LOGINMy words are blunt. “The Goddess has gone mad.” This has to be the only explanation for this new nonsense. Elder Eira’s eyebrows fly to her hairline. “There’s always a reason for everything.” “She wants me to go feral,” I murmur, staring into space. “She’s aware my human part is the only thing keeping Nyra at bay, right?” “You have to stop thinking your wolf is a separate part of you,” she says. “You are one.” I give her a look. “She has her name and is as old as time itself. She’s crazy.” I shrug. “I’m not.” Not if I can help it. You’re just a coward, Nyra snarls. Just when I think my wolf and I have finally ironed out our differences, we’re back on opposite sides. I laugh harshly. “The Goddess must love using me as entertainment. She wants history to repeat itself.” Elder Eira watches quietly, letting me rant. “If I give up my humanity, what would be the difference between me and a rogue?” “You won’t go feral,” Elder Eira says slowly. I stare at her. The goddess must ha
Elder Eira steps into my path just as I walk out of the packhouse. “Follow me,” she says curtly, already turning away. I stare after her, eyebrows raised. When she doesn’t stop or glance back, I sigh and follow. She leads me to a small cottage on the far side of the packhouse. Its brick walls look seconds away from collapsing. When she opens the wooden door, it shifts crookedly in its frame. I step inside. She closes the door behind us. “Why aren’t you staying in the packhouse?” I ask, studying the interior. The space is small. There arescattered stools, and a thin cot is pressed against the far wall. Firewood is stacked neatly beside a stove, with a few pots hanging above it. She gestures for me to sit. I lower myself onto a stool. “I feel connected to those who came before me,” she says. “This cottage has housed many seers.” “Oh.” I swallow. “Oh.” She moves to a kettle, cups, and plates laid out beside it, and pours steaming liquid into a cup. “Tea?” I open my mouth to r
The brown wolf shifts, and Ryken is left looking at this familiar-looking man, but he can’t place where he knows him from. The man speaks, “You’re Ryken from the Blackridge pack, right? The one the other packs have been warned of.”“Who’s asking?” Ryken gasps out through the pain.“I’m Ronan from the Black Canine pack.”Realization hits him. “Your Alpha is Silas.” The Alpha who is travelling so close to their border before.“Yes,” he answers impatiently. “And you’re Ryken?”He hesitates, then tries to tip his chin up to look confident, but the pain won’t let him. “Yes.”Ronan smiles. “Good. I have a deal for you.”He studies the man before him curiously. “What kind of deal?”“Alpha Caden has my sister with him…”“Your sister,” Ryken repeats. His eyes widen. Now he knows where he has seen those gold eyes. Selene’s eyes glow golden that day under the full moon. He feels fury rising at the thought of a part of her standing before him. “I’m not helping you with anything that has to do wit
My breath seizes. “What do you mean she’s gone?”“I woke up to see her packing her things and rushing. I tried to ask her what happened, but she kept mumbling that the Alpha would kill her. She left without telling me anything,” Lyra says in one breath.I bolt from the room, Lyra right at my heels. We race through the Alpha’s wing and into the center of the packhouse. Lyra’s scent is faint, almost fading. I pause, staring at the door leading out. Where could she have gone? Did she run, thinking Caden might kill her? I swallow hard at the thought.I step outside. The forest looms ahead, darker and more menacing than I’ve ever seen it. If Mira left the borders, she’s exposed, vulnerable to rogue attacks. And with her Omega nature, she’s even weaker. I shake the thought off. Beside me, Lira bites her nails, her expression urging me to act.I take a step toward the forest, and then I register it: Mira’s scent. Stronger now.Lira notices the change in my expression. “What is it?” she asks,
I freeze, eyes wide and unable to process what’s happening. It’s only when Mira’s hand lifts toward my cheek that my senses snap back.I shove her away—harder than I mean to—and she rolls across the bed, nearly falling off the edge. I sit up quickly, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. We stare at each other in stunned disbelief.“What was that?” I demand at the same time she blurts, “I’m sorry!”Pain lances through my chest so sharply it forces a gasp out of me. I clutch at my heart, confused and breathless, until realization hits.“Caden,” I whisper. “No.”Hurt. Betrayal. His emotions crash into me through the bond in violent waves.Goddess, he felt the kiss.I feel the distance between us closing rapidly.My head jerks toward the door. He’s already coming.“I’m so sor—” Mira starts, her voice shaky.“You need to leave. Right now,” I cut her off.“Selene, I don’t know what came over me—”I grab her shoulders and shake her. “You’re not listening! You need to leave. Caden is—”M
They stand in the middle, the pack forming a tight semicircle around them. They aren’t bound, but they don’t dare run. They know exactly what will happen if they try.Caden and Beta Dorian stand at the forefront.Caden’s voice fills the courtyard, deep and steady with authority. “Weeks ago, there were attacks on our pack that led to the loss of some of our dear ones because some among us were led by pride and greed. Tonight, justice will be served… and by the hands of those who were wronged.”Beta Dorian adds, “The punishment for betrayal to the pack is death.”Before Ryken’s accomplices can even react, the families of the fallen launch at them. The two traitors try to fight back, but they’re outnumbered, overwhelmed instantly. I refuse to look away. Their screams rip through the air as they’re torn apart, limb by limb, until the sound fades into nothing and what remains is just a bloody mess on the ground.Ryken scrambles backward, trembling in fear. Caden turns toward him, and Ryken







