FAZER 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
COWRIEAunt Lyric’s quarters always smelled like rosewood. She let me stay without questions, pulled me inside with one arm slung around my shoulders, the other already reaching for the kettle.The candles flickered low and soft, golden halos dancing across the floor. She poured wine first, I knew i
We carried our spoils through the village. Solenne dumped her haul on the floor—pickled mushrooms, copper bangles, hand-cut soap that smelled like river mint—and flopped onto the cushion pile by the fire like a satisfied thief.~The rain had started before sunrise, loud and thick like the sky had s
COWRIEI started with the blacksmith’s daughter. Her name was Yeri, and she always stared too long when I passed, always lingered too close when she brought metals for the palace forge.I found her behind the training barracks, hands coated in soot and sleeves rolled. She glanced at the guards flank
COWRIEWe left before dawn with no breakfast and no carriage. Just two women in hunter’s boots, blades hidden beneath embroidered shawls, skirts tucked into belts and teeth bared against the chill.Solenne matched my stride, we crossed the first rise and saw the stone buildings scattered like broken







