Veyra POV
The rogue gently cups my face, his fingers rough but surprisingly tender against my skin. His dark eyes search mine, as if he’s carefully looking for something hidden deep beneath the surface. I tremble slightly beneath his touch, unsure whether to lean into him or pull away.
"I don't even know your name," I murmur, feeling strangely vulnerable beneath his steady, intense gaze. "How can I believe anything you say?"
He smiles softly, his thumb brushing along the curve of my cheekbone. "My name is Caelan," he replies quietly, as though gifting me something precious. "And I've waited a long time for you, Veyra. Many of us have. You are exactly what we've been hoping would return."
I shake my head slightly, overwhelmed and uncertain. "It doesn’t make sense, Caelan.
Dagen POVThe moment we’re outside the gates, my body shifts without hesitation. The world splits and reforms around me as muscle stretches and fur tears through skin, my thoughts burning away to instinct as my paws slam into the earth. Maddox follows with a thunderous growl behind me, his weight hitting the ground like a falling star. Vane and Rael fall into step beside us, four shadows breaking into the wilds with one shared goal.We run, not for training. Not for the trial. Not for dominance or pride.We run because she’s gone, and I can’t breathe with the thought of her still out here.The trees thin the deeper we go, the underbrush wilder, unkept, chaotic in a way that no pack would ever tolerate. This is the edge. The place no patrols dare hold. The line where control ends and instinct reigns. We cross it at full speed, none of us looking back.I keep my nose to the ground, but I already know it’s useless. The scent trails are too old, the land too choked with rogue musk and lay
Dagen POVI storm through the halls, the weight of Maddox’s silence hanging behind me like a storm cloud that refuses to break. He needs time to get himself under control—I don’t. I can’t. Not with the truth clawing at my chest.I will find her.The door slams open beneath my hand, the wood cracking loudly against the wall.Lyra jumps with a sharp scream, spinning around from where she stands near the shelves. “Dagen! You nearly broke the bloody door—”“Oh, shut up, you witch,” I growl, my voice low and venom-laced.Her eyes widen in shock. “Dagen, I’m your sister—”“You’re a fucking traitor,” I hiss, closing the distance between us. “Where did you put her?”She blinks innocently, tilting her head in that maddening way she always has when she thinks she can talk her way out of something. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”“Veyra,” I snap. My voice rises into a snarl. “Where. Is. She?”Lyra shrugs, a sweet smile curling on her lips like poison candy. “Well, how would I know th
Veyra POV“You gave them everything,” he murmurs, his breath warm against my skin, “and when the time came to protect what they claimed, they vanished. Tell me, Veyra, if they truly loved you, truly believed in you, would you be here? Naked. Alone. Abandoned in the most savage territory known to our kind?”I close my eyes, pressing my lips tightly together to keep the emotion from breaking free. My throat burns. The answer curls just behind my teeth, bitter and choking, and I hate that it makes sense. I hate that it fits. Because deep down, some part of me had already begun to suspect it.Still, I whisper, “I can’t believe they’d leave me like this.”“You don’t have to believe it,” Caelan replies softly. “You only have to survive it.”
Veyra POVThe rogue gently cups my face, his fingers rough but surprisingly tender against my skin. His dark eyes search mine, as if he’s carefully looking for something hidden deep beneath the surface. I tremble slightly beneath his touch, unsure whether to lean into him or pull away."I don't even know your name," I murmur, feeling strangely vulnerable beneath his steady, intense gaze. "How can I believe anything you say?"He smiles softly, his thumb brushing along the curve of my cheekbone. "My name is Caelan," he replies quietly, as though gifting me something precious. "And I've waited a long time for you, Veyra. Many of us have. You are exactly what we've been hoping would return."I shake my head slightly, overwhelmed and uncertain. "It doesn’t make sense, Caelan.
Veyra POV
Veyra POVMy breath catches sharply as a sudden, low growl rips through the silence around me, echoing off the empty landscape. Fear slices through my chest, sharp and unforgiving, sending adrenaline surging painfully through my veins. Slowly, I turn my head, dread coiling in my gut when my eyes land on the rogue wolf charging toward me at terrifying speed, teeth bared and eyes wild with an unmistakable ferocity.My heart pounds violently in my chest as panic overtakes me, and I spin on my heels, gripping the thin, tattered sheet tighter around my body as I break into a desperate run. Each stride feels shaky and uneven, my exhausted muscles screaming in protest as I force them to carry me forward. Dust kicks up around my feet, choking me with its gritty dryness, but I refuse to slow down, too terrified to glance back, though I can hear the wolf’s harsh breathing, feel the menace radiating off it like heat waves.Another snarl splits the air from my right, and my gaze snaps sideways in