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
COWRIEI ran until my lungs scraped raw, until the courtyard gravel sliced my feet. I got to the garden gate and creaked it open.My skirts tangled around my knees, fists balled at my sides, heart thundering like hooves. I saw her before I could catch my breath—Mama, kneeling by the herb basin, hand
COWRIEMy hands were deep in the basin, scrubbing the soot from yesterday’s pot. Micah had disappeared into the trees just before dawn, hunting for mushrooms.My sleeves were damp, curls stuck to my face, and I was humming. The world was still. The breeze was soft. Then the door shattered.Solenne s
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







