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
LILAReid shifted beside me, likely thinking the same.I tilted my head. “So you followed me?”“No!” she gasped, then hesitated. “I mean...sometimes. But not to harm. I—I picked up the flowers you dropped once. You didn’t notice. I kept them.”That made my breath catch. A flower? A small, delicate w
LILAThe wind caught in my hair as I stood at the edge of the yard behind the Packhouse, staring up at the half-built treehouse. Lyric’s treehouse.It wasn’t far from the main building, maybe thirty paces through short grass and the occasional dandelion but something about this spot felt…quieter.“S
LILAThe treehouse smelled like cedar and pine varnish. The fresh paint still clung to the air. I leaned back against the wooden beam, watching Gavin crawl across the floor on his hands and knees, pretending to be a mountain lion. His giggles bounced off the newly polished walls, mixing with birdson
My skin prickled, but I didn’t flinch. Instead, I turned back to the wood and focused on aligning the beam, pretending I didn’t hear them, pretending I couldn’t feel the heat of their eyes on my back.Tyler lifted the old paneling from the side of the half-finished treehouse, inspecting the water-da







