LOGINLife at North Hollow slowly settled into a rhythm that felt both strange and comforting. The first few days had been awkward—new paths to walk, new faces to greet, new responsibilities to understand. But over the weeks that followed, those unfamiliar things began to feel like part of a routine that belonged to us.
Our mornings started quietly.
Selena woke up first
The morning after Selena’s fall should have felt lighter.The doctor had reassured me again before we left the healer’s quarters that her injury was nothing severe—just a bad sprain that needed rest, patience, and time. Words that should have settled my fears. Words that should have allowed me to breathe normally again. Yet even as the sun rose over North Hollow and the household resumed its rhythm, something inside me refused to quiet.Selena was recovering. But Kane was not. I noticed it first in the smallest ways.At breakfast, Selena sat with her leg propped up on a chair, grumbling dramatically about how unfair it was that she couldn’t run or climb. Camelia tried to distract her with stories while carefully spooning warm porridge into a bowl, and Everett kept reminding her that warriors
That night settled over the house with an uneasy stillness that no one openly spoke about. Selena slept in Sienna’s room, her injured ankle carefully propped on pillows, while Camelia stayed nearby, insisting that she would keep watch through the night if needed. The house had grown quieter than usual, the kind of quiet that followed fear, where even the softest sounds seemed sharper than they should.But Kane did not sleep.He lay in his small bed, staring up at the ceiling, his blanket pulled halfway to his chest. The shadows cast by the moonlight outside shifted slowly across the walls, stretching and shrinking as branches moved in the wind. Normally, Kane would have fallen asleep quickly after a long day of activity, his breathing steady within minutes. Tonight, his body refused to rest.Something inside him would not allow it.His chest rose and fell unevenly, breaths coming sharper than usual. He shifted from one side to the other, curling into himself, then stretching his legs
The healer’s quarters had settled into a strange kind of quiet by the next morning. Not the peaceful quiet of rest, but the watchful quiet that followed fear—the kind where every sound felt louder than it should, and every movement carried weight. The events of the previous evening had shaken more than just Selena’s small body. They had shaken the fragile balance that had slowly begun forming between Sienna, Cassius, and the children.Selena lay on the bed, her ankle carefully wrapped, her small leg resting atop a folded blanket. The swelling had reduced slightly overnight, and though she had cried in her sleep more than once, exhaustion had eventually taken over. Now she stirred restlessly, her brows furrowing as she blinked awake.“Mama…” she whispered weakly.Sienna was already there.She hadn’t left Selena’s side for more than a few minutes at a time. Her hair was loosely tied back, strands escaping around her face, and her eyes were shadowed with fatigue. The steady composure she
For the first time in a long while, I found myself sitting outside the healer’s quarters with a heaviness that had nothing to do with fear of Selena’s injury. She is stable now. The doctor had reassured me again and again that it was only a sprain, that children healed faster than adults, that by morning she would be restless and complaining rather than crying. I should have felt relieved. I should have felt lighter.Instead, guilt settled into my chest like a weight I could not shake off.Kane sat beside me, leaning into my side, his small fingers clutching the fabric of my sleeve like he needed to anchor himself somewhere safe. His breathing had steadied, but the fear still lingered in the tightness of his shoulders. Every now and then, he would glance toward the closed door, his eyes searching, his lips pressed into a thin line.“I should’ve caught her,” he whispered again, his voice small and tired.My heart twisted painfully at his words.“You couldn’t have,” I said softly, pulli
The doctor finally stepped out of the room, and I stood up immediately, my heart lodged somewhere in my throat. The past hour had stretched longer than any battle I had ever fought. Waiting outside that room, listening to the muffled sounds of Selena crying and Sienna whispering to her, had been a different kind of torture—one where there was nothing to fight, nothing to fix, nothing to command.“Cassius,” the doctor said calmly, though there was gentleness in her voice that eased something inside me. “She is unharmed. No fractures. Just a severe sprain and bruising. She will need rest and observation for the next few hours, but she will recover.”Unharmed.The word echoed in my mind like a blessing.My shoulders sagged slightly before I rea
The scream tore through the park like a blade.For a fraction of a second, everything slowed. The laughter around us faded, the movement of children blurred into the background, and all I could see was Selena’s small body slipping from the wooden beam. Her foot missed the edge, her balance gone, and then she was falling.My body moved before my mind caught up.I didn’t remember standing. I didn’t remember crossing the distance between the bench and the beam. One moment I was sitting beside Sienna, and the next I was running, my heart slamming violently against my ribs as fear surged through me like wildfire.Selena hit the ground hard.The sound of impact echoed louder in my ears than it probably was. She let out another cry, sharp and broken, her small hands clutching at the ground as panic took over her tiny frame.“S-Selena!” Kane’s voice cracked beside her, trembling with fear.Sienna didn’t move.That was what frightened me more than anything else.She stood frozen near the bench
“What are you doing here?” Sienna asked me once we moved out of the park. She wasn’t loud but there was a bite in her tone.“Me? I came here to play with the kids. We were here for an hour before
I stared at the well-built wolf in front of me.He stood with the easy authority of someone who did not need to announce his rank. Broad shoulders. Controlled stance. Calm eyes that are measured before reacting. If I kn
Just when I thought I had finally made peace with my future, Cassius stood at my doorway. For a second, I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. That the universe had decided I hadn’t suffered enough and wanted to test how steady I truly was.But no. He was real. Leaning against the side of my e
Ever since I had known about Sienna and my kids, my heart and mind were at war. Hugo and Jackson were dealing with the Vineclaw production and supply all alone. I was here to supervise and help my pack, instead all I feel is helpless.







