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2026-03-26 02:04:38
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WICKED PROVIDENCE 42
Avery, lost in the rhythm of the ancient archives, thanked Preston Hale with a small incline of her head.Ten minutes later, Harper Bennett returned to their side, her shoulders slumped in defeat. She pouted at Avery, her scent sour with frustration. "Honey, I really tried to track the logic of the First Age, but my brain is more suited for a battlefield than a riddle hall."Sadie Monroe chimed in, her voice heavy with resignation. "I’m no better with these cryptic ancestral puzzles. I doubt I’d be much help in securing that prize."Watching Preston still straining his mind within the crowd, trying to win the lantern for her, Avery felt a sharp prick of guilt. With a determined clench of her jaw, she decided to step into the fray herself.Harper had indeed fought hard, but the final riddle of the "Trial of Wits" was a jagged stone they couldn't leap over.Avery and Preston teamed up on the spot, confronting each layer of the puzzle as the Elder-staff presented them. Though Avery was a
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"Fair point..." Harper Bennett exhaled, yielding to the grim logic. "Hudson isn’t like the low-born wolves. He doesn’t just bark; he bites."Harper was about to ignite the carriage’s movement when she paused, her voice dropping an octave. "But what if he catches the scent of the pup, Avery? Have you truly prepared for the moment the Alpha realizes you’re carrying his heir?"Avery’s gaze drifted to the passing forest. She shook her head. She had no strategy for that storm; she only lived in the hope that she could outrun the clouds before they broke.Turning the focus, Avery signed to Harper, asking for a specific favor regarding the upcoming rites."Whatever you need! You don’t have to use high-court manners with me," Harper urged.Avery explained that Alpha Donovan had invited her to lead a restoration lecture at the Eastonville Academy. She knew Harper’s brother was a High Scholar of that territory and wondered if he had heard of any shifting winds regarding the event. Because she l
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Avery Monroe moved her hands with practiced grace, the silver rings on her fingers catching the moonlight. She signed that if her presence as an advisor bolstered the Montgomery Pack’s standing with the Northern Alphas, she was bound by the Mate-Contract to assist."You’re factoring the pack’s prosperity into your decisions now?" Hudson Montgomery asked, a dark eyebrow arching.Avery met his golden eyes, her fingers flashing a sharp retort: Isn’t that the duty of a Luna? To provide the strength the Alpha lacks in diplomacy?"I have told you before," Hudson replied, a weary sigh ruffling his dark hair. "You are the Luna of the Silver Ridge. You do not need to hunt for commissions or stress over the scrolls of outsiders."Avery’s gaze softened with a flicker of ancient sorrow. Her hands moved slowly: So, in the eyes of the Great Wolf, I am a decorative pelt? I have no value beyond my bloodline?She didn't wait for his answer, her gestures becoming firm and accusatory. Am I less vital th
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"What do you think you're doing?" Hudson demanded, his voice a low, dangerous rumble that vibrated in the air. "Return to the den with me."Avery met his golden gaze, her eyes clouded. She had stood at his side through countless pack ceremonies, yet she always felt like a ghost among the living. Whether she stayed or vanished into the shadows, his biting critiques were as certain as the moon's phase.Eventually, she had stopped attending the High Moon rituals altogether, and Madison Clarke had been all too eager to fill the void at his side.Now, bracing for the sting of his words, Avery expected another lecture on her failure to represent the Montgomery bloodline. Instead, Hudson reached out, his hand closing around hers with possessive force, and steered her back toward Alpha Juarez to resume the political parley.Keith Leach, watching the Alpha’s public display of unity, felt his confidence evaporate into cold sweat. He threw a panicked look at Madison and slunk away into the darkn
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Avery forced a rigid, hollow smile toward Victoria.“Do I have your grace, Avery?” Victoria asked, her voice honeyed with a false desire for closure.Avery met the Matriarch’s gaze but refused to incline her head. True forgiveness was a scent she could no longer catch.She remembered the winter when Victoria had forced her to scrub the freezing stone floors of the Great Hall, deliberately crushing Avery’s fingers under her fur-lined boots as she "accidentally" strode past. When Avery had let out a silent, pained gasp, Victoria had spun a web of lies to the Sentinels, claiming the mute girl had bared her teeth in a curse, ordering the house-servants to lash her as punishment.In those dark cycles of the moon, Avery had wondered if the spirit of Harrison Montgomery would howl in rage if he saw such cruelty. She could not find the path to forgive the woman who had tried to break her spirit.“Avery, have you found peace with me?” Victoria pressed, her eyes narrowing at the silence.The Ma
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But Bennett’s intent was not to tear Avery down. Shifting his gaze from Charlotte’s bitter sneer, he addressed the silent woman with a voice of rare, grounded respect. "I have always kept a scent of your true potential, Avery. I feared the domestic life of the Silver Ridge had dulled your claws, but it seems you are as formidable as ever."Charlotte’s smirk faltered into an awkward grimace, and Victoria stared at her eldest son in sheer disbelief.Avery stood frozen, her fingers momentarily forgetting how to sign her gratitude. Was the Alpha of the Outer Territories truly offering her tribute?"You have a primal instinct for the restoration of our pack’s sacred relics," Bennett continued, his admiration cutting through the tense air. "I still recall when Hayden, the Master Artisan, praised your focus during his pilgrimage to our peaks. I was there, hidden in the shadows. I worried that when you signed the Mate-Contract with Hudson, you would let that gift wither. But the winds from ov
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