LOGINAvaThe first thing I heard was a low, tired voice, reading words I couldn't quite catch yet. My body felt heavy under the sheets, pinning me to the bed. I could hear the steady rasp of my own breathing. My open eyes blinked dryly in the dim light.I opened my eyes wider. A small, pale room with a c
AvaDad let go of the shackle and sat back, his face relaxing from the concentration. He was quiet for a long moment. Then his eyes met mine."Baby," he said gently, "do you want to know what happened?"Something in his tone made my chest tighten. I had a feeling that this was a truth I wasn't ready
AvaHe stepped out of the blackness, edging closer, until I could finally see him. Unbelievable. He was so young, the age he was when...when he died. His warm brown eyes, both of them, looked at me with a fond smile.I stared, my mouth hanging open, unable to make a sound. My dad. Standing in front
LeviI settled into the chair by her bed and took her hand in mine, rubbing my thumb over the back of it. "Hey, Ava. It's Levi," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "I just talked to Sofia. We had some things to say to each other."I sat there, rubbing her hand, trying to find the words Maya and
LeviI sat with my father in his room, a week after Hilda's funeral. Some families had already packed up and left the pack after becoming human. Others had stayed, unsure of where else to go.My father wheezed beside me, the hiss of his oxygen tank an ever-present sound now. He was thinner, frail, h
MayaI zipped Sofia's dress as best I could with my good hand. The collar was tricky. I fiddled clumsily with the small metal fastening. "There, perfect," I said, releasing the dress and stepping back.Sofia blinked hard at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was pulled back in a neat bun. The dr
AvaSofia flicked through the digital console at the side of the grand piano, dismissing the orchestral presets with a theatrical sigh. “This is not a debutante ball,” she declared. “We need something real.” She scrolled through a few more options, then tapped her selection with a flourish. The open
AvaI watched her move—graceful, unhurried, always aware of being watched. I wondered if she had been born this way, or if it was something you learned after years of living among wolves.After breakfast, I found myself deposited at the edge of a staircase that spiraled up the cliffside, open to the
AvaIt wasn’t just a handful of guests, it was a mob—thirty or forty people, all in black tie or cocktail dresses, spilling out from behind planters and decorative screens. There were men in velvet jackets, women in vintage Chanel, a few people who looked like they’d wandered in from a gallery openi
AvaThe night outside was already down to a blue bruise by the time Sofia herded us through the front hall and onto the grounds. The house glowed behind us, but the lawns and the terraced paths below were flat and dark. The sea wind was up, slapping my hair into my face every few steps, and the only







