로그인We checked on Darius before we went anywhere else.
He was asleep.
Not better.
Not worse.
The healer called that stable.
Maren sat beside him with one hand wrapped around his, her chair pulled close enough that their arms touched.
Ezra’s POVBy midday, I had four people waiting outside the council room and six pieces of paper in front of me that apparently required the Alpha’s decision.I had read three.I understood two.The sixth appeared to concern roof tiles.I looked at Ronan.“Why am I deciding roof tiles?”He took the page.“You’re not.”“It says Alpha approval.”“That is because the old process says anything above the second expenditure threshold needs it.”
Maren found me in the western stores before breakfast.I was standing between two half-empty shelving rows with a stock sheet in one hand and absolutely no idea what I was looking at.She stopped beside me.“You look concerned.”“I’m counting flour.”“That explains it.”I looked at her.She almost smiled.Almost.Darius had been gone three days.Sometimes I forgot for several minutes.Then something small happened.Maren turned towards a doorway expecting him to appear.A chair stayed empty.And the whole pack remembered again.I looked back at the page.“Ronan said supplies were moved before the fires.”“Yes.”“Ezra is tracing the authorisations.”“And you?”“Hesper says the infirmary needs more food.”Maren waited.I frowned at her.“What?”“Nothing.”“You’re doing the thing.”“What thing?”“The thing where you wait until I realise there is something you could have told me immediately.”Her mouth moved.“It is an effective teaching method.”“It is irritating.”“So is leadership.”I
Ezra’s POVI found Aurora outside the council room.She was leaning against the wall with her arms folded, staring at nothing.That usually meant she was thinking.Today it looked more like she had been handed something she did not know where to put.I stopped in front of her.“Cassian?”Her eyes lifted.“Yes.”I waited.She pushed away from the wall.“He’s remembering Victor.”I went still.“How much?”“Not everything. Pieces.”Her arms tightened around herself.“He remembers Mum before Victor. He remembers enough to know Victor was there when she was taken from him.”Corvain came forward immediately.I opened the council-room door.Aurora followed me inside.Maps covered half the table. Reports covered the other half. Someone had added another stack while I was gone.Apparently becoming Alpha meant paper reproduced when nobody was looking.Aurora sat on the edge of the table.“He said when he came here, he knew Victor’s name and face. But he didn’t recognise him as the man from thos
The door to one of the smaller sitting rooms off the lower corridor was open when I reached it.Cassian sat beside the window, dressed properly for the first time in what felt like weeks.He looked better.Not well.Better.The bruising from the cave had faded, but he still moved carefully, like his body remembered damage his skin no longer showed.“You asked for me.”“I did.”I stayed near the door.Cassian glanced at the empty chair opposite him.“You don’t have to sit.”“That sounded suspiciously like asking me to sit.”The corner of his mouth moved.“Then I’ll stop helping.”I sat.Neither of us spoke.That was becoming a habit.Cassian looked towards the window.“I’m sorry about Darius.”I nodded.“Thank you.”“He was a good Alpha.”“He made mistakes.”“Yes.”I looked at him.“Good men usually do.”Something tightened in my chest.Darius would have liked that answer.“What did you want to tell me?”Cassian became still.Not guarded.Uncertain.“I’m remembering.”Ilvane shifted be
I woke to Ezra arguing with someone through the door.“No.”Ronan’s voice came from the corridor.“You haven’t even heard what I was going to say.”“I know you.”“That feels unfair.”“It’s experience.”I opened my eyes.Morning light had reached the edge of the bed.Ezra sat beside me, already dressed except for his boots.“How long have you been awake?”He looked ba
By the time we reached the pack house, I could barely feel my feet.Ezra looked worse.Nobody stopped us.That might have been the strangest part.Ronan saw us come through the doors, took one look at Ezra and said, “I have the night.”Ezra slowed.“You’ve been awake almost as long as I have.”“Yes.”“So that was a terrible argument.”“It wasn’t an argument.”Ronan pointed towards the stairs.“Go.”Ezra stared at him.I touched his arm.“He’s getting bossier.”“I noticed.”Ronan’s mouth moved.“Goodnight, Alpha.”Ezra muttered something I chose not to hear.We went upstairs.Neither of us spoke until we reached my room.I opened the door.Ezra stopped outside it.I looked back.“What?”His gaze moved past me into the room.“I should probably sleep.”“Yes.”“In my room.”I waited.He knew I was waiting.“Aurora.”“You’ve been sleeping badly for days.”“That is not an argument for me being in your bed.”“It wasn’t supposed to be.”His eyes narrowed slightly.I stepped closer.“I want yo







