LOGINDelilah's POV He stepped inside and set the crate down. As he straightened, his arm grazed mine, bare skin against bare skin for less than a second. The heat that tore through me buckled my focus so hard that Storm slammed against my ribs and I had to lock my jaw to keep my expression flat.His hand stopped on the edge of the crate. His nostrils flared. For one unguarded moment his gray eyes dropped to my mouth before he caught himself and pulled them back up."Anything else you need?" His voice came out rough."No."The room had gone quiet. Margaret was suddenly very interested in a stack of bandages. Stella had vanished behind the curtain entirely."Then you should go," I said. "We're busy."He held my gaze for two more seconds. Then he left, the door closing behind him, and I turned back to the basin and gripped the edges until my knuckles went white. My hands were trembling and my pulse hammered in my throat, so I stood there breathing through it until both settled back to a plac
Delilah's POV The alarm I'd set in my head went off at dawn and I opened my eyes to unfamiliar walls and the faint smell of dried sage from the bundle on the windowsill.For three full seconds I didn't know where I was. Then the weight behind my sternum settled into place, two dull pulls in opposite directions, and the night came flooding back. Mateo on my porch with his shaking hands. Dante on my steps with his burning eyes. Both of them sent away empty and the mantra I'd whispered into the dark until exhaustion dragged me under.I sat up and swung my legs off the bed and my boots hit the floor because I'd never taken them off.The healing center was a five-minute walk through the covered path that connected my cabin to the east wing of the compound. I washed my face in cold water, changed into clean clothes, braided my hair back tight, and left before the sun cleared the tree line.Margaret was already inside when I pushed through the door. She had her back to me, reorganizing the
Delilah's POVThe laugh that came out of me was more air than sound but it loosened the knot in my chest enough to get me moving. I pulled supplies from my pack and lined them up on the kitchen shelf one by one, dried herbs in cloth bundles, the mortar and pestle Helena had carved for me from mountain stone, jars of salve and tincture that I'd spent months learning to make. The familiar ritual steadied my hands until the trembling stopped.Helena helped me make the bed and hang the few clothes I'd brought and by the time we were done the sun had dropped below the tree line and the cabin was full of warm orange light from the single window facing west."You should eat," Helena said. "I'll find the kitchens.""You don't have to—""I want to see how this pack feeds itself. A lot about a pack's discipline shows in its kitchens." She squeezed my shoulder on her way out. "Lock the door behind me."I locked it and stood in the quiet for a moment before deciding the porch was better than the
Delilah's POV I made it halfway across the grounds before my hands started shaking.Helena was beside me and she didn't say a word but her hand brushed the small of my back once, quick and light, a touch that meant keep moving.The pack was still buzzing behind us, applause fading into conversation and laughter, and underneath all of it I could feel two sets of eyes burning into my back.I didn't turn around."Delilah."Mateo's voice hit me from the left and my stride didn't break. He was cutting through the crowd at an angle, weaving between pack members who stepped out of his way with curious glances, his face wrecked and his eyes locked on me like I was the only solid thing in the world.He reached us just past the food tables. His hand came up like he was going to touch my arm and Helena shifted her weight beside me, a small movement that put her between his hand and my body.He pulled back and swallowed. "Can we talk? Please. Just for a minute."I stopped walking and turned to f
Dante's POV The murmur that went through the crowd was immediate. The word rippled from the front to the back of the gathering in seconds, and the older wolves near me exchanged glances and leaned closer to their mates to whisper.Corbin's weight shifted forward. "That's a significant claim.""I can demonstrate," Delilah said. "I understand your healing center has been overwhelmed from the border skirmishes. If you have a wolf with an injury Margaret hasn't been able to resolve, bring them forward and I'll show you what a Silvermoon healer can do."Corbin looked at Ryker. Ryker's jaw was tight but he nodded once and turned to one of the warriors near the edge of the crowd. "Bring Damon."Two minutes later a young warrior limped forward supported by a packmate on each side. His left leg was wrapped in heavy bandages from knee to ankle and his face was grey with the kind of pain that doesn't let you sleep.I knew Damon. He'd taken a rogue's claws through his calf three weeks ago during
Dante's POVThe pack gathering was Corbin's idea. Six months of border skirmishes and healing center overflows and whispered rumors about the Beta's missing stepdaughter had put a weight on Nightshade, and Corbin figured a morale event might take the edge off.So the whole pack turned out on the main grounds under a clear sky, tables loaded with food and drinks, warriors mingling with their mates and families while Corbin worked the crowd the way only an Alpha could.I stood near the edge with Celeste beside me. She was wearing a green dress that matched her eyes and her hand rested on my arm like it always did at public events, light and practiced, a performance we'd both gotten good at.She was talking to one of the Northern Ridge wolves about trade negotiations and I was nodding at the right moments while my mind drifted the same direction it always drifted.Mateo was twenty feet away with Thalia, who was laughing at a joke one of the warrior's mates had told. Mateo wasn't laughing
Delilah's POV The box was empty.The hysterical laughter died in my throat as I stared at the bare cardboard bottom where three hundred and forty-seven dollars should have been. Three hundred and forty-seven dollars that I'd scraped together one painful dollar at a time over two weeks of extra shi
Delilah's POV Then they were gone, heading back down the path toward home while the pack erupted into even louder celebration now that the formal part was over.I stood there watching them disappear and felt the last thread of hope snap inside me. Mom was gone. I was alone at a pack celebration su
Delilah's POV I nodded and he slowly removed his hand from my mouth."That's why you ignored me at breakfast?" I whispered while anger and hurt warred in my chest. "To avoid suspicion?""Yes," he said while his hand came up to cup my face with surprising gentleness. "If we suddenly start treating
Delilah's POV For one frozen moment, nobody moved. The forest held its breath around us while moonlight painted my naked skin silver and the distant sounds of the bonfire celebration felt like they belonged to another world entirely.Then Dante's control shattered.He crossed the distance between







