MasukAvaThe 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
SofiaI kept thinking about Levi’s face. When he looked at Maya writhing on the stretcher, his eyes hadn’t even widened. Not a flicker, not a single muscle moved.He could have been watching a houseplant wilt. I wanted to believe it was shock, but the more I remembered it, the more it felt like—noth
LeviAs soon as the door closed behind them, Hilda and I stood in silence. The only sound was the tick of the grandfather clock two rooms away, and the faint hum of water pipes settling in the walls. She had not moved from the spot, arms still crossed, posture straight as a ruler.“You are bad news,
SofieI tried to keep up, but the stretcher moved fast—too fast for my legs, which felt like I'd run them through cement and bleach. The team of medics was four deep, all of them in navy jackets marked with a discreet caduceus and a band at the sleeve: black for trauma, Levi had explained once, like
Sofia"Let's go,"The moment we stepped into the hallway, I could feel the shift in Hilda. Her shoulders were rigid, her hands balled into fists at her sides. The frustration poured off her in waves—not at Robin, but at the situation, at Evelyn, at fifteen years of walls she couldn't break through.







