“Where is he?” My voice shattered into fragments of sound, blood cascading through my ears. Nathaniel glanced in my direction, an emotion flickering behind his eyes at my question. The inquiry appeared to rattle him to his quaking core."Malcolm...he was hurt in the process of saving me from the merciless chase of the Griffyndor Pack,” Nathaniel's voice came out thick and filled with remorse. He paused, composing himself before adding, “It was my folly. He did everything he could do to get me home safe, even putting himself in danger on my behalf.”The air around us filled with his words, the syllables aching to bring forth an apology that said everything and nothing.Nathaniel had been captive to the Griffyndor Pack a fact nobody outside their coven had known and one that was met in Malcolm with a surprising rush of sympathy.Even as Malcolm remained deeply resentful of his decades-old vendetta against Nathaniel, he couldn't bring himself to hate the man. In fact, Malcolm felt a str
The gravel in his voice softening. “Use them wisely, Angeline.” “Happy you know that, Malcolm.” He dipped his chin, determination crystallizing like tempered steel. “I’ll return. With every soul intact.” When I tried to grasp the pendant he lifted it just out of reach, a brief flash of mischief piercing the seriousness. “Ah, no. You’ll wear it properly.” The chain hung cool against my collarbone, his fingertips grazing my nape — too deliberate a touch, too lingering. I took the opportunity to murmur, “If you run into Nathaniel, do give him a smack upside the head for me.” Malcolm’s mouth flickered into some infuriating half-smirk, undimmed by the stakes. “Why not let me bring him straight to your doorstep? You can teach the lesson yourself.” The thought of confronting Nathaniel again twisted like a knife in my chest, but I suffocated the pain with a brittle laugh. The Pack dispersed as the procession receded, all but Yoan. She hung on, her voice a whispery interrup
The day of the Alpha meeting came sooner than I’d anticipated. I followed Yoan, but I didn't enter with her, leaving her to brave the tension of Alphas alone.There, she delivered her testimony, beseeching them to act quickly. Her Pack wasn’t the only one in jeopardy now, and all the beings in that room understood it.Allison told me what happened later. The Alphas were quick about it—they’d formed an investigation team to head out to the Griffyndor Pack. He also said that they’d spoken with the Betas of the missing Alphas, urging them to strengthen security in their territories. There was an escalating discomfort, a feeling that whatever mess was unspooling close to the Grimfur Pack wouldn’t be contained for much longer.When Yoan finally came out of the meeting she looked terrible — so pale and washed-out, as if the gravity of the whole thing had drained the light from her.“Are you alright?” I said, keeping my voice steady, careful not to let any sympathy escape.She weakly nodded
But the boy had not made this choice. He never asked to be born into this knotted knot of betrayal and loss.I inhaled slowly as my eyes darted between Yoan, his mate, and the child still clinging to her.“I don’t know if I can ever forgive you,” I said in a low voice, mixing trembling calmness with the school of storms in my belly. “But I am not going to abandon an innocent child.” You can stay here for now. But don’t confuse this with forgiveness, Yoan. What you’ve taken from me is irreversible. And then you should have told us what happened with that invitation?”Yoan lowered her head in thanks, her shoulders shaking with muted relief. The woman whispered a soft“thank you,” but I said nothing in return.For a fleeting moment, I stared at the boy, but then I was looking the other way, fleeing back into the delicate glass of my own heartbreak, even as their weight pressed on me from within.I faced Allison and Malcolm, hanging back a few feet from where I stood. Even though he was A
There was Yoan, Nathaniel’s partner, holding her son Hazel.The woman in front of me didn’t resemble anything like the self-assured person in my memory. Her hair was matted into filthy knots, her clothes torn to shreds at the seams. A patch of dirt and rust-brown blood stained her face, her eyes hollow as if she’d endured a storm of blades.Something primal turned in my chest — not pity, exactly, but the faint reverberation of a self I’d buried long, long ago.I knelt next to her, speaking quietly but firmly. “Yoan, what’s happened?”She flinched at the sound of my voice, but the recognition eased her panic. And a moment later she collapsed into me, body breaking into gasping sobs. “Angie… what do I do?” Each syllable was variegated, the sound granular, like burnt timber.It seemed an eternity before her breath steadied, although quakes still shook her frame.As I opened my mouth to press on, Allison and Malcolm’s arrival broke the thin thread of calm. Yoan lunged in front of Ha
Before I had time to probe any further, in Malcolm came, holding a cold drink up to my cheek.“Why are you blushing?” he asked, a grin on his lips.“I’m not blushing!” I insisted, grabbing the drink from his hand. “It’s just the reflection of the sunset.” But I felt my cheeks flush hotter, so I took a quick sip instead to try to center myself.Malcolm sat next to me, and shortly after our food came out. We started eating, talking about everything that had affected the Pack and how things had been when Javier was younger. We talked like no time had passed, as if we hadn’t been apart for years.The rest of the night, we successfully avoided talking about Nathaniel, and I was glad for it.But then, in a stroke of cosmic irony, a marriage proposal played out just to the right of us. A man knelt down before his partner and fireworks lit up the night sky as he asked her to marry him. She agreed, and they kissed as applause and cheers erupted from those around them.The scene was beaut