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
The bruises on my body hadn’t faded. The silence from Tyler still rang louder than any scream. And George was still walking these halls; still breathing, still lying.I waited until Gavin stirred again, until the sleepiness had melted from his voice and his fingers were absently twisting the edge of
LILAThe knock came like a warning shot.I jolted awake on the floor, the cold from the stone having sunk deep into my bones. My back ached from where I’d fallen asleep curled beside the desk, maps half-spread beneath me, ink stains dotting the sleeve of my nightgown.Bang. Bang. Bang.I scrambled u
~I used to stand beside him on days like this. Hand in hand, eyes forward. A symbol of balance; Alpha and Luna, wolf and flame.Today, I stood in the back.The announcement had come that morning: a diplomatic alliance with the Northern Pine Ridge Pack, one of the more powerful clans across the moun
LILAI didn’t knock.Aethera was already waiting, her door ajar, smoke curling from a copper incense bowl near the window. The scent was sharp, a mix of wolfsbane and dried sage. A warning blend. A protective one.She didn’t rise when I entered. Just gestured with her fingers to the seat across from







