Chapter 7

The hallway twisted as the den lights cast long shadows on the carved stone walls as Elder Amer led me toward the lower dens. She walked with that steady, grounded stride unique to women who’d survived more than they ever admitted.

Her brown and grey hair was tied in a tight braid down her back, and her skin was tanned from years spent above ground. Her black eyes, though—those didn’t miss a thing.

After my mother was taken, Elder Amer took over the role of 'mother hen' since she was also my aunt. Not that either of us ever brought it up, but she was the closest family I had left from my mothers side. Of course I had other family in the pack, like my annoying cousins Judy and Chase, Keiral and Lesandray and Uncle Max, papa's brother and Aunt Helen, papa's sister. And my Ouma Wells who was in another wolf pack after grandpa Henry died of a fever. I looked just like her, even my grey eyes that turned yellow was all my Ouma. I saw her time to time but not much. The Lowry Pack was far, and required us to take human transport and fly. I wasn't keen on that kind of transportation.

“If you waiting for a lecture it’s going to be a while. How’s the bond doing? You must be in terrible pain.”

“Nothing that’ll kill me…yet.” The toothy grin at the end of my words did nothing to sweeten the Elder's mood.

I followed her the rest of the way in silence. Boots crunching faintly on the stone, until we reached the entrance of the pups day care.

I braced for chaos.

Instead, the room was empty…well almost empty.

Warm wall lights illuminated the hollowed chamber. It was quiet, cluttered and stinky. Toys were strewn across the floor in the aftermath of whatever disaster had happened earlier, and the scent of warm lettuce and stale cheese hung in the air.

At the far end of the room, sitting alone at a table, was a little girl.

She couldn’t have been older than seven. Her thin frame swallowed by an oversized tunic that hung on her shoulders. One leg swung from the bench lazily; the other wrapped in linen and propped on a carved stool ended just below the knee.

Cordone’s daughter.

I didn’t need Elder Amer to say it.

The girl’s dark curls fell into her face in an uneven braid. Her eyes were forest green with speckles of hazel and they locked onto me like she was waiting for me to flinch. I didn’t.

Elder Amer’s voice was calm beside me. “That’s where you’ll start.”

I looked at the girl and stood in the silence sitting in the room like a third presence between us. My hands clenched around the bundle Elder Amer had given me. Linen, maybe spare clothes or worse, kids' clothes. Anything to stop myself from reaching out.

“That’s what the humans see,” I muttered. “Why they call us werewolves and not shifters. We lose control, someone pays the price. Usually the smallest ones.”

Elder Amer’s eyes didn’t soften. “She’s not afraid of what we are, Ashlyn. She’s afraid of being forgotten.”

My throat tightened. I didn’t like that truth. Not because it wasn’t real because it was too real.

I swallowed, then stepped forward.

I didn’t smile. I didn’t try to coo like the Matron would. I just walked to the empty table and sat down across from her, dropping the linens gently between us.

And I said, “Alright, kid. Let’s start with surviving lunch. Then we can talk about ruling the world.”

For the first time, she cracked the tiniest smile.

The little girl watched me like I might vanish if she blinked too slow.

I didn’t say anything for a while just sat across from her, arms folded, the quiet pressing in around us like a heavy fog. Eventually, I leaned forward and pulled one of the sheets from the bundle Amer had given me, spreading it over the table top like we were about to have some awkward tea party.

“You got a name?” I asked.

She shrugged one shoulder. “Mira.”

“Right,” I said. “Cordone’s kid.”

Her chin lifted a little at that. Not pride exactly. Just proof she still existed.

“And you’re Ashlyn Gorde,” Mira said.

I raised a brow. “People been whispering?”

“Not whispering. Just talking loud when they think I’m not listening.” She leaned forward on her elbows, eyes bright. “They say you turn into a big black wolf. Bigger than any of the sentinels. They said you bit someone once and didn’t let go until he passed out.”

“Which time?” I muttered under my breath.

Mira grinned.