RonanMy men stand stiff in the cold, the scent of agitation hanging heavier than the smoke from the torches. I don’t need Jace to tell me something is off. The supplies are gone. Not misplaced, vanished. And the patrol routes are a mess. Routes overlap where they never should. Areas are left unprotected. Precise, deliberate lies are being circulated.My gut says sabotage. My wolf says blood. But my head? My head reminds me that if I name it aloud without proof, I’ll split Blackthorn from within. That’s exactly the fracture our enemies would gorge themselves on.I dismiss the patrol with clipped orders and carry the scent of deceit back into the heart of the keep.Snow melts against stone and skin as I push into the hall, past wolves who look at me too long, then away too quickly. By the time I reach my office, the storm outside feels quieter than the one inside my chest.Eli waits for me, draped against the arm of my chair like he owns the place. Legs crossed, lips pressed thin. His
EliSnow has a way of telling stories you’d rather not hear. It remembers. Holds the shape of every trespass, every step that shouldn’t be there.Which is why I’m standing outside the cabin before the sun’s even scraped the treeline, staring at the imprint of boots that don’t belong to Ronan.The prints are shallow, made by someone light on their feet. Not my huge, hulking, stubborn asshole of a mate.I follow the tracks toward the forest, boots crunching through the crusted snow. The wind bites my cheeks, and every exhale curls in front of me like a warning.The trail peters out under the thicker pines, where shadows swallow the ground. I crouch, fingertips brushing a faint scuff mark. Someone pivoted here, fast. Then… nothing.A twig snaps behind me and I spin, shoulders tense. It’s Hazel, cheeks pink from the cold. “You’re out here early,” she says.“Couldn’t sleep.” Her gaze flicks to the boot prints. She doesn’t ask whose they are, which tells me she’s already guessed and doesn’
EliIt’s the sound that wakes me.Not loud. Not the kind of crash that says thief. More like a drawer being opened in slow motion, the wood groaning a protest. My brain takes a second to process it, caught between sleep and the instinct that’s been drilled into me since I was old enough to survive on my own. Someone’s where they shouldn’t be.The fire in the hearth is a low glow, barely throwing light past the edge of the bed. Ronan’s side is empty, sheets cold. He was up before dawn for patrol, which means the only person in here should be me.Except there’s a shadow at my dresser.I hold my breath, heart thudding in my throat. My clothes are a mess at the best of times, but I know the sound of fabric being moved through like a scavenger hunt. Whoever it is, they’re quick and quiet. If I didn’t grow up having to be terrified of sounds in the night, I may have slept right through it.The figure freezes. For a second, I think I’ve been made. Then there’s a faint creak from the hallwa
EliI wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. The only reason I was even in the vicinity of Mara’s office was because the kitchen was out of tea and I thought maybe she had some stashed away.Ronan’s sister hasn’t exactly welcomed me with open arms, but it’s part of why I like her.She reminds me of Jace. Gruff, no-nonsense, honest. What you see is exactly what you get. She wouldn’t smile to my face and gossip behind my back.But voices carry in the lodge corridors when the wind’s up, and I’ve spent enough of my life surviving by catching the half-heard things people don’t mean you to hear.“…can’t leave him alone,” Jace’s voice, low and full of gravel, carries through the crack in her door.“That’s not your decision,” Mara says, clipped. “And you don’t have proof.”“I don’t need proof to know he’s trouble. Do you? He’s not like the others.”My chest tightens.I don’t hear a name, but who else could they be talking about? The pack’s golden Deltas and loyal Betas? No. I’m the stray no one asked fo
JaceLast night’s frost melted under boots that didn’t belong to patrol. The tracks cut across the hard ground to the storage sheds and vanish where the earth turns to pine needles. Same as yesterday. Same as the day before.I rub the pad of my thumb against the faint impression of a heel and lift my head, letting the scents sift themselves. Oil. Old smoke. The tang of oiled leather from the armory hinges. Under it, faint and sweet if you know what to look for, I detect Loran. His scent’s a soft thing. Wildflower and clean rain with the sugar note Omegas carry whether they like it or not. I check the ledger, and scrape a knuckle across the page where someone signed Reed’s name with Reed’s letters and not his hand. He prints his e’s backwards when he’s rushing. This isn’t printed at all. This is neat script, rounded and precise. I close the ledger. Mara’s right. Something’s rotting.I step back into gray morning and make for the training yard. Hazel’s already there, breath cloudin
MaraThe first thing I notice is the weight. The armory door should drag a little on its hinges. Too much humidity in these mountains, the timber swells. But tonight it swings open without that familiar resistance. My fingers hover on the iron latch a heartbeat too long before I push inside.The familiar smell envelops me. Oil, steel, cold stone. Normally it’s clean, orderly, a space that reassures me the pack’s teeth are always sharp. I step in, boots echoing against the planked floor. The torches on the wall flicker as I run my gaze over the racks. My gut goes cold.Two long rifles are gone from the upper hooks. A set of silvered throwing knives are missing from the locked case at the back. I check the lock for signs of tampering, but it’s intact. Someone had the key. I pull the ledger from its shelf, flipping pages under my thumb. Last entry for those weapons? Three days ago. Logged as “maintenance” by Reed, one of our Deltas. I’ll talk to him later, but my instincts tell me thi