LOGINMayaThe thrill left me all at once, like a tide pulling back and taking everything with it. Suddenly, I became aware of three things. My ribs hurt with every breath I took, my ankle was badly sprained and I was absolutely covered in mud.The bear-induced silence settled over the trail, as Valeria carefully lowered herself onto a fallen log, one hand pressed against her hip as she took inventory of her own injuries. Her face remained composed, though the slight tightening around her eyes told me she was hurting more than she wanted to admit.“How bad?” I asked.“My hip is sore,” she said. “Bruised, I think. Nothing is broken.” Then she looked at me more carefully. “You’re muddled like a pig.”I glanced down at myself. “I’m fine.”“You told him that too,” she said dryly. “It wasn’t convincing then either.”I looked at my soiled dress and the mud was impressive. When Arion had gone over the soft ground, I had left almost a perfect imprint in it. The horse had taken most of the impact, s
TylerShe had been visiting Draken for months. I turned that thought over from every angle as I rode, searching for the part that didn’t sit right. There were too many parts.The fact that Draken could touch her in a dreamspace.The fact that she hadn’t pulled away. The fact that whatever hold he had over her there was strong enough that it had taken a wolf breaking through to shake it loose.Apparently, my wolf. I hadn’t confirmed it yet, but I knew my own wolf the way I knew my own hands. And with the description Maya had given me, enormous, nightshade, and furious, there was very little room for another interpretation.My wolf had entered a dreamspace I hadn’t even known existed. And he had put himself between Maya and Draken without asking my permission. Which was exactly the kind of thing my wolf would do. And exactly the kind of information I had absolutely no idea what to do with.My jaw tightened.Draken could touch her in that dream. What exactly did that mean? Had he hurt her
MayaTyler was already awake when I opened my eyes. He sat beside the rebuilt fire with a cup of something hot between his hands, his elbows resting on his knees as he stared toward the horizon beyond the treetops.Morning had arrived beneath a grey sky. The clouds were bluish-grey, and the camp was quiet except for Valeria’s soft breathing beneath her cloak.I pushed myself upright, as Tyler looked at me and something shifted in his expression but not much. Just enough for me to notice.“You didn’t sleep well,” he said, it wasn’t a question.“No,” I admitted.He held out the cup, I took it carefully and sipped. It was bitter and minty, probably made from herbs he’d found near the spring. I wrapped both hands around the warmth and stared into the fire. I’d spent most of the night composing this conversation in my head. It hadn’t become easier with rehearsal. If anything, every version sounded worse.I finally looked at him. “I need to tell you something.”Tyler didn’t respond. He sim
MayaThe rest of the day should have been a relief. But it wasn’t.Valeria slept through most of it, which was exactly what she needed. Her body had finally surrendered to the exhaustion and illness she’d been fighting, leaving me with little to do except tend the fire and think. That was the last thing I needed.Tyler had taken himself off to check the perimeter, hunt, and check on the horses. He had barely said anything before leaving, and I was grateful for the distance.Because we hadn’t spoken about the kiss. Apparently, we weren’t going to speak about the kiss at all. It was simply going to exist between us like a third shadow, acknowledged by neither of us, yet impossible for either of us to ignore. And I was going to have to manage that for the few days remaining between here and Frost Moon Hill.I piled another branch onto the fire and told myself not to think about it.Naturally, I thought about it anyway. The problem was that I had no framework for what had happened. I had
TylerI couldn’t stop thinking about the softness of her skin. That was a problem. A very serious problem.For days, I had relied on hard discipline, careful distance, and the same words repeated in my head like a mantra. Maya was my assignment. She was the Alpha’s daughter. She had a destination, and I had a job to complete.Simple. Or at least, it had been simple, until that night at the inn.It was one room, with a fireplace, a wooden tub, and a few practical necessities. And somehow, every wall I had built around myself had come down. I had held Maya in my arms with her back against my bare chest, her loose hair brushing my skin, her soft body cool beneath my arms. I could still remember the feel of her body. Worse, I could still remember how my wolf had reacted.He had gone completely silent and for twenty-four hours, I hadn’t heard a single restless growl from him. That should have concerned me more than it did.The trail was slippery beneath the horses’ feet, the mud from yeste
KaiThe rain had not been kind to the campsite. I crouched in the middle of what had once been a fire pit, now reduced to a shallow puddle of grey ash and muddy water, and searched for anything useful.There wasn’t much left.The ground around it had been churned into mud. Whatever footprints had once been there had been washed away hours ago. The rock shelf on the southern side had protected a narrow strip of ground from the worst of the rain, but even there, the evidence was faint.Too faint.Zane moved around the perimeter with his usual quiet thoroughness. Finn examined the rock shelf. And Liam was near the tree line, crouching over the ground and nodding to himself as though he had uncovered some great mystery. Then he straightened.“Two people were here,” he announced. “Maybe three.”“Definitely three,” Finn said without looking up.“That’s what I said. Two or maybe three.”“There were three.”Liam crouched lower with the focused dignity of a man who had not been wrong, merely i







