All Chapters of The Wolf I Buried: Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

The Night Everything ChangedFive Years EarlierThe full moon hung low over the forest, silver light spilling through the pines like liquid glass. Ronan Blackwood moved silently between the trees. The patrol should have been routine. The borders were quiet. The territory was secure.Nothing unusual had happened all night. Yet his wolf refused to settle.For the last ten minutes it had been pacing restlessly beneath his skin.Ronan slowed.The forest around him was peaceful. Crickets sang from the undergrowth. A cool breeze rustled the leaves overhead. Nothing felt wrong.And somehow that made him more uneasy."What is it?" he muttered.His wolf answered with a growl.Not aggressive. Not defensive.Expectant.Then the wind shifted. Everything stopped.A scent drifted through the darkness.Sweet. Warm. Wild.HUMAN.His wolf froze.The world narrowed to a single breath. A single scent. A single heartbeat. And then one word exploded through every part of him.Mate.Ronan stumbled. The for

The HowlThe full moon rose just after nine, as Elena watched it through her kitchen window. It looked large, bright, and somehow uncomfortably beautiful.The silver light spilled across rooftops and sidewalks, washing the town in pale shadows. She hated full moons, not because she believed in superstitions or ghost stories, but because of memory. The night Ronan died had been a full moon. So, every month since, she found herself watching the sky, waiting, listening, as though grief had somehow trained her to fear moonlight.She hated that, hated giving a celestial body that much power over her emotions. Yet here she was, standing barefoot in her kitchen, staring at the moon.Again.The untouched remains of dinner still sat on the counter. Lily had left an hour earlier; the report remained closed on the table; the missing page occupied far too much space in her thoughts.She should have gone to bed, but instead of that, she found herself wandering the house, checking locks, turning li

The Flowers He HatedElena's P.O.V.The cemetery should have been empty; instead, I found flowers.Again.I stopped halfway down the path and stared at the collection surrounding Ronan's grave.Lilies. Roses. Wildflowers. Someone had even left a wreath.A wreath! Who brought a wreath to a cemetery in the middle of July?I sighed."You're attracting attention from beyond the grave."The breeze stirred the flowers. Not a single one looked like something Ronan would have chosen. If anything, he would have complained about all of them.Especially the lilies.The thought made me smile despite myself, just for a moment. Then the smile faded, because memories were cruel that way. They arrived looking like gifts and left feeling like wounds.I stepped closer to the grave.The flowers looked fresh, which meant someone had probably visited that morning, maybe several people. It still surprised me sometimes how many people had loved him, not the dramatic kind of love written in books, the quiet