the approaching circle. His voice was low, cold. “Stay behind me.” But Evelyn’s eyes weren’t on the attackers. They were on Damon. His fur seemed to suck up the light surrounding it, an endless shadow rippling with power. He was larger than any wolf Evelyn had ever seen, too large. His massive paws sank into the earth like roots, claws glinting like obsidian shards. And his eyes, red. A deep and dark crimson red, like burning coals. Red as fresh blood spilled on snow. Not the crimson of rage, but of inevitability. The fact that around Damon, death was guaranteed. He was the punisher, the executor. The one who helped death find those who deserved
Crisp morning air sharp with frost, hit her hard when Evelyn stepped out of the bakery. Her breath curled white, like dragons breath as she adjusted Brina’s scarf, pulling it tighter around the girl’s small shoulders. “Too tight,” Brina murmured. “You’ll thank me later,” Evelyn replied, smoothing a stray strand of hair from her pale cheek the same way she used to with Sophia. Kael and Damon stood by the edge of the village, silent as statues. Kael’s gray eyes swept the treeline, always searching, always calculating. Damon’s gaze, however, was fixed on Evelyn. She hated how steady it felt, like a string in her chest pulling tight every time he looked at her. They set out as the first light of dawn spread across the hills. Evelyn walked beside Brina’s small horse, Kael taking point, Damon following silently at the rear. The woods swallowed them quickly, the air growing colder, heavier. Brina rode quietly, her hands fidgeting in her lap. Occasionally she whispered to herself, sof
The bakery still smelled of warm flour and rising dough, but Evelyn couldn’t shake the restless thrum beneath her skin. Every sound—bread crackling as it cooled, the scrape of a chair across the floor—felt sharper, louder. Her wolf paced inside her ribs, tail lashing. She was too still. Too exposed. She pressed her palms into the dough, folding and turning with practiced hands, but her thoughts spiralled. Adrian’s summons was a looming storm raging inside her head, each hour dragging her closer to the heart of it. The memory of Bastian’s grin still burned in her mind, his words replaying like a curse. “You’ll confess in front of his court.” Her jaw tightened. She has nothing to confess to, they were the murderers, they killed Sophia. And she would get revenge. Brina sat quietly in the corner near the oven, legs tucked beneath her, a book open in her lap though her eyes hadn’t moved from the same page in ten minutes. Evelyn had tried coaxing her into eating, but the girl
The bakery was a sanctuary of warm flour and rising dough, but Evelyn’s heart felt raw beneath the familiar hum of daily life. She worked the dough mechanically, fingers pressing and folding, but her mind was miles away counting down the hours until she faced Adrian’s court. The weight of the coming storm pressed on her chest, making her breaths shallow and thoughts jagged. The scent of fresh bread mingled with the sharp tang of fear and anticipation. She wiped her sweaty palms on her apron, fighting the urge to run her hands through her hair in frustration. Her wolf prowled beneath her skin, restless, whispering. She ignored it. Or tried to. The door creaked softly. Evelyn didn’t need to look up to know who it was. Damon. He filled the doorway like a shadow stretching into her safe little world. Dark. Steady. Unshakable. Yet his presence never felt oppressive, it was the quiet weight of a storm, inevitable and strangely comforting. His eyes found hers immediately. They al