The fire had long since burned low in the fireplace, but Matthias hadn’t moved from his seat. Ash curled at the edges of the logs, glowing faint and red in the dim light, casting the room in low, rust-colored shadows. Outside, the wind howled against the slatted glass, a cruel, high-pitched sound that seemed to echo the pressure in his chest. He sat still, one boot braced on the edge of the hearthstone, one hand slack in his lap, the other resting heavily around the throat of a half-drained bottle of dark liquor he couldn’t remember opening. It was hours past midnight, and he couldn’t sleep. How could he? His last surviving son seemed to hate him now, and he deserved it, goddess knew he did. It had been well over a month now, and he still hadn’t made an headway in finding Silas’s killers. He was a failure of a father, he’d failed both sons and now he was about to fail his pack. But to be honest none of that mattered to him in the face of his newest, most pressing grief. Raine was
Last Updated : 2025-07-25 Read more