MasukHe 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
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
But I didn’t move.My eyes stayed fixed on the boy, on the fine cuts along his arm, the intricate burn mark half-hidden beneath his shirt collar.“That’s not moonroot,” she said flatly. “That’s a ritual scar.”Thomas stiffened. “What?”I stepped closer, ignoring the boy’s groan. “He’s been marked be
“There is no us,” I said.A beat of silence passed between us.Then I softened, just barely.“I’m not angry that you want redemption, Tyler. I’m angry that you think earning me back is part of it.”“I care about you,” he said.“No,” I corrected. “You care about what you owe me. That’s not the same t







