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
Cowrie held it close, then slipped it into her belt like a warrior. Tyler watched the exchange, then reached down and ruffled her hair. “You’ll guard the gardens better than anyone. Make sure no toad escapes,” he said. She smiled so hard her eyes squinted.I knelt beside her, pressed my forehead to
LILAI found her in the back corridor, Lyric stood with her arms braced against the sink, staring at the cracked porcelain. I closed the door behind me and leaned against it, arms crossed, pulse hammering harder than it should have.“You could’ve came back,” I said. "Tyler won't have let anything ha
LILATyler leaned against the stone wall, legs stretched, arm draped across his ribs where bruises bloomed through the fabric. I pulled his hand into mine and held it firm. His skin stayed warm. His fingers twitched around mine, and his voice came low, cracked, but whole.“I thought she was going to
LILAWe crossed the last ridge before sunrise, legs raw, shoulders aching, faces covered in soot from the burnt trees we’d passed through. Raven’s Peak didn’t look like home anymore.The skyline had changed. The old watchtower stood darker than I remembered, windows blacked out, smoke curling faintl







