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
MARAThe room glowed with sound. Solenne teased Lyric about her earrings after Tyler grabbed one earlier. Lyric feigned outrage, declaring she’d trade them for wolf charms that couldn’t be tugged. Lila shook her head and muttered something about her daughters growing more like their father every day
MARACowrie leaned into Micah’s arm, Solenne kissed her son’s curls, Lyric told a story that had everyone roaring with laughter. The Packhouse glowed.I sipped my cider, the spice catching in my throat. “It feels like the Pack found its laughter again,” I said.Lila nodded, her eyes glinting with th
MARAThe courtyard came alive before the carriages even stopped moving. Voices carried through the morning air—laughter, greetings, the sound of boots crunching gravel. I paused on the terrace steps, the scent of pine and hearth smoke swirling together as the guests poured out. Solenne was the first
MARAWhen I reached the back door, the one that opened to the old garden path, I paused. The sunlight spilled across the floor in slanted stripes, gold and merciless. My heart beat quick and loud, not from fear, but from the wild, living thrill of defiance. I tightened my grip on the strap of my bag







