LOGINBastian came back bleeding from a dozen wounds, but he came back. "Miss me?"He stood at the narrow bridge over the black river with the Saltmarch forces retreating behind him and his clothes soaked in blood that was only partly his. His gold eyes found me across the water, and through the first bond I felt his exhaustion and his triumph and the deep, steady pulse of his love.I caught him before he could collapse. "You're an idiot. You're a reckless, self-sacrificing idiot.""I know." Bastian's arm draped over my shoulders, and his weight pressed against me. "But I'm your idiot. And I held the bridge.""You held the bridge," I repeated, and my voice cracked. "You held the bridge, and you came back."The rescued Moon-Wolves huddled on the far bank, their silver collars removed and discarded in the mud. Tide knelt in the reeds with her white-streaked hair hanging loose, her amber-gold eyes fixed on the border we had crossed. Reef stood beside her, his broken collarbone splinted but his
The Saltmarsh alpha's fortress was built on stilts over black water, and the Moon-Wolves were caged beneath it.I crouched in the reeds with Bastian's shoulder pressed against mine, and the swamp stench of rot and salt filled my lungs. The fortress loomed above us on wooden pillars, torchlight bleeding through the floorboards and reflecting off the still black water. Underneath, in the muck and the dark, iron cages hung from chains."There," Rook whispered, pointing. "Six of them. Two omegas, three betas, one alpha. Silver collars on all of them."Through the bond web, I felt the prisoners before I saw them clearly. Suppressed bonds, muffled and aching, the silver burning into their throats. They weren't just caged. They were being smothered."I count eight guards on the platform," Bastian murmured. "Another four patrolling the perimeter. We go in quiet. Rook, you're on locks. I'll handle the guards. Caelum, you keep the prisoners calm. We can't afford panic.""Quiet isn't my specialt
"There are Moon-Wolves everywhere," Kellan said, spreading the map across the council table. "Hiding. Waiting. Every pack that joins the Accord leads to three more reaching out."The map was covered in markers now. Silver Hollow at the center. The Gray Reach in the north. Mirren's Promise on the glacier. The Sunken Valley, marked for the first time on any official record. And now the Saltmarsh Delta, far to the south, a territory none of us had ever visited.The council hall was quiet. Maren stood at the head of the table with her scarred face thoughtful. Sera sat beside her, her auburn braid pulled tight, her green eyes sharp. Maelis was there, still recovering but unwilling to miss council sessions. Elara beside her. Wren had come down from the sanctuary, and Veris had traveled from the Sunken Valley for this meeting."Five packs have reached out since the summit," Kellan continued. "Saltmarsh Delta. Ridgeback. The Western Flats. Two independent omegas in hostile territories who fou
"The Frostborn built this place to breed soldiers," Wren said. "Now it's going to train healers and leaders. I like the irony."The northern sanctuary had changed in the months since the Frostborn's defeat. The breeding cells were gone, replaced by bright dormitories with windows that let in the pale mountain light. The barracks where pale wolf pups had been trained to kill were now classrooms with maps on the walls and books on the shelves. The throne room, where the Frostborn had sat for three centuries, was a library now. Wren had insisted on that."The records he kept were monstrous," Wren said, walking me through the renovated corridors. Her pup, a healthy four-month-old named Thorne, was strapped to her back in a carrier Sable had knitted. "But the information is useful. Bloodline tracking. Seer training methods. The Frostborn spent three hundred years studying Moon-Wolves so he could destroy us. Now we're using his research to help ourselves."Wren was eighteen now, her gold-fl
"The boy is Mirren," I announced. "For the woman who built the sanctuaries." I looked at my daughter. "And she is Sable. For the mother who came back."The main hall was packed beyond capacity. Wolves stood along the walls and filled the benches and spilled out into the courtyard beyond. Silver Hollow wolves. Gray Reach representatives. Frostmarch refugees in their pale furs. Sunken Valley visitors who blinked at the crowd like they'd never seen so many faces. Ironwood and Stonefall delegates who had stayed after the summit.Theron Crowne, now a sturdy toddler of sixteen months, sat in Orin's lap near the front. He clapped his hands when the names were spoken, and his tiny voice piped across the silent hall. "Mirren. Sable. Babies."Orin's arm tightened around his nephew. "That's right. Your brother and sister."Sable stood near the back of the hall with her scarred hands pressed to her mouth. She had tried to stay hidden, tried to let the ceremony focus on the twins and not on her, b
Two cries filled the room, one after the other, and the bond web sang so loudly I thought my heart would burst.The first cry was a fierce, angry wail that sliced through the midnight quiet. The second came a heartbeat later, higher and softer, a counterpoint to the first. I lay back against the pillows, drenched in sweat and shaking, and Archer lifted both twins into the lamplight with hands that were steady despite the tears streaming down his face."A boy and a girl," Archer said, and his voice cracked on every word. "Caelum, you did it. They're perfect."Elara was beside him, her knotted hands gentle as she cleaned the newborns and wrapped them in soft blankets. "The boy has Bastian's coloring. Look at that dark hair. And the girl—""The girl has Kellan's hair," I breathed. "Silver-blond. And Archer's mouth. I can see it already."Archer placed the twins on my chest, one on each side, and their tiny bodies were warm and solid and real. The boy's dark fuzz was damp against my skin.
I couldn't fight. I couldn't shift. But when the first rogue lunged through the cave mouth, my body moved before my mind could stop it.The attack came fast. Three wolves burst through the entrance with snapping jaws and matted fur, their ribs showing through patchy coats. They smelled like rot and
“I’ve been alone for ten years,” Bastian said, his back still turned. “I should have killed you the moment I caught your scent. I tried. My wolf wouldn’t let me.”I lay on the cold stone, shivering and burning, my cheek pressed to the rough floor. The fire Bastian had built spat and crackled betwee
I felt him before I saw him—a pressure in the air, a weight in the dark that made my wolf curl up and go silent.The heat had been eating me alive for hours. Every step through the snow sent a fresh wave of fire through my belly, and my legs were slick with something I didn’t want to name. The pine
Two medics held me down before I could ask what was happening. The needle went in, and fire spread through my veins. I bucked on the table hard enough that the leather restraints creaked, and a strangled sound tore out of my throat that wasn't a word. One medic, a beta woman with flat grey eyes an







