CAN I RIDE, STEP-UNCLE?

Thorne Matthews POV

"You think this brings the Moon Goddess's blessing to this trash pile?" Ellis Johnson hurls a clump of synthetic frost straight at my chest.

I don't blink. I just smooth down my heavy cotton tunic, shifting my weight over the worn stone of our Raven Hollow Pack Settlement den. "Sokka is going to lose his mind when he crawls back from the border patrol tonight. If he even has the eyes to see it."

"He won't see anything unless it comes with a vial of silver-dust or a skin of feral wine," Ellis scoffs. He kicks a broken bone-carving knife across the floor.

Our den is a rot-hole in the low-status camp. The walls leak dampness. The communal heat is a joke. Outside, the night howls with the raw chaos of the lower pack. Warriors are roaring, pups are running wild in the mud, and old Tom Hayes is screaming at a lower-ranking wolf down the walkway.

"So, Kenny Liu got you subverting your wolf instincts now?" I tease, trying to drown out the noise outside.

"Do not start!" Ellis lets out a massive bark of laughter, bending double. "I do what I must to keep my mate-bond from snapping before it starts! He is not sniffing around any other wolves, not while I drain his energy every single night."

I cross my arms, my jaw tight. "He treats you like a rogue dog, and you just feed him more? You are going too far. Slow down."

Ellis rolls his eyes so hard I think they will stay fixed in his skull. "Whatever, Hidden Moonborn Maiden. If you actually accepted a male wolf into your bed, you would stop judging me."

"I am not judging," I growl, my knuckles turning white against the wooden table. "But I will not let a male touch me until the moon speaks. My own father ruined this family by dragging every feral male and rogue pack trader through our territory. Especially Randall Kirkland. They treat this pack like dirt. I will never be that desperate."

Ellis stops laughing. His eyes drop to the floor. "Your father is no weakling, Thorne. He will throat-rip anyone who steps wrong."

"Nobody should have to fight their own pack," I snap.

The den goes dead silent. The heavy thud of paws outside shakes the floorboards.

"Well, Mr. Perfect," Ellis claps his hands loud. "Let us finish fixing up these Moonfang Harvest decorations before your father stumbles in here smelling like stale blood and cheap tavern meat."

I let out a sharp laugh. We both look at the small silver tinsel decorations. For a second, it makes this broken place look grand.

"I feel like a Supreme Alpha Lord for a second," Ellis whispers, collapsing onto a pelt couch.

"Do not get used to it," I say, scrubbing a rusted hunting blade at the sink. "Sokka will probably smash it all when he returns."

"True," Ellis snorts. "You know how he gets after a long night at the Blood Moon Tavern."

"Yeah," I growl. "Shaking his tail for the higher alphas, high on rogue weeds, smelling like iron and sweat."

"Do not talk about your blood like that!"

We both laugh, but my chest feels tight. I stare at my reflection in the dark window. My shoulders are wide, my chest heavy, my body thick with muscle that doesn't fit the standard slender omega mold. I feel big, awkward, and trapped.

"It would be so much simpler if I just stayed at Elder Tillie's Moon Cottage," I mutter, rubbing my aching arms. "I leave the territory for two suns and return to a slaughterhouse."

Ellis looks up, his eyes softening. "If I had a royal elder to take me in, I would run to her pack lands so fast."

"I cannot leave Sokka," I say, my voice cracking. "I am the one acting like the Alpha here while he runs wild. Elder Tillie does not even look at him anyway."

"Because he cusses her out every time he shifts!"

"That is why his wolf has bad luck," I say, shaking my head. "But my heart is stuck. I would die if the wild wolves took him."

Ellis sighs. "You are better than me. I would leave his drunk ass in the woods."

My eyes sting. I scrub the blade harder until my palms bleed. "He never got over losing my younger brother. When the rogues snatched that pup from the Silvermoon Healing Sanctuary without a trace, it broke him."

Ellis shifts uncomfortably. "That is the only reason I give him a pass. To lose a newborn pup to rogues? It makes any wolf go rabid."

"I was only three winters old," I whisper, swallowing the lump in my throat. "But I still hear the ghost howls. If the Moon Goddess gave me one wish, I would wish my brother was never taken. Our pack would not be starving in the dirt."

Ellis looks around our messy den. "If not for you, this place would be a rogue camp, Thorne."

"Because Sokka does not care," I growl. "He hunts just enough to buy his weeds. He barely eats. He is so small. I am shocked the Blood Moon Tavern even lets him serve."

"Maybe they like a small wolf," Ellis grins wickedly. "A little bit of this, a little bit of that for the dominant males."

We laugh, but the sound dies fast.

"It makes no sense," I say. "Some days he is fine. Then he just turns feral."

"Rogue weeds ruin the mind," Ellis murmurs. Then he shakes his head, bright eyes turning to me. "Anyway, now that we finished our training and Ellis Boyd is leaving for the capital? That boy is getting drafted into the Alpha Warrior Champion guard for sure."

My heart jumps against my ribs. My face burns hot. "It is good he is our pack brother. We will get the best seats at the Ironfang Arena."

"I am not talking about the arena," Ellis says, leaning forward, his eyes locking onto mine. "You two have been playing this thin line since we were pups. Ellis Boyd wants you."

My hands grip the stone sink so hard the rock chips. My breath stops. "Only as a friend, Ellis. Besides, I am not his type. He likes those small, delicate wolves. Not a heavy, thick-thighed male like me." I look down at my massive frame, my wide waist, my heavy chest pressing against my tunic. I am large, strong, and completely terrified of what my wolf wants.