Laura Ingals Wilder Books Novels & Stories

“You did nothing wrong.” Her pulse refused to slow. The Northern Wolves. The book. She had taken it without understanding why, back when escape had been all instinct and terror. Taken it from Lucian’s study, heart racing as if it already knew it mattered. It told a history Wildbourne never taught. Wolves as balance. Hunters as something broken long ago. Some nights she believed it completely. Other nights, she feared it was dangerous just to read. It had become Ever’s favourite story. Now she knelt in the sandpit, holding Ever close, eyes darting as the ground beneath them seemed to hum.

Like it knew something she didn’t. She rubbed her arms, shaking off the thought. She had sat in the living room alone for a while after Elara had left her but she was starting to feel suffocated so she slipped outside when no one noticed, and decided to go out for an evening walk. The Liaison estate was grand, spreading out into well-trimmed gardens before filling out into the wild treeline. Garrick liked to say he kept the wild at bay, but Irvine often thought the wild kept itself alive, waiting, and bidding. Tonight, she wanted to feel it wrap around her.

“I can’t keep this up.” “Yes, you can.” I shook my head. “No. I mean all of this. I don’t understand what’s happening to me.” Ruby didn’t reply, so I leaned against the tree, my chest rising and falling rapidly. “They said there was a wolf here. They’re looking for me, and you keep telling me I need to run.” I swallowed hard. “I turned into a wolf, I have a voice in my head, and now you’re telling me there are other people after me who aren’t human. What the hell is happening?”

Lily lay motionless beside the wrecked van. Her face was swollen and covered in bruises. Cuts marked her skin. Her clothes had been ripped during the struggle. She looked so small lying there. So broken. My knees hit the ground beside her. For a moment… I couldn’t breathe. I shrugged off my cut and carefully laid it over her, covering her as gently as I could. My hands shook as I brushed a strand of hair away from her battered face. “I’m here,” I whispered. “You hear me, Princess?”