I yelp and Jade loops her arm with mine, swinging me out of the way and inserting herself into his grasp. She grunts when he yanks her from me, but in a flurry, she sheds her clothes as she shifts into her red wolf. The big guy doesn’t have a moment to correct himself before she latches onto him with her teeth. Sharp pain in my skull draws my attention to the man yanking my hair, and I drop to my knees to avoid the fist flying toward my face. Thankfully, freeing my auburn locks from his grip. I deliver a solid punch to the offender’s genitalia. He drops to the ground, his face red, and I take the moment to pop up and punch him in the nose, his bone-crunching beneath the sheer anger behind it.There isn’t a spare moment to witness the crimson blood I am sure is pouring from his nose before an angered hiss erupts behind me. I spin down to my knees in a wide sweeping motion, taking down someone who I hope isn’t Jade. The deep grunt sends me into a tailspin as I leap onto his chest, wail

“Wren!” The voice squeals and everything in me explodes as my body twists and turns, tearing through my clothing and shifting into my wolf without thought. I’m ripping through the trees with a low growl, leaping over rotten downed trees and gliding under vines that try to slow me down. I push my legs faster than they have ever gone before. No idea where I’m going or the proper direction of where the sound was coming from. I try to focus on my hearing but fail when all I hear is my erratic, beating heart and heavy panting. What if I am too late and she is hurt, or worse? No. No, I can’t imagine her being dead. The thought alone has my chest feeling hollow and my mind spiraling out in fury. I would know. I would feel that she is gone. Wouldn’t I? The trek takes entirely too long, But I finally see an opening and hear voices speaking. I kick harder. I need to see her. The need to touch her, see that she is okay, is blinding. Finally, I burst through the trees, snarling when I see the g

“Art, you are the leader here, yes?” I ask, my eyes continually scanning the pack in awe. I just can’t believe how put together this camp is, how kind everyone is and how fed they look.“Yes, in a sense. We don’t just have one leader.”“Were you an Alpha?” Jade asks, looking over his stature. Art isn’t big like Tank and Sebastian, but he is a little larger than most of the rogues greeting him.“No, my original position was a beta,” he says simply. “I disagreed with my Alpha, so I left.”I can hear the pain in his voice for the past and his actions. He clearly has a story, I’m sure all of us do, but his is one that is seemingly filled with pain, a pain he doesn’t seem to be keen on sharing.“This is the one for you two.” He points to a knotted rope ladder before us. “I will allow you two to clean up and get settled. I’ll send someone for you at dinnertime so we can discuss things in more detail.” And just like that, he traveled on with the rest of the group. Avi looked over his shoulder

My legs hang off the edge of the old run-down mattress Wren and I are sleeping on. My mind is stuck worrying about Tank and his journey. I hate that I’m not there with him. I can only imagine that Kaïs will try to deny it, or worse. Maybe he will try to fight his way out. I rub at the ache in my chest, thinking about an enemy being so close to people I care about. This is the first time I’ve had a still moment in my head to think about everything that has happened in the last twenty-four hours. Truth be told, I have been trying to avoid these thoughts. Thoughts that make me feel worse about the life I led and leaving my brother who I have spent my life protecting, even without knowing he was my own blood to protect.“Fuck,” I mutter, scrubbing my hand over my face. The bed dips behind me and with a shift of the air, warm hands wrap around my abdomen and Wren’s face tucks into my neck with a warm breath tickling over my skin. “You’re worried.” She mutters sleepily. My hands find her

A light clicks on behind me and I spin, ready to protect myself. My eyes go wide when they land on a male figure leaning on a cane and grinning so widely I nearly fall over. His features are smooth and kind, where his cheeks used to be sunk and shadowed are now plump round cheeks with dimples popping on the right side of his face. My chest cracks in half, and I drop to the ground, clinging to my chest. The relief is too much. As I rest on my hands and knees, tears springing from my eyes and breaths escaping in shuddering noises. He is on me in a second, cupping my face and making me look into his eyes. The eyes that match mine finally have light back in them and a sob rips from my lips as he tugs me into the best bear hug I have ever felt. “Dad” The words croak from me and his shoulders rise and fall like he is crying with me. “Wren…” a soft, tentative voice calls to me and my eyes search through the group of people standing toward the back wall. She steps forward and my heart onc