The Rejected Fool Luna

The morning run had almost killed her.Briar had been training with the gammas for four weeks straight, every day at six a.m., rain or shine. Killian's birthday was tomorrow and she had a plan. A real one. She would run beside him at the territory check, keep up without falling behind, and he would see that she was trying. That she was worth keeping.The gammas had not gone easy on her. But she had shown up every morning anyway, her thighs burning, her lungs screaming, until she could finally complete the full eastern circuit without stopping.This morning she had done it in under forty minutes.She was still sweaty and flushed and deeply out of breath when the first water balloon hit her.It caught her between the shoulder blades. The cold water exploded through her gray hoodie and she lurched forward, nearly losing her footing on the sidewalk. She turned around.Four children stood near the curb. None of them older than ten. All of them grinning like they had done something very cle

Vivienne had taken two hours to dress up.She knew the code to Killian's house. She had gotten it two weeks ago, standing in his doorway with a smile and a perfectly reasonable excuse. She had spilled something on her dress at the pack dinner, she had said, and needed to change before the evening was over. Could she possibly use his room? He had given her the code without thinking twice.She used it now, stepping through the side entrance and up the stairs. The hallway on the second floor was quiet. She paused outside the master bedroom door.She did not need to open it to know.The smell hit her immediately, musk and heat and something unmistakably animal, the particular scent of two wolves who had been very close together very recently. Her jaw tightened.Kallie snarled.*That worthless sow.* Kallie's voice scraped through her mind. *She touched him again. She touched what is ours. I want to rip her throat out. I want to pull that greasy hair out by the roots. She is nothing. She is

Briar's ears were still ringing.She stood with her hand pressed to her cheek and looked at Killian because he was the only thing she could think to look at. He always knew what everything meant and she never did, but if she could just hold onto his arm for a second and explain, he would understand.She reached out and grabbed his arm with both hands."Killian." Her voice came out thick. "The gift. It was a birthday gift. I planned it for a whole month. I wrote it all down." She still had the envelope in her pocket. She could show him. "The gammas said they remembered. I called them this morning and they all said they had it. I don't know why they ran ahead. I don't know what happened to the formation. Maybe they forgot? Or maybe they were going too fast and didn't realize? Because in the practices they always"He looked down at her hands on his arm."Let go," he said.She didn't let go. "Please just listen. I practiced the howl too. Vivienne said it was important to howl, that it sho

Liam had brought enough food for three people.Briar did not question this. She sat cross-legged on the bed after he left and worked through all of it with focused, uncomplicated dedication.The party sounds downstairs had faded to nothing. The house was quiet. She was on her third slice of pizza when the door hit the wall.She moved fast, grabbing the box and the foil and the container and shoving all of it under the covers in one messy armful. Then she dropped onto her back and pulled the duvet up to her chin and closed her eyes and lay very still.The footsteps crossed the room without slowing.A hand closed around the back of her collar and lifted.She came out of the duvet with her eyes wide and her hair in her face. The pizza box was visible."Why are you here," she said. "I stayed home. I didn't go to the banquet. I did what you said.""What are you doing, Killian?" Briar choked out. Her hands flew to his wrist. "You’re hurting me. Why are you here?""Why am I here?" he repeate

The clapping was still going when Mabel moved.She raised her hand and hit herself across the face, hard, and the sound cut through the room and the clapping stopped dead.Everyone stared.Mabel pulled her staff badge off her lanyard and threw it on the nearest table."I quit," she said.She walked out without looking back at anyone.The room held its silence for three full seconds.Then Vivienne said, softly, "I never wanted anyone to get hurt." She looked at the badge on the floor. Her voice was very gentle. "I really didn't. I hope everyone knows that."Several people nodded. Someone picked up the badge.Killian's face had gone very still. The particular stillness that meant he was furious and had decided not to show it.Briar stood at the cutlery station with sauce drying on her neck and watched the canteen doors settle shut behind Mabel and felt something crack open in her chest."I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen."Nobody was listening.She went after