Se connecterRaeBy the time we left the history building, Harold and Sonya had gone with Mansfield to continue discussing Elena somewhere private.Chrissy headed toward the dining hall after reminding me I had skipped lunch, leaving the five of us beneath the stone arch with no emergency to chase and no adult telling us what came next.For the first time since the seal broke, we were simply standing together.That should have made things easier.It did not.For several seconds, nobody seemed to know what to do. Brax shoved his hands into his pockets, Julien looked across the courtyard as though something out there might provide instructions, and Grant appeared to be concentrating very hard on keeping everything he felt from spilling through the bond.It wasn’t working.I could still feel all four of them.The fragments had sharpened every connection enough that their emotions moved against mine i
RaeBy the time Mansfield finally closed the folders on Elena Vicker, my brain had reached its limit.Apparently, learning that my mother’s half-sister had married into Jesse’s family, lied to Harold about her identity, and spent hours researching hidden lunar bloodlines eight years ago was enough information for one afternoon. Mansfield seemed to agree because she stacked the records together and announced that she needed time to request the full archive logs, verify Elena’s council history, and determine exactly how much access she had gained through the Vicker Pack.Grant looked like he wanted to argue with the concept of stopping, but the anger moving through our bond remained contained.Her attention shifted to the five moonstone fragments still resting in our hands.“Before anyone leaves, put those back on the table.”Brax glanced down at his piece. “They might object.”Mansfield’s eyes narrowed. “What does that mean?”I looked around the table and realized none of us had actua
RaeFor several seconds, nobody said anything.The name sat on the page in front of Mansfield like it had been waiting there all along.Vicker.My stomach tightened.Jesse’s last name.The same last name attached to the pack I had almost driven into two days earlier.Mansfield rested one hand beside the record. “Elena Meadows married into the Vicker family twenty years ago.”Grant’s anger hit the bond so suddenly that my wolf lifted her head.Mansfield continued before anyone interrupted. “Her husband is the younger brother of the current Vicker Alpha. He also serves as the pack’s Beta.”Chrissy looked toward me. I already knew what she was thinking.Jesse.Julien leaned forward. “So Elena is his aunt.”“By marriage, yes.”Brax’s earlier humor had disappeared completely. “And she’s been living inside one of the most politically connected packs in the region for twenty years.”Mansfield nodded. “With direct access to Vicker family records, council relationships, and whatever historical
RaeWhatever Harold saw in Mansfield’s folder frightened him.He crossed the classroom without speaking and stopped beside the table, his attention fixed on the paperwork rather than the five pieces of moonstone still sitting in our hands. Sonya followed more slowly, confusion moving across her face as she looked from me to Grant, Julien, Brax, and Linc.“Why are they holding pieces of Rae’s necklace?” she asked.“That is currently second on the list of things we need to discuss,” Mansfield said.Brax glanced at his fragment. “It was briefly first.”Mansfield gave him a look before turning to Harold. “Sit down.”Harold didn’t. “Where did you get that?”The question wiped away what remained of Brax’s amusement.Mansfield returned to her chair and opened the folder. “The archive administrator sent me the restricted access history for the concealment text this morning. Most of the older entries had been transferred into a secondary registry when Ravenwood updated its system.”Harold’s fa
RaeFor several seconds after Mansfield said Harold Kingston’s name, no one spoke.The reaction moved through the bonds before anyone showed it outwardly. Grant’s shock came first, sharp enough to tighten my chest, followed by disbelief and a colder edge that made my wolf pay attention. Julien’s focus narrowed almost immediately, while Brax’s curiosity pushed through the last of his anger over Quinn. Linc remained the quietest, but even his steady presence shifted.I looked at Mansfield. “Your records say Harold accessed the concealment text?”“They say his council credentials authorized the access.” She closed the folder and rested one hand over it. “Those are not necessarily the same thing.”Grant’s jaw tightened. “My father wouldn’t remove pages from a book protecting Rae.”“I didn’t say he did.”“You implied it.”“I gave you the information I have.”That was Mansfield in a sentence.She rose from the table and tucked the folder beneath her arm. “I’m not discussing this further wit
RaeBy the time we reached Mansfield’s secure classroom, the four mate bonds had stopped feeling like a revelation and started feeling like a practical problem.Grant’s concern pressed against one side of my awareness, Julien’s concentration sharpened another, Brax’s anger still flared whenever Quinn crossed his mind, and Linc remained the quietest presence of the four. I could separate them now, but filtering them out was another matter entirely.My wolf had no interest in filtering anyone.She seemed perfectly content with all four of them being close.Chrissy sat beside me while Mansfield locked the classroom and activated the privacy runes along the walls. Jesse had been stopped at the secure entrance downstairs. I still wasn’t sure how I felt about letting the door close between us, but I wasn’t ready to explain four mate bonds to him when I barely understood them myself.I placed Jesse’s handkerchief on the table and unfolded it.Five pieces of moonstone rested beneath the suspe
RaeAnd when I finally looked up, it wasn’t who I expected.Not even close.Brax Weston stood in the doorway balancing two pizza boxes, four sodas, and enough confidence to make it seem like he’d been invited.Chrissy’s eyes widened.Brax grinned.“Good,” he announced. “You’re alive.”I blinked.“W
RaeBy the time I made it back to my dorm room, the box in my hands felt heavier than it had any right to.It wasn’t the weight of the things inside it. It was everything attached to them—the way Sonya had looked at me, the way Julien hadn’t backed down, the way Grant had stepped into the conversat
RaeBy the time classes ended, I understood something I hadn’t been prepared for when I walked into Ravenwood Academy that morning.Being ignored had been easier.At least when I was invisible, people didn’t look at me like I was something to be figured out.Now they did.The whispers had changed.
Rae The Ravenwood Pack had one human.That human was me.Most wolves didn’t bother remembering anything else about me. Not my name. Not how long I had lived on their territory. Just the simple, inconvenient truth that I didn’t belong in their world.Humans didn’t live inside wolf packs.Yet someho







