FAZER LOGINELIASI wait until Kamari’s carriage disappears before turning my horse toward Bloodmoon.Griffin will want to know why I stopped the carriage.I am not entirely sure I know myself, or that I even want to know.By the time I ride through the huge silver gates, I’ve decided not to tell him about our encounter.“Easy,” I pat my horse’s mane and climb off the saddle. She sniffs my shoulder as I secure her halter. I nudge her muzzle away, wincing at the pain vibrating in my arm.Contrary to my words, I have not healed. Not fully. But it killed the pain to watch a bit of guilt leave her eyes.I make my way up to Alpha Griffin’s quarters and hesitate outside, looking over my shoulder and the scanty courtyard before knocking.The door is opened by a servant, and he leads me to Alpha Griffin’s dining hall, muttering something about how the Alpha didn’t want to be disturbed.He must be gutted about Kamari’s departure, I tell myself as I enter into the common room.I find him sitting at his l
KAMARII lie flat on my back, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling, and consider running away again. Apparently, making one terrible decision at a time is no longer enough for me.Sleep is a luxury I can’t afford. Every second brings me closer to the moment I’ll be removed from my pack and dumped in Grimmane to survive under an Alpha I don’t know.I could run. I could push my door aside, disappear into the morning darkness and be far from Bloodmoon before sunrise.Maybe they will miss me, or maybe they’ll be grateful I took the easy way out instead of endangering the pack.They already have Darius to fill in my absence. Surely they won’t bother with a rogue Alpha and her wild wolf.But this is all wishful thinking. I know what they’ll see me as—a coward. A wolf that abandons her pack over and over.And they will be right.Even if I do run, where will I go? Back to FreeHide? That’s not even an option, and there surely isn’t a place I’ll run to where my father and Elias won’t find me.I’
KAMARIMy father’s door has never looked this intimidating.I stand in front of it with my hand raised, staring at the wood as if it might bite me.I should knock.I know I should.But my fingers refuse to move.Just do it, Kamari. If he’s made a decision already, standing here won’t change a thing.But it can delay it.Five minutes. That’s how long I’ve been standing here dreading a meeting with the man whose voice once lit up my world.This feels infinitely harder than facing an entire council.Ugh. I am an Alpha, and I have to act like one—starting with walking through this.With a deep breath, I push the door open and let myself in.My eyes barely adjust to the dim light when I hear his footsteps approaching the courtyard.He stops six feet from me, wearing a black robe that does nothing to lighten the severity of his stare.“Kamari.”I bow, hands disappearing behind me.“Father.”“I haven’t seen you around.”Because I’ve been avoiding you.I straighten up, biting my tongue.“Have
KAMARITwo days ago, I told nine councilmen I would not fail.Today, I am hiding from everyone because I have absolutely no idea how to keep that promise.I should open my windows and let in some air, or part the curtains at least, but I don’t.My body feels ten times heavier today, and I hate that I can’t even get out of bed. A plate of glazed duck sits on my nightstand, forgotten. I tried to eat, but everything tastes like sawdust. The last servant who brought the duck suggested a pie.I don’t remember what I said, but her face was a beet red when she left. My mind remains centered on one thing—the silence in my head.My wolf has been quiet ever since we left the council. Now, I already know better than to mistake her silence for peace. Bones aching, I kick off the covers and pull myself out of bed, promising myself that a shower will make me feel better.It doesn’t. I throw on a brown woolen sweater over dark leggings and pad around bare feet, waiting for my hair to dry out wh
KAMARI“Remember what I told you,” Father’s voice is the only thing I can hear clearly beneath the static in my brain.“Let me do the talking.” He said, as if I even knew what to say.Under the glare of a spotlight, I find myself strangely longing for the sun and the stares of my pack members.The silence in the council is loud enough to crush my ear drums.I stand on a sunken circular floor in the center of the room below the council seating with my heart in my throat.My eyes fail to adjust to the darkness covering the seats carved into stone.Nine seats, I count. Nine robed silhouettes. Nine voices forming a semi circle around me, yet all I see when I tilt my chin is my father at the head table—face illuminated by a warm light fixed above the head seat.My gaze drops to my feet, to the stylized image of a wolf’s head surrounded by a blood red moon.When father starts to speak, his baritone holds steady as he presents his long lost Alpha heir to the council members.When he finishe
KAMARIThe sun is already beating down on my skin when I step out beside my father.I blink against the glare, squinting at the thousands of pack members gathered below the raised platform, their faces turned toward us. My brothers stand on either side of him, dressed in slate-gray suits.For one strange second, I feel like I’ve stepped into a memory I was never supposed to revisit.Then my father speaks—and the crowd goes quiet.“Wolves of Bloodmoon, I summoned you all here to bear witness to this occasion—one which has long been fabled as a miracle that might never come…”I glance sideways at my brother Darius, wishing that I can hold his hand tight instead of biting my tongue so hard.“One hundred and twenty moons ago, tragedy struck the very core of this pack. Our Luna was taken from us…and so was our Alpha heir.”The crowd stays solemnly silent, and I feel goosebumps crawl up my back as father’s words sink in.He called it a tragedy and the pack didn’t protest it. This can only







