Chapter 2

I landed in Frostbrook Clan with the north wind cutting down from the ridge.

Low wooden huts crouched beneath old snow, their walls dark from years of weather. Hungry pups huddled together near the shelters, and wounded wolves rested around the central fire. The few adults still strong enough to stand looked thin enough for winter to finish what war had started.

So this was the clan Selene had left me with: poor, isolated, and stripped of its best hunting grounds.

An old gray wolf came forward and bowed his head.

“I am Maren, acting leader of Frostbrook.”

His eyes moved to Ronan, Kael, and Ash behind me.

“From today on, they are assigned to your household. By clan law, they will fight beside you and answer to you in camp.”

He held out a thin obedience chain.

I left it in his hand.

“How many hunters can still leave camp?”

Maren hesitated. “Twenty-seven. Half are injured. Ironfang drove the deer north, and Sunspire controls the western river valley. Winter begins in half a month. Our stores will not last.”

I lifted my face into the wind.

Beneath the scent of snow and pine was blood, faint but fresh, coming from the northern slope. Injured snow-horn sheep had passed through recently.

“Wait here.”

I ran into the trees.

My new body responded faster than thought. I could read broken branches beneath the snow, follow blood through the wind, and hear movement farther ahead than I ever could before.

Two injured sheep had separated from the herd.

I circled downwind, drove them toward a narrow stone hollow, and killed them before either could turn its horns on me.

When I dragged both carcasses back into camp, Frostbrook went silent.

Ronan looked at the sheep, then at the blood on my claws. He said nothing, but I saw the change in his expression.

I dropped the prey beside the fire.

“Pups and the wounded eat first. The adults split into two groups. One clears the old traps. The other comes with me to the northern slope. We will set barriers and drive smaller prey toward the valley.”

No one answered at once.

I turned to Ronan.

“How good is your hearing?”

His single eye lifted. “Better than my missing eye.”

“Then listen for movement in the wind.”

Kael raised his head before I spoke to him.

“Can you still fight at close range?”

His talons flexed. “Yes.”

“Then take the high ground and watch the river valley.”

Finally, I stopped in front of Ash.

A few young wolves glanced at his smaller body and gave low snorts.

“Ash comes with me,” I said. “He can move through places larger shifters cannot.”

The laughter stopped.

“Anyone who judges a warrior by size alone will not live long enough to regret it.”

Ash slowly raised his head.

By dusk, Frostbrook had begun to move again. The sheep were divided, the wounded repaired the outer rails, Ronan led hunters toward the northern slope, Kael climbed to the highest dead pine, and Ash helped me uncover old burrows beneath the snow that could be sealed and used for food storage.

That night, an elder brought me the first bowl of meat broth.

Ronan, Kael, and Ash remained beyond the firelight. By Frostbrook custom, males assigned to a female’s household ate after she finished.

I pushed the bowl back.

“Divide it into four.”

The elder blinked. “You brought the hunt down yourself.”

“Then I decide who eats.”

I looked toward the three males.

“If they are expected to fight beside me, they need the strength to survive.”

Ronan came first. Kael watched me for a moment before sitting near the fire. Ash approached last, lowering his nose to the bowl as though he still expected someone to take it away.

I did not expect their trust.

Not after what Selene had done to them in the last life.

And judging by the way they watched me, I was beginning to suspect the Beast God had returned more than two souls to the past.

Deep into the night, I slept in an old guard hut with cracked walls and a leaking roof. My new body ached from its first hunt, and exhaustion pulled me under before the fire outside burned low.

Beyond the thin wall, claws shifted over packed snow.

Kael’s scent lingered near the doorway. Ash’s stayed farther back, sharp and watchful. Neither entered.

Ronan remained between them and the hut until dawn.

When morning light finally crossed the floor, I opened my eyes to the sound of Frostbrook waking outside. The three males had not accepted me. They had only chosen to wait.

For now, that was enough.