LOGINKyra The roots never reach me. Not completely. They coil. They threaten. They whisper. Thousands of them twist through the air like living veins, scraping against ancient stone with a sound that has haunted my dreams for years. They circle my ankles, brush against my wrists, creep toward my throat... Then stop. Always just short of my skin. Close enough that I can feel the cold radiating from them. Close enough that I remember every time I believed they would finally claim me. For years I thought that meant I belonged to her. That I was chosen. Marked. Special. A daughter she had crafted from grief and vengeance. Now... I know better. They never touched me because they couldn't. Not completely. Not while I still belonged to myself. Not while some forgotten piece of me continued refusing to surrender. It was never ownership. It was dependence. She couldn't afford to lose me. There is a difference. A painful one. The chamber erupts around us. Stone groans bene
CazThe world drops out from under me without warning.One second, The Void is in front of me.Mist. Blackened ground. Tristan shouting my name.Then nothing.No sound.No air.No up.No down.Just cold.Then I hit stone hard enough to knock the breath from my lungs.For a few seconds, I don't move.Mostly because my body is too busy deciding which part hurts most.Sinister groans beneath my skin."Well...""Don't.""That was dramatic.""I said don't.""Noted."I roll onto my back and stare upward.Stone curves above me in rough black arches, jagged and uneven like the inside of something ancient and dead. The air smells of damp rock, old smoke, and something metallic beneath it.Blood?No.Magic.Old magic.Rotten magic.Fantastic.I sit up slowly.The mark on my wrist burns.Not painfully.Defensively.Like it woke before I did."Where are we?" Sinister asks.I look around.A cavern stretches in every direction, wide enough to swallow the packhouse whole. Thin black roots crawl thro
Caz Night changes familiar places. Every shadow looks like a question waiting to be answered. Every sound feels deliberate. Sinister is disturbingly quiet. If he isn't making a joke or teasing me it makes me a tad uncomfortable. Usually he'd be making comments about the way I am walking or finding ways to distract me from whatever impossible situation we've managed to stumble into. Tonight... Nothing. Just silence and watchfulness. Elias follows a few steps behind me. His movements are almost effortless, every footfall placed with the confidence of someone who trusts the woods without ever underestimating them. His attention never settles in one place for long. The trees. The ridgeline. The trail behind us. The darkness between the trunks. Kyra chose well. She didn't choose the strongest wolf. She chose someone who is observant. "I think I like him," Sinister finally says. A faint smile tugs at the corner of my mouth."There you are. Took you long enough." "I know you'
Jezebel Caz inherits many things from Tisha. Her curiosity. Her stubbornness. Her complete inability to leave a mystery alone once it digs into her mind. Unfortunately... He also inherits the expression she wears when she has already made a decision and is only pretending the conversation that follows might change it. I recognize that expression. Mostly because I have spent decades seeing it, even before we both ironically found our way to Wolvesbane. And now years seeing a younger, more sarcastic version of it on Caz. “He has a plan," Jade yawns. “He always has a plan.” “They aren't always good plans.” “True.” I laugh. "Fingers crossed this one is." The packhouse is quiet for once. Emily is in the sitting room with Loretta and Grayson, explaining the rules of a game she invented sometime between breakfast and the moment they agreed to play it. Judging by Grayson’s confused questions and Loretta’s growing suspicion that Emily keeps changing the rules to ensure she win
Caz Sleep has become suspicious. I used to like it. Sleep was simple, quiet. and necessary. Now, it comes with dead wolves, shared memories, ancient witches, magical rivers, and enough cryptic warnings to make insomnia feel reasonable. “You enjoy the mystery," Sinister yawns “I enjoy answers," I argue. “You enjoy complaining about the distance between the mystery and the answer.” “A valid complaint. Why can't things be more instantaneous?” "Because that would be boring." The meeting finished sometime after midnight, but not all of us have left yet. Wolvesbane has too many guests for anything to feel empty right now. A few messengers sleep on benches near the walls. Loretta and Grayson remain in the dining room comparing Crescent Moon records against the maps Jedd copied earlier. Tristan is still speaking quietly with Jon near the door. Patrol rotations. Runners. Ash Valley. My brother looks exhausted. He also looks like he belongs beside Jon. Not as someone filling an
Jon Some conversations change history. Others change the wolves trying to survive it. Caz quietly returns from the hidden valley before sunset, covered in dirt. That last part concerns me more than anything else. Cassius does not process important information silently. He argues with it, questions it, and usually insults whoever delivered it. If the elder witch gave him another answer wrapped inside a riddle, I expect to hear about it before he reaches the border. Instead, he walks beside me without saying a word. Malachi shifts uneasily inside me. “He learned something.” “That is usually why he goes.” “Something he did not want to learn.” I glance toward Caz. His hand rests over the strap of his bag. Jezebel waits near the packhouse steps when we emerge from the trees. Emily stands beside her, one hand wrapped around two of Jezebel’s fingers. The moment she sees us, she breaks free. “Daddy!” She runs toward me. I lift her before she reaches the first step. Her arms lock







