LOGINMy face heated. I tried to keep my eyes on what I was doing. I truly did. But he was right there in the moonlight, bare to the waist, and I had never in my life been able to stop myself from looking at him. I wanted to keep touching him long after the last strip was tied, and not to check his bandag
Vera’s POV“Vera, no—”Caius’ voice was rough behind me as I stepped in front of him, lifting my two daggers.“You’re outnumbered, Vera!”“Do you suggest we both die, then?” I hissed without glancing over my shoulder.I heard Caius curse low, in his throat but there wasn’t time to back down now, and
A rogue’s teeth caught my forearm, and I felt the stitches tear open. My calf was getting weaker, too, and not long after, it gave out. I went down on one knee in the wet needles, and before I could get up, Caius shouted my name.I heard the wolf before I saw it, a snarl so close that I felt its bre
Vera’s POVI rolled off of Caius, my calf screaming as I popped to my feet, snatching my dagger back up. Caius grabbed my hand and pulled me along behind him as we raced back to the camp.The closer we got, the louder it was: wolves snarling, steel ringing, men shouting orders. Screaming.Caius pull
Vera’s POV“Caius?” I hissed. “What are you doing out here?”“I saw you leave your tent.” He was still out of breath, but he made no move to push me off of him. “I only came to make sure you were alright.”I was so relieved that my arms started to shake. It wasn’t a rogue. But if he had waited even
Vera’s POVWe followed the tracks until the light gave out without ever catching sight of the rogues who had made them. Eventually, Adrian called a halt in a clearing ringed with pine trees and ordered us to make camp. I groaned inwardly at the thought that the rogues might get ahead of us in the ni
POV: VeraI kept waiting for him to take it back.All morning, while I cracked eggs and sliced bread and scraped dried blood from under my fingernails, I expected Caius to walk into the kitchen and tell me he'd changed his mind. That he'd been delirious. Or polite. Or just outmaneuvered by a four-ye
POV: CaiusThe child stared at me like she'd asked the most reasonable question in the world.I looked at her — small, barefoot, clutching that stuffed bear. Then I looked at her sister. I was shirtless, wrapped in this woman's bandages, sitting on her couch.Vera Crane.Her hair was tangled from sl
POV: VeraI hooked his arm over my shoulder and hauled him upright.He was taller than me by at least a head, and heavier than he looked. My knees buckled, and I gritted my teeth. Leaving him here to die wasn't an option. My parents hadn't raised me to walk away from this.I dragged him inside throu
POV: VeraI had one day left.Tomorrow, everything my parents had built would belong to the pack. The house, the furniture, the savings. And my four-year-old sister and I would be thrown out with nothing.One week ago, our Alpha had called me to the great hall. He'd told me, with all the warmth of a







