SERAPHINAFor the first time in my life, I could smell the wolves.I stood at my bedroom window with the gray scarf in my hands and the whole manor poured into my nose at once. Pine smoke from the kitchen. Wet leather from the stables. Roast venison, polish, wine, and under everything, a hundred different wolf scents, sharp and warm and wild, rising from the courtyard like steam."Is this what it is like?" I whispered. "Every day, for all of you? How do you ever sleep?"The moon hung huge and white over the pines. It felt like a hand pressing against my chest.A knock rattled the door."Seraphina?"I jumped. Cedarwood and cold rain swept under the door before he even spoke, so strong I almost staggered."Alaric?""May I come in?""I am not dressed.""You are wearing the cream dress.""How do you know?""I can smell the starch." He sounded amused. "Open the door."I wrapped the scarf around my neck, covering the mark and the stone, and opened it. Alaric stood in the corridor in a black
Last Updated : 2026-10-05
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