"What are we going to do here?" I asked while following Reule. But he did not answer.
I just followed him and thought that maybe he would go shopping for himself. But we stop in a shop that sells women's shoes.We went inside, and I still followed him going around all the women's shoes. Then, he stopped when he saw a black and nude stiletto."Try this on," Reule instructed."What!?" I asked as I was surprised."I said try these on."I took both shoes and sat on the nearby couch. I removed my sneakers and tried the black one first."Hmm.. I was correct about my estimate on your size. Can you stand and walk?"I did. And I looked in the mirror beside the shoe rack."It looks good on you. Try the other one."I did and again looked in the mirror. They were both beautiful."I liked this one more, but we will buy both."I was shocked and said, "You are going to buy me shoes? Is that why we are here?""Yes.""Why?""You don't have to drag me. I can walk," I complained. Reule let go of my hand and continued walking. We came across a pizzeria where there were no customers inside. Reule went inside and sat on the corner where it was not visible from the people outside."What are you doing? Are you hiding?" I asked when I sat across with him."I don't want Lila to follow," Reule replied and checked the menu. He called the waiter and gave his orders."Why? You were rude to her earlier. I thought you guys were friends and close," I asked after the waiter left."You don't like her coming with us."I coughed with his answer and said, "What it has to do with me? I am okay with her around.""No, you are not! You were pissed when you were waiting.""I was just bored, not pissed! But I feel like it's Lila who doesn't like me.""That's understandable. Lila is in love with me, and I have never bought her anything.""Why haven't you bought anything for her?
We both remained silent until the food arrived."Have you tried it in here?" I asked."Not yet," Reule said plainly."So, how do you know it will be good?""I don't really care. I just don't want Lila to follow. Now, eat."I tried the pepperoni, and it was not bad. I was surprised as to why it did not have any customers."It tastes good, right?" I asked."No," Reule replied with a cold voice."It was not good, but he ate a lot.""I am hungry, and there is no choice. Hurry up, finish your food. We are not done yet. We still need to buy something.""What else you wanted to buy?""Just eat and stop talking."I rolled up my eyes and finished my food. After Reule made the payment, he stood, and I followed him. He went inside an Apple Store and bought two iPhones and a sim card. But I did not bother asking to whom he would give it. It was almost evening when we arrived at Reule's house. While we were heading to the main doo
"My number, Adriana's and Nana's number are already saved there. We have yours, too," Reule said."Why are you giving me this?" I asked."So you and I can contact each other.""But Conri will take me one day, so why the need for this?""You can have it. Even if Conri appears on my doorstep one of these days, you can still keep it. Use it to communicate to any of us.""Okay, thank you!""Come down now. I just received a message from Adriana that the food is ready. By the way, you can check later; I have saved something there that you might like.""What?""It's for you to find out later."We reached the dining room, and I saw Adriana looking so beautiful tonight. She had curled her hair, applied a little makeup, and wore a spaghetti strap, floral dress."Adriana, you look so beautiful, and congratulations. I did not know that you write," I said."Thank you, senorita, Wren. I write for fun, I did not even want to join the contest,
Everyone went back to their respective houses. No one can say no to Reule not even Lila. Lila tried talking to Reule, but he only ignored her. She left so annoyed that it made me feel that she would make me go through hell starting tomorrow."That's what happens when children grow up without parents. They become aggressive and rebellious," Nana Lolita suddenly said."Lila doesn't have parents anymore?" I whispered to Adriana."Yes, they are both dead. Lila's mother died, giving birth to her and her twin brother. His father got killed by a werewolf from another pack," Adriana whispered back."Lila has a twin?""Yes, his name is Landon.""But I don't think I have seen him here?""Landon is the beta of the pack. He left for a business trip before you came. He is the only one Reule trusts when managing the international branch of Reule's business. But he will be back next week.""I see. I wonder how he is.""Opposite of her." "Really?"
"Did you find her?" Conri asked."Sorry, Conri. I haven't found her yet," Casper replied without looking at Conri."What have you been doing, Casper? A she-wolf who can only partly transform, and you cannot find her!""Conri, as I said, there was a wolf who saved her. And I think he took her with him. But I have not seen his face. He was strong and fast.""But they were only two! And there are how many are you looking for her!""I am really sorry, Conri. But I have not stopped searching for her.""Make sure that you would find her, Casper. I need her as soon as possible.""Conri..""Alpha Conri!""Sorry, Alpha. But if I may ask, why do you need Wren that much? You already killed Killian. She is not your mate. And if you need a mistress, I can go and find another one for you.""I need her. Only her!""For what?""I have to give her to the Black Pack.""The Black Pack? Why?""Stop asking so many questions, Casper! Instead, go and look for her!
The ringing of my phone awakened me. It's just 09:00 AM, and Reule is already calling me. I ignored his call. But I couldn't go back to sleep, so I sat and noticed I had four messages."Morning, habibi! Come down for breakfast.""Are you still sleeping, habibi?""Sleeping beauty, come down here! Nana Lolita, Adriana, and Landon will be joining us for breakfast.""Get your tiny ass in here!"Reule's last message is already screaming, but I don't care. It's the name Landon that caught my attention, Lila's twin. I thought he would be arriving next week. He came back early.I rushed to the toilet. I didn't want to miss breakfast, not because I was afraid of Reule. But I am curious about Landon. I wanted to know how different is he from his twin.When I arrived at the dining room, Reule was looking at me sharply. He was about to say something but Nana Lolita, Adriana, and a tall blonde guy like a handsome angel appeared."Good morning, senorita Wren! It's good of
Reule immediately told Landon that he would like to speak to him in private right after breakfast. He looked sharply at him as soon as Landon entered his study room. "What the fuck, Reule? What did I do to you?" Landon frowned."Why do you have to flirt with Wren like that?" Reule asked."Why are you mad about it?""Because I did not like it!" "Don't raise your voice at me if you don't want the people in this house to come running and barge in here.""I mean it when I said that she is off-limits. Flirt with another she-wolf except her.""Now I understood why Lila doesn't like her. What's with this girl? Is she your mate?""She is. But..""But what?""She seemed to doesn't feel that I am her mate.""What do you mean? How is that possible?""I mean, she doesn't feel all the signs of finding a mate. When I touched her the day I saved her, I immediately felt that tingling sensation and knew right away that she was my mate. Bu
"Reule seemed to trust Landon when it comes to business," I commented."Yes! Landon likes doing business, even Reule, too. But Reule hates being stuck in an office and working like regular employees who have a 9 to 5 job. So, Landon is one of those who helped him manage his business," Adriana said."So, Reule doesn't know anything about his business?""Oh, no! Reule just hates to be around a lot of people and to be stuck in one place. He wants to control his time and where he wants to be. That's why you see him here most of the time. He works here remotely. But he knows almost everything that is going on in his business. No one can fool him. He is intelligent, and he studies diligently.""He is into hotels, and what else?""My god! He has a lot. Reule is a risk-taker and opens a business that he thinks he will make big. He owns a share in an airline company where he is planning to open his own. He has a winery and vineyard, courier service, a yacht rental, s
The eastern clearing had never looked more alive. Lanterns swayed from tree branches, casting pools of golden light on the packed earth below. A breeze danced through the pines, lifting the scent of roasted meat and crushed herbs. Everywhere I turned, I saw the people I’d been trying to belong to gathered in clusters, eyes lifted to the sky, awaiting the rise of the full moon.And me? I stood just behind the ritual stone, my heart rattling inside my chest like it wanted to escape before I made a fool of myself. I wore no armor tonight, no cloak to hide behind, but just a simple silver-threaded robe that brushed my ankles, bound at the waist with a thin sash. My hair had been left down, curling in dark waves over my shoulders. Nothing about me screamed power, yet I could feel the weight of the entire pack pressing down on me.The elders stood at the edge of the circle. Marla’s expression was unreadable. Elias, beside her, gave a small nod. Reule stood farther back, arms folded, eyes lo
When the first hint of sunlight painted the treetops in gold, I was back at the edge of the council house, boots heavy with dew and pine needles stuck to my coat. The forest had been calm, eerily so. There was not a single twig cracked where it shouldn't or no tracks where they didn’t belong. I had expected the night to test me, but nothing came. There was no shadow in the trees and no whispered warning from the wind. There was just silence. Maybe that was the real test.I stepped through the front hall where the elders were already gathered. Elias turned his head as I approached, and the others followed his gaze. I saw no warmth in their eyes, but something had shifted. Curiosity, maybe, or calculation."You returned with the dawn," Elias noted, as if I might’ve chosen otherwise."I did. The border was quiet all night. I swept the route twice. Nothing unusual.""No scents?" Marla pressed, arms crossed. "No markings? No movement?""Nothing," I said. "It was clear.""Hmm." She didn
I expected rest. Maybe an hour or at least five minutes before I start my task. Instead, the council sent me straight from breakfast to the infirmary.“Clean her up and keep her standing,” someone barked.When I arrived, the healer’s lodge was already brimming with the injured. Some were warriors still recovering from previous encounters or during patrols, and others were refugees that the pack planned to take in. The scent of blood and herbs twisted my gut, but I swallowed it down and stepped inside. Lyselle, the head healer, eyed me with something between suspicion and intrigue. “Take that rag,” she said, pointing at the stained cloth on the bench. “And don’t flinch when it bleeds.”I didn’t. Not when I had to press gauze into a gaping thigh wound or when a burn blistered open under my fingers. The hours went by with steaming poultices, low groans, and tightly clenched jaws.Lyselle finally paused. “You’re steadier than most of the trainees.”“I’ve had practice,” I murmured, pre
The infirmary smelled like pine alcohol and sweat. It buzzed with quiet urgency, healers moving quickly, whispering diagnoses, wrapping wounds. I stood just outside the door, leaning against the cold stone wall. My hands were still shaking. Whether it was from exhaustion or fury, I didn’t know.Inside, Tovi sat beside Mara’s cot, gripping her fingers with one hand and cradling Kellan with the other. Reule hadn’t left their side once. His coat was still wrapped around them all, like a barrier between them and the world that had abandoned them.“I told you not to die,” I murmured to myself, eyes locked on Tovi’s hunched frame. “So don’t even think about it now.”A hand brushed my arm. I turned, expecting a healer. It was Reule.“Come sit.”“I’m fine.”“You look like hell.”“Charming.”“I’ve been told.” He offered a small smile, the only kind I ever got. Still, I didn’t move. I kept my eyes on the children. “They were freezing and starving. Mara’s leg might have been broken for days.
The wind clawed at my coat as I cleared the ridge beyond the gorge, my boots biting into frost-hardened soil. Moonrise was a lifetime away, yet the weight of it was already pressed on my shoulders. Every breath was a visible wisp in the cold morning air, and every sound of the branches snapping and snow shifting felt sharper, more pointed. I was alone, and for the first time since Acwulf’s prison, I welcomed it. They didn’t think I’d make it back. I’d give them a reason to regret sending me out here with nothing but my instincts and the fire in my chest.The scent trail was faint but real, feral, and young. Three distinct signatures. They were close once. The river’s edge was thick with ice and slush, and I had to navigate carefully, knowing one wrong step could plunge me beneath.A child’s whimper cracked the silence. I froze. It was ahead, somewhere beyond the tree line. Low to the ground, muffled, but real. My heart thudded as I crouched, brushing aside a bush dusted in snow, there
The knock was soft but firm. It was not one of the warriors or the housekeepers, either. But I already knew.I sat up from the window ledge, pulling the shawl tighter around my shoulders. I didn’t ask him to come in, but he did anyway.The room shifted as soon as Reule stepped through the door. He didn’t say anything at first. He just stared at me like he needed to memorize something in case it vanished.I stood. “Well?”“They voted to keep me as Alpha,” he said, voice even.I swallowed. “And me?”He shut the door behind him, the click louder than it should’ve been. “You’ve been given a chance to prove yourself to them and the council as future Luna.”I blinked. “That’s what you’re calling it now? A chance?”“They could’ve chosen exile.”“Or death,” I murmured, crossing my arms.His jaw ticked. “Don’t joke.”“Who’s joking?” I bit back. “This is a trial, Reule. I’m not stupid. They’re looking for a reason to say I don’t belong and that you made a mistake.”“You think I regret choo
Reule stood before the council, the weight of the entire Gray Pack pressing down on his shoulders. The room was filled with murmurs, harsh whispers, and doubtful glances. Even the wolves he once called allies couldn’t meet his eyes. The once unshakable confidence in his leadership was now splintered, fractured by one name: Wren. Despite them knowing she was his mate, they still couldn't tell that Reule was making the best decision.“Let’s begin,” Elias said, his voice firm. He was the oldest on the council; Reule’s father, second-in-command once, is now standing neutral as the moderator. “This meeting is to discuss Alpha Reule’s standing as leader of the Gray Pack and whether the female he chose as mate, Wren, should be accepted or rejected.”"She's not even one of us!" a female voice cried out. It was Marla, one of the elders, her voice trembling with emotion. “An outsider, a mystery, and now a threat. How do we know she hasn’t brought all this chaos upon us?""Chaos?" Reule's voic
The scent of incense and ancient oak filled the High Council chamber, but couldn’t mask the tension crackling in the air. The elders had gathered—twelve alphas who’d long since passed their reigns but still held power in words and wisdom.I stood at the center of the stone floor, the only sound the low whisper of robes and the distant howl of wind beyond the stained-glass. Conri was dragged forward in chains, his wrists raw where the silver bit deep, though he carried himself with mockery and zero remorse.“State your full name and bloodline,” Elder Ronan commanded, his voice echoing through the hall.“Conri of the White Pack, though I’ve been disowned, so what does it matter?” he said with a cocky smile.“You will speak with respect in the Council chamber,” Maela, the eldest and sharpest of them all, snapped. “You stand accused of crimes that breach not just laws but sacred oaths.”“I didn’t rape her,” Conri said, rolling his eyes. “Let’s get that out of the way, shall we?”“You so
The wind carried the scent of pine and char. It reminded me of when I first stumbled into Gray Pack territory, broken and hunted. Back then, I didn’t know who I was or where I belonged. Now I am beside the Alpha of this land, claws ready and fire in my chest.Reule hadn’t said much since we left the estate at dawn. The silence between us wasn’t uncomfortable, just tense and focused.Silverpine Caverns lay ahead, half a day’s ride south. That’s where Glen said Conri would be if the human told the truth."Still sure about this?" Reule asked, eyes fixed on the trail ahead."Do you want me to say I’m afraid?""No," he said, glancing at me. "I want you to be ready.""I’ve been ready since the day I was hunted."We didn’t speak after that. The trail narrowed, flanked by jagged cliffs and crooked trees. Behind us were Adriana, Jax, Landon, and three of Reule’s most trusted warriors. No one joked, no one relaxed. We weren’t patrolling. We were hunting.We reached the edge of the caverns by m