MasukI was failing at it.“Kane,” Damian said, turning. “You didn’t tell me that this was the healer you wrote about.”Kane’s brows lifted. “So you two have met.”“Briefly,” Damian admitted. He turned back to me, still looking at me strangely.“Small world.” Kane looked between us. “Damian, this is Nora.
Nora’s POVRight. The drink. Of course he, Damian the Lycan and the flirt, would bring that up again, even though I’d made myself clear on multiple occasions: wrong trees, barking, all that.“A date,” I repeated, flushing deeply not with excitement over the offer, but rather a twinge of embarrassmen
“Soren!” Nora came running. Lily was in her arms. I realized the child was coughing violently, her little tongue sticking out with each one. Her face was red, her inhales coming in short wheezes. Alive, but choking on her own lungs. “Where’s Kane? I need to see him.”“What happened?” I asked.“She t
Soren’s POVMelissa was where I’d left her two nights before, huddled just inside the mouth of the cave with a threadbare blanket around her. The spot was only a quarter mile past the border, tucked into the side of a hill, far enough from the pack that even if someone saw her, she couldn’t possibly
As he stood, his eyes drifted to the bundle at my hip.“Is that vervain?” He nodded at the cuttings peeking out of my bag. “Are you making a gingivitis mouthwash?”“How could you tell?” I asked. Vervain wasn’t a commonly known flower amongst laymen.“I’m a traveling healer.” He plucked one of the pu
Nora’s POVAutumn hadn’t quite set in yet, but the wind through the trees that morning had me pulling my hood up as I walked down the forest path. Lily trailed behind me with a basket half her size, darting off the pathway every few feet to chase down the last lingering wildflowers of summer.I crou
Nora"Lily." I cut her off before the name could leave her mouth. "Enough."She looked up at me, confused, but went quiet. She knew that voice.I couldn't let her say Victor's name.Victor was an Alpha. His word ran this whole territory, and Kane was young, half-healed, and still a stranger here. If
KaneI came awake the way I'd been trained to. Hands first, eyes second.Someone had stepped into the room. My body decided she was a threat before my mind got a vote.I had her against the wall before I understood I was standing. My fingers found a throat. Small. A pulse slamming under my thumb.Th
NoraI knew exactly what Victor would do if he found a strange man in his house.I knew, and I dragged the man inside anyway.The man was dying. He didn’t carry the foul, bitter stench of a rogue, which meant he belonged to a pack. Maybe he had come here looking for help. Maybe he had nowhere else t
NoraI had gotten good at hiding.Six years will do that. Six years of folding myself and my little sister into closets and crawl spaces every time Victor came home drunk.Tonight, my stepfather was drunker than usual.I pressed my hand over Lily's mouth and felt her breath shake against my palm. Sh







