Morax Pov. The door creaked forward on its hinges, and despite my best efforts to avoid their crooked dispositions, I was face to face with the council. The room was deathly quiet as I made my approach. It seemed whatever they were talking about in hushed voices was no longer necessary now that I had arrived. With a scowl, I took my designated seat at the elongated table. The Alpha of the Clearwater Pack was drilling a hole into the side of my face. He was a hot-headed fool and I could feel the accusatory stare from a mile away. But I knew he wouldn't mention his true issue. He wasn't quite that stupid. As if he had proof his little "gift" had been from me. I always covered my tracks. "Nice of you to join us, Morax." He sneered. On a better occasion, I would have ignored him. But as it turned out, I wasn't in the mood to be the bigger person. "Hello, Richard. How's your clan doing? I'm sure they're flourishing well under your leadership, aren't they?" I asked flippantly, kn

"Hm..." Those eyes seemed to search my very soul as he hummed. And I waited for his answer with a bated breath."Maybe you're not as useless as you look." His sneer caught me off guard, and I almost slipped on a wooden plank on the roof."What the hell kind of answer is that?" I scowled, picking up the pace so I was closer to his retreating form. Miqella was staring straight ahead again. The bridge of his nose was high and confident as he glided through the air. He made it hard to figure out what his problem was. Since the moment we met, it was pretty clear he wasn't my greatest fan. But I had never seen him before in my life, so what could he possibly hate me for? Was my hair the wrong shade of blonde or something? As the thought crossed my mind, I found that believing he could be that petty came easily to me. I could picture it. "Hello? Earth to the scentless boy, that didn't answer my question!" I obnoxiously waved my good arm at him, keeping the other snug in its sling. "Wha

"You're the one who saved him?" My eyes widened, and I stared unabashedly at the man. My lashes fluttered at his blank expression. "When the fire broke out, how did you save him in time...did Morax already know about the attack?"Miqella glanced at me, but I couldn't tell what his feelings were. He was elusive in his emotional capacity just like Morax, if not worse. "Morax knew when the fire broke out because of me. He was off handling a threat with Escha when I signaled him. If we had both been present, I'm sure the attack would have turned out very differently." He said the last words with a hint of bitterness, frowning. It seemed the fire even bothered him, the sharp stick boy. I was surprised. But maybe I shouldn't have been, just because he didn't like me, it didn't mean he didn't love his pack. "I'm sure things would have been different...but either way, I'm grateful you were home." Crimson eyes slid to my face, and I paused as they rested there. I was tempted to ask if I

The spat between me and my brother slid to a standstill, and I heard his noise of confusion as all of my attention became focused on Timmy. His bare feet were sunk into the mud of the river bank, his large brown eyes so wide they looked like they'd pop out of his head. He looked more like an eerie children's toy than a person right now. He was staring, unmoving. I could barely tell if he was breathing. Did no one tell him I survived? No, that couldn't be it. I couldn't see Camille being that cruel after she explicitly mentioned taking care of him. But as he stood there, his skin pale as moonlight, my pulse was pounding in my ears. What was wrong with him? "Timmy? What's wrong? Are you okay?" I asked again as I started to move closer. It was hard to navigate over the sloshes of mud, the traction of my boots sinking into the wet terrain. Still, the grip managed to push me forward inside of stalling. Timmy finally looked up at me, but his eyes were wild. I could barely keep up with

"Stop looking at me like I'm going to eat you." The air in the room was frigid, artic as if winter had rolled around in the middle of summer. I wasn't sure which one to look at--Morax or my brother. But as the Alpha eyed Elijah with contempt, and he returned the stare, I began to bounce my leg. Anxious energy crackling under the surface. It had been more than a few minutes now since we had settled inside his cabin, but the room was already filled to the brim with tension. I had taken a seat on Morax's plush sofa, but Elijah had opted to sit on the floor like a disgruntled toddler. Meanwhile, the Alpha hadn't sat at all. He was merely standing, towering over us. I couldn't tell if he was trying to intimidate us or not, but if he was, it was working. He looked so angry. "I'm sorry, I guess it's hard not to stare at the Alpha of a bloodthirsty clan like he's some apex predator." Elijah huffed, stubbornness painted on the ridge of his nose and on the edges of his jutted chin. I w