Atticus
Decorations lay in tatters across the grounds. Children huddled in groups beneath wide, leafy trees – as though they would offer some measure of protection.Atticus tried miserably to smile at them. He had to be strong for his pack, even as panic choked him. Whispers filled the air around him, and he tried to shut his ears to the words “Impulsive” and “Brutal”; that was not what he’d meant to be. He’d only ever wanted to do his best for the Blood Moon pack.
Mint that had been strung in vials from tree to tree now lay upon the grass, the shattered remains of the glass cracking beneath his boots. Rabbits – a sign of family, of protection – scurried into patches of undergrowth, freed from their enchantments when their magical cages had been broken. Their wide, innocent eyes mocked and haunted him. Bunting in the colour o
ElijahIn the two and a half months since Lily’s arrival, Elijah had never felt more settled in his own home. Spring had warmed slowly into an early summer, the colours blooming around the endless evergreen.He was beginning to feel as though his heart was as stalwart as the pines that surrounded him. It had stood strong through many struggles, but it had remained through all seasons. And, now, summer had returned – in more ways than one.Ithia leant across the ornate desk, hands flat on the table. “So?”Elijah grinned. “I think you mean, ‘So, Alpha?’”“You’re becoming unbearable,” Caslein muttered.“Yes,” said Ithia, examining her nails, “you are. And I hardly recognise you without that constant frown.”&ld
LilyClutching a wicker basket brimming with baked goods, Lily strolled home in the late afternoon sun. The trees came alive in the sunlight, their boughs gleaming, appearing to bend inwards in a series of arches, leading her to Elijah’s – to her – cabin.And it was hers, now. She’d made it her own: Lily picked wildflowers and filled vases with them, until the entire cabin was teeming with seasonal flowers and foliage. She’d adorned the door with a handmade wreath, which she’d then made more of and sold at the market. The wreaths had been followed by pressings of dried flowers, framed in hand-carved wood, and suddenly Lily had found herself quite at home in the pine forests and meadows that made up the Sea Pine pack’s territory.Her first month with Elijah, here, in his home, had been magical. She’d unravelled him, lying o
LilyLily felt as though her bones were rattling. With shaking fingers she removed the crumpled letter from the crumpled envelope, smoothing it out on the desk as she lowered herself into the chair behind it.She lit a much-used candle that had dripped and oozed wax down itself onto the tabletop. Shards of moonlight cut through the hastily-closed curtains, peering through the gaps as though it was as interested as she was by the contents of the letter that her mate had gone to such lengths to keep from her.Her breaths felt too quick, too shallow. Elijah gave her everything she’d ever needed but never known how to ask for. Though the sting of Atticus’s rejection had long since been soothed, the gut-clenching fear that this was all a fallacy, ever intimate moment they’d ever shared, made the pain of not being good enough wash over her anew.
AtticusAtticus had a lot to thank the Red Ripper pack for. Their ingenuity, for one. He liked a lot of their ideas, and their bravery, and their boldness. He hated them for it too, of course – but he couldn’t help but admire them either.Compared to the White Oak pack, their evil paled. His father had to physically restrain him when they’d come to gloat, saying they should never have fought them over a bit of woodland. He would have killed them all, one by one, their thick-skulled Alpha first, had it not been for his dad.He’d had to begrudgingly thank him for his foresight when White Oak had laid down the real reason behind their visit: to offer them enough basic crop to survive. They hadn’t wanted to hurt them; just to make a point. Atticus had nearly refused them on principle, but it was a windfall he knew wouldn’t land in his lap again.
Lily“There’s something I need to discuss with you.”Elijah propped himself up on his elbow. His hair was dishevelled from intermittent sleep, and his eyes were drowsy. Scrubbing a hand over his scarred face, he waited for Lily to rouse herself enough to answer.Lily blinked blearily back at him. She was drooped over the kitchen table, her hand numb around a now-cold cup of coffee. The ink of her notes had smeared across her palm and up her wrist like spilled blood.She managed to keep her gaze fixed on him for just long enough to ask, “What?”They’d spent the last week in a haze of plans and notes and maps, sending out scouts to get information and runners to relay it back to them. Lily had hardly had time to think in the wake of Atticus’s letter, and the deadly consequences she was sure it held
LilyHeat scorched Lily’s skin. She held her hands up, palms facing forward, as she edged closer.“Elijah!” she screamed. Panic engulfed her, swelling like the tidal wave of fire filling the kitchen. “Elijah!”A wooden beam groaned and creaked above. Moving deftly to the side, Lily dodged it as it fell. Her breath came in short gasps, fear strangling her.Choking and coughing, Lily yanked her top off and wrapped it around her nose and mouth. Tears streamed down her soot-stained cheeks, snaking paths and dripping from her chin.The only relief afforded to her was the steady pull of the bond. Elijah couldn’t be dead; he couldn’t be, not when she could still feel the tug of it towing her towards the kitchen. The kitchen, where the flames were coming from…“Elijah!&r
LilyRunning was easier the second time.With their home on the cusp of the densest part of the pine forest, Lily turned tail and ducked out of the cabin. Memories of Atticus swarmed unbidden through her mind, blurring with images so fresh they felt unstable, not yet fully formed; Elijah’s face hardened, his grey eyes turning green. It was not the truth that hurt her so – it was the lies he had told along the way.Lily raced into the undergrowth, hardly feeling the harsh scrapes of writhing thorns as they dug into her exposed skin. Blood pounded in her temples. The pines swallowed the evening sunlight, casting her into dappled shadow.Elijah was half faelen.Chest heaving, Lily shuddered to a halt and vomited. She fell to her knees, wicked branches scratching her face. New scars to add to the ones she had collected in Blood M
ElijahGrey eyes hardened, turning dark as they surveyed the damage to his warm, familiar kitchen. He focused on the blackened counters, on the charred table. He focused on anything he could to keep the pain at bay.Just like Leahne, Lily had seen him for what he truly was and left.Without thinking, Elijah swept from his cabin. He couldn’t stand seeing what he had done. The evening sun heated his back and shoulders as he marched across his territory. He did not deserve such gentle caresses as afforded to him by the sun. He was a creature of fire; to revel in it after today made tears spring to his eyes. He could barely see by the time he reached the one place he knew he would find solace.Elijah had been here twice before.“No one will ever love you as I did,” Leahne swore in his ear, beckoning him down towards the riv