جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 600

MistyI sink to the edge of the bathtub and test the water, steam rising in ribbons that dance around my wrists. The lavender and honey scented soap wafts through the air, which is still and dark, mingling with the comforting, candle-lit darkness all around me. Kenna and her family left three hours ago. Aviva went back to her house. Sydney and Sarah are tucked up and recovering in a nearby cottage, being tended to by the midwife and Cole, so I’m alone. Addy is asleep in the bedroom only a few yards away, exhausted. I don’t blame him. The last time I felt like this–this worn to the bone–was right after the war when Cole and I closed ourselves in my old dorm room for an entire week just to rest, recoup, and come to terms with what we’d just been through–and somehow survived against all odds. I pull my shirt over my head and shimmy out of my pants before tying my hair up and sinking into the water, groaning softly at the heat. The warmth works through my muscles, untangling knots from

AvivaFallThe air is crisp and scented with smoke as I walk through the maze of brightly colored canvas tents. Lexa, dressed in furs to stay warm and beaded booties I worked tirelessly on the past few weeks, looks around, turning her head side to side like a little owl, taking in every new sight and sound.This is the largest Harvest Festival I’ve ever been to. So large, in fact, that the festival stretches for over three miles. Just two days ago, this sacred place was nothing more than a grassy field. Now, it explodes with life, color, and the promise of a comfortable winter where food and supplies will be far from scarce.We pass a tent selling apples covered in sticky, hardened sugar. I drop a few coins into an elderly woman’s hand in exchange for the treat, letting Lexa paw and mouth it while continuing our exploration.I’ve been Luna of Silverhide for just over a year, and Queen of the Deadlands for just as long, but I’m not used to being recognized by anyone outside of Silverhi

MistyTen Years LaterSunlight fans through the kitchen windows, highlighting the frost coating the glass. I blink, shielding my eyes as the sun drops below the tree line and the light in the room shifts, fading to a deep gold that paints the kitchen table and the mess my children left behind in their haste to get to school this morning.It’s a quiet late afternoon. It’s my favorite time of day, actually. The house is still and silent–the calm before the storm… which is running up the driveway right now, pushing and shoving toward the front door. The door swings open, the chilly late afternoon air carrying two small voices through the foyer and hallway. “Mom! MOM!” Addy’s voice echoes over the sound of heavy winter fabric dropping to the ground, probably in a wet heap. “MOM!”“I’m in the kitchen!” I call out, smiling to myself as I stick my coffee mug in the microwave. Two sets of footsteps thunder in my direction, and then I’m surrounded by blond hair and overlapping, excited voice

Sarah“It isn’t that serious,” I tell Blake and Liam as they blink at me, their faces dappled with mud and their knees stained with grass. “But I’ve had enough of the fighting. You’re too old for this, especially you, Blake.” I fix my oldest son with a look I’ve had fourteen years to perfect.Blake, now a teenager, purses his lips and frowns. “He’s been harassing me all day–”“You were supposed to be helping me clean the garage,” Liam, thirteen, bites out. I feel the tension beginning to boil between them and clear my throat. “Both of you, enough.”“Mom–”“You’re both already grounded,” I edge, crossing my arms under my chest and arching a brow. “Do I need to add another week to your sentences? Or are you ready to behave like good little wolves and finish the chores Cosette laid out for you?”Liam grumbles under his breath. Blake mimics my stance, crossing his arms. We’re eye level at this point, and Liam isn’t far behind in the height department. Still, Ella and Maddy taught me thei

Brie “He can’t be that bad, Brie,” Maeve hisses as she clutches the crook of my arm, leading us down one of the winding staircases in our castle in Veiled Valley. Sconces flare to life on their own accord, lighting our way. “Mom said he’s been dying to meet you, anyway. He’s a warrior, you know. They’re always so handsome.”I purse my lips as she tightens her grip. “You’re entertained at my expense.”“You don’t get to complain. You’re doing this to yourself!” Maeve throws her head back in a beautiful laugh that echoes down the corridor. Everything my little sister does is beautiful because she’s stunning. Beautiful of the drop-dead gorgeous variety. She’s also only eighteen, and I doubt she fully grasps what this meeting with the Alpha of Rainway, a nearby pack in the mountains bordering Veiled Valley, and his warrior son means. Mom and