All Chapters of Our Broken Howls : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Sera POV The morning air felt heavier than it had the day before. Ravenwood seemed different now, as though the trees themselves had shifted their allegiance. The sunlight filtered through the branches in thin, uneven slants, painting the streets in harsh, skeletal patterns. Wolves moved past me with a subtle tension, careful to pretend they did not notice me, but their ears and eyes betrayed curiosity and caution in equal measure.I held Erya’s hand tightly as we navigated toward the market. She was quiet, unusually still, as if she could sense the shift I could not yet name. Every footstep echoed differently today. Every glance from a passerby felt like it could carry accusation or alliance.Kaelen had not accompanied us. He had stayed behind, offering a vague warning about the Elders’ watch, leaving the burden of perception on my shoulders. That absence was deliberate and infuriating. I would have preferred the confrontation rather than the silence.The square was busier than usua

Sera POV Morning arrived without relief. The forest woke as it always did, birds calling, leaves stirring, light filtering through branches, but nothing felt ordinary anymore. Public exposure had changed the way Ravenwood breathed. Silence carried meaning now. So did proximity.I stepped outside the cottage early, before Erya woke. The watch was already in place. They no longer pretended otherwise. Two enforcers stood near the path, another farther back where the trees thickened. Their posture was relaxed, but their attention was not. I met their eyes and nodded once. Not defiant. Not submissive. Present.Lyra joined me a moment later, wrapping her shawl tighter. “They rotated overnight,” she said quietly. “New faces.”“Testing reactions,” I replied.She watched them for a moment. “They are not sure what to do with you anymore.”“That makes two of us.”Erya emerged rubbing sleep from her eyes. She took in the scene with careful seriousness and said nothing. I wondered how much of thi

Sera POV The forest greeted me with an unusual stillness before dawn. Mist drifted over roots and stones, curling around the underbrush like whispers of warning. Wolves moved quietly in the shadows, aware of my presence but hesitant to approach too closely. Every movement seemed measured, as if the air itself weighed their choices. Public exposure had changed Ravenwood. There was no longer room for ambiguity. Every glance, every step, every gesture carried consequence.I moved toward the clearing alone, my senses alert, my wolf beneath my skin coiled but not frantic. The morning air smelled of damp earth and frost. Even in this ordinary setting, nothing felt ordinary. The pack had learned to calculate risk; I had learned to measure the subtle pulse of control. The lines drawn in the council, the fractures visible in the last weeks, now stretched into the open, undeniable. We were no longer merely responding to constraints. We were shaping the edges of possibility.Erya slept soundly

Sera POV The frost had not lifted by the time dawn reached Ravenwood. It clung to the ground and the low branches, turning the clearing pale and brittle, as if the forest itself was unsure whether to wake fully or retreat back into stillness. My breath fogged in front of me as I walked, each exhale slow, measured.The pack moved differently now.Not louder. Not quieter either. Just be more careful.Wolves crossed the clearing with intention, their paths no longer casual or instinctive. They noticed who stood where, who moved first, who lingered. I felt their attention long before I saw their eyes turn toward us. Visibility had changed everything. Silence carried weight now. So did proximity.Erya walked beside me, her hand wrapped around mine, her steps smaller but steady. She did not chatter the way she used to in the mornings. She watched. I hated that part of it, even as I understood it was unavoidable. Lyra followed a few paces behind us, close enough to intervene if needed, far

Sera POV The forest woke slowly that morning, wrapped in a thin mist that clung to the ground and softened the shape of everything it touched. Trees blurred into one another. Shadows lost their sharp edges. Sound carried differently, as if the woods were listening as closely as the pack was. I walked the familiar paths with Erya beside me, her hand tucked into mine, her grip firmer than usual. She did not speak, but she did not need to. She felt it too. The weight in the air. The sense of being seen.Lyra followed a few steps behind us, close enough to act, far enough to watch. She moved the way she always did when things were uncertain, body loose but ready, eyes never settling in one place for long. Nothing in Ravenwood moved without being noticed anymore. Every step, every pause, every change in direction was measured and remembered. Exposure had changed the way we existed here. Visibility was no longer neutral. It meant something now.The pack had adjusted in small, telling ways.