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
LILAThe scent of burned herbs reached the hall before I reached the door. The scent travelled through the corridor, curling against the stone like a signal of defeat. I followed it to the kitchen and found Gavin standing beside the counter, arms crossed and grin sharp. Mara stood before the hearth,
SOLENNECowrie squealed first. She didn’t even wait for me to finish the sentence. I’d barely gotten the words out—“I’m pregnant”—before she flung herself at me with her arms around my neck and her tea cup sloshing half its contents down my back.“Oh goddess, Solenne,” she shouted, laughing and cryi
“You’re going to get me back for that,” I warned, wiping water from my forehead.“Maybe,” she said, eyes glinting with mischief. “Maybe not.” Her lips curved in that grin again, and I felt a rush of something I couldn’t name, something I wanted to explore.We spent the morning hiking up a narrow rid
COWRIEI stood before the mirror as Solenne threaded the last pearl into my hair, each tiny bead catching the morning light and scattering it across the walls.Mum adjusted the folds of my ivory gown, smoothing the satin so it clung perfectly to my waist and flowed over my hips, brushing the floor i







