LOGINThe pack stared at me like I was a stranger.I walked into the dining hall for breakfast, and every single wolf stopped what they were doing. Forks froze mid-air. Conversations died. Eyes tracked me across the room like I was a threat.I kept walking.Kael's chair was at the head of the table. Mine was to his right. I sat down like I belonged there.Vera was already seated. She raised an eyebrow but said nothing.Elias walked in behind me. He sat across from Vera."You're late," Vera said."I was training," I said."Training what? Your face?""Your wit is sharp today.""My wit is always sharp. You're just slow."I almost smiled.The pack started eating again. The whispers started too."She thinks she's Luna now.""Look at her sitting there like she owns the place.""She's still Silver Crescent.""Alpha Kael is making a mistake."I kept my eyes on my plate. Bread. Meat. A bowl of stew. I ate slowly. Deliberately. Like I had all the time in the world.Kael walked in.The room went quiet
Training started at dawn.Kael woke me with his hand on my shoulder. Gentle. Not shaking. Just a quiet pressure that pulled me out of a dream I couldn't remember."Up," he said.I blinked against the grey light coming through the window. "What time is it?""Time to learn."I groaned and rolled out of bed. My body ached from yesterday. The parley. The tension. The sleepless night spent with my head on Kael's chest.Kael handed me a pile of clothes. Black. Fitted. Leather pants I'd never worn before. A thick grey shirt. Boots with good grip."Where did you get these?""I had Vera find them. You can't train in a dress."I looked at the clothes. Then at him. "Turn around."He turned.I changed quickly. The leather was soft. Broken in. It fit perfectly — like it had been made for me."Vera has good taste," I said."I'll tell her you said that.""You can turn around now."Kael turned. His eyes ran over me. Slow. Appreciative. He didn't say anything for a long moment. Just looked."What?" I
The border looked different in the daylight.No shadows. No fear. Just snow and trees and grey sky pressing down like a lid. Every breath I took turned to white smoke in front of my face. The cold bit through my coat, through my skin, through to my bones.Kael stood beside me. His shoulder brushed mine. His hand rested on the knife at his belt.Elias stood behind us. Ten warriors flanked the group. Vera had wanted to come, but Kael ordered her to stay."If I don't come back," Kael had told her, "you protect the pack. You protect her."Vera had nodded. No argument. No anger. Just a quiet acceptance that made me like her more than I wanted to.Now we waited.Marcus was late."Trap," Elias muttered."Probably," Kael said."Then why are we here?"Kael didn't look away from the tree line. "Because if we don't show, he wins. Because my pack needs to see me stand my ground. Because if I hide behind my walls every time Marcus snaps his fingers, I'm not an Alpha. I'm a coward.""You're not a c
The messenger arrived at noon.I saw him from the kitchen window. A lone wolf on horseback, riding fast toward the house. His cloak was grey and white. Silver Crescent colors.My blood went cold.Elias saw him too. He was at the door before the horse stopped."State your business," Elias said."I bear a message for Alpha Kael. From Alpha Marcus."Kael appeared at the top of the stairs. His shirt was untucked. His hair was messy. His eyes were deadly."Let him in," Kael said.The messenger dismounted. Walked inside. He was young. Younger than me. His hands were shaking."Speak," Kael said."Alpha Marcus requests a parley. At the border. Three days from now.""Requests or demands?""Requests, Alpha."Kael walked down the stairs. Slow. Deliberate. Each step echoed in the silent house."Tell Marcus I'll consider it," Kael said."He also said to tell you..." The messenger swallowed. "He said to tell you that the girl's father didn't die in the war. He died in a cell. Alone. Begging."Kael'
Vera showed up at breakfast with a knife on her hip and murder in her eyes."Kael says I have to watch you," she said."Kael says a lot of things.""He says I go everywhere with you.""Then sit down. You're making the table look lonely."Vera sat across from me. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a tight braid. Her jaw was sharp enough to cut glass."I don't like you," she said."I know.""I've loved him since I was fifteen.""I know that too.""And you just showed up. Bought. Sold. Like you're nothing."I put down my bread. Looked her in the eye."Vera," I said. "I'm going to say something. And I want you to hear it. Not fight it. Just hear it."Her hand moved to her knife."I'm not trying to take him from you.""Then what are you doing?""Surviving."Vera's hand relaxed. Just a fraction."He's different with you," she said. "Softer. I've never seen him soft.""Maybe he was always soft. Maybe he just forgot how to show it."Vera stared at me. Her blue eyes were wet."I hate that you'
Kael came back three days later.I felt him before I saw him. The bond — the thing he kept calling a bond — pulsed in my chest like a second heartbeat. Warm. Demanding. Pulling me toward the front door.I was in the kitchen. Eating bread I didn't taste. Drinking tea that had gone cold an hour ago.Elias looked up from his chair by the fire. His grey eyes softened."He's back," Elias said."I know.""You're not going to meet him?""No.""Why not?"I put down the bread. Looked at my hands. They were shaking. They had been shaking for three days."Because if I see him," I said, "I'm going to kiss him again. And then he's going to leave again. And I can't do that. I can't keep being left."Elias said nothing.The front door opened.Boots on the stone floor. Heavy. Deliberate. The same walk I'd heard on my first night here. The same walk that had haunted my dreams for seventy-two hours.Kael walked into the kitchen.He looked terrible.Dark circles under his eyes. Blood on his shirt — not







