LOGINHe spoke first, his tone low but firm enough to carry. “We can wait,” he said. “Children will come when they’re meant to. The Pack already has its heart.” The room stilled for a breath. Mara looked over her shoulder, her hands still sunk in flour, her eyes soft and startled. “You mean me?” she asked
LILAThe house woke before dawn. Old wood shifted, the hearth whispered, and the air felt different—alive again. I stood at the foot of the stairs when I heard them coming. Two sets of steps, uneven from the road, but in rhythm all the same. When the door opened, cold air rushed through the hall. Ga
“I thought I had to be perfect,” she said. “Every step, every word. Like one mistake would make them lose faith in me.”“Then let them,” I said. “Let them see we bleed too. Let them see what real looks like.”Her eyes lifted toward the sky, catching the first streaks of gold between the branches. “T
GAVINHer breath came out in bursts, sharp enough to cut. She pressed her palm to her mouth, like the words might spill if she didn’t hold them in. I moved before I thought, closing the space, catching her hands in mine. Her fingers were cold and damp, her pulse racing under my thumb.“I can’t be wh
GAVINThe scent hit me before I saw the gate—hers, faint and fading, scattered by wind. I caught it the second I stepped into the hall, and everything in me snapped to attention. The council chamber still echoed in my head, the droning voices, the talk of territory lines and alliance disputes. I had
MARAI knelt beside a pool fed by a narrow stream. Moonlight rippled across its surface, silver on black. My reflection flickered there, the same face that wore the Luna’s mask every day, only softer now—bare, unsure, alive. I cupped my hands in the water and let it run down my wrists. The cold snap
LILAThe machines were quieter today.For the first time since he collapsed, the frantic beeping and harsh alarms had been replaced by something steadier and calmer. The monitors blinked in soft rhythm, like a lullaby I hadn’t dared hope to hear.I hadn’t left his side all night.A guard stood just
LILAThe hospital room was quiet, save for the rhythmic beeping of the monitors and the soft, even breathing of the boy lying in the bed. I stirred first, my hand still curled protectively around Gavin’s smaller one. My neck ached from sleeping hunched over, but I didn't care. The warmth of my son’s
My jaw clenched. “You know she was exiled for blood magic. You know she founded the Red Hand—”“We know what the stories say,” Thomas cut in. “But stories are not law. And fear is not proof.”“She left a sigil outside my son’s hospital room,” I snapped. “She’s made her presence very clear.”Another
LilaThe Pack House looked the same, but nothing felt familiar.The moment we stepped through the front doors, I could see it in Gavin’s eyes. His shoulders tightened, his grip on my hand like a vise. I squeezed back and knelt to meet his gaze.“It’s okay,” I said softly. “This is just for a little







