We spent two weeks in the cabin. Two blissful weeks of good, hearty food and comfortable mattresses – and the creeping feeling that I should be doing something else, anything else, other than waiting around for something bad to happen.The dawn sky was paling outside; misty, ethereal light spilled into the cabin, hitting the warm wood of the small dining table, casting everything it touched in its ghostly pallor. It gave everything a strange, dreamlike quality. That was all this had been: a dream. Make believe. Pretend.“You need to relax,” said Cendres, knocking his elbow against mine. His cheeks were round, full of food like a hamster’s, and crumbs flew from his lips as he spoke. “Alpha Blare is dead. Naz is… Well…” He trailed off, and his eyes suddenly found the floor incredibly interesting.My leg bounced under the table. “I am relaxed.”Annia rolled her eyes at me as she reached for a cinnamon roll. “You really look it.”“Doesn’t she?” joined in Ares. “The very picture of serenit
With Ares gone, I tried to pull myself together. I tried to be the Young Luna I had once been. I’d been born for this; I was a fighter, a survivor.And yet every part of me had crumbled. I ate and slept and trained and planned, but a part of me was missing. My heart was lost, taken from me the moment I’d made the decision that had changed everything.Without Ares, I was alive – but I wasn’t living.“You’ll be all right, little wolf,” murmured Nana Baspy, taking my hand and squeezing it. “You did the right thing.” Only she and Grandpa Attie knew the truth. I bit down on my lip. Hard.Mum nodded her assent. “Absolutely. He couldn’t be trusted, sweetheart.” Her hard expression softened somewhat, and she leant over the table towards me. Our relationship had changed, perhaps irrevocably; I knew now what she was truly capable of, and I understood the lengths she would go to in order to protect her pack from any perceived harm.But what I had done to Ares… Maybe it wasn’t what she’d done tha
‘Stars, Ares – I’ve missed you. So damn much.’That didn’t cover the half of it. I’d moped around so much that I was sure nobody back in Blue Moon doubted he was dead.‘I’ve missed you too.’His voice sounded… Throaty. I frowned. ‘Are you crying?’‘No.’ He definitely was. ‘It’s just – having to tell everyone that I killed you, and having them applaud me for it… It’s fucking hard, beautiful.’‘Yeah. I know the feeling.’ It was easier to force down the negative emotions battling for my attention when I could hear Ares’s voice. I didn’t know when I’d see him next, but I knew he was safe. I knew he was okay. ‘Are you all right?’ I asked, needing to be sure.‘Other than that?’ I could hear t
My heart beat hard in my chest. “How did you find me?” “It wasn’t hard.” Her scowl deepened. “The Greyhide Canyon Pack have weakened the defences your idle little pack have on their eastern side.” She stepped closer, jabbing her finger into my chest. Her nail was sharp; my brow furrowed and my upper lip curled back from my teeth. “It was easy enough to bypass the Warrior Wolves patrolling the line between Blue Moon’s and Winterpaw’s land.” “Careful,” I snarled, though I was more angry that my parents were still trusting Greyhide’s nonsense letter over my word and leaving this side of our territory weak. “You may have found your way into Blue Moon’s territory, but you won’t be getting out.” Her glassy blue eyes widened; her nostrils flared. “At last,” she said, with no fear in her nasal voice, “you’re starting to sound like a Winterpaw Warrior wolf. It’s a shame you won’t live long enough to make it back there.” “Stop posturing, Omega,” I snapped. “Why are you here?” “Isn’t it obvi
I was true to my word. I spared Luezza’s life – but I didn’t let her run back to Nazte or Scillian.Ares and I had agreed to meet again in a week. In that time, he would press Aliana for information about her father, while I focused on cracking Luezza. She knew their motives, their desires, and I thought she would prove a more useful informant than the once-Beta’s daughter.“Stars,” Luezza snapped, wrenching her arm free. “You walk too fast.”“You walk too slowly,” I retorted, pulling her close once more. “I want to reach the Pack House before nightfall.”We were trudging across the expanse of land so slowly that I thought she might be trying to give a Greyhide or Winterpaw wolf the opportunity to attack me. Just because a sharp-tongued Omega didn’t scare me, it didn’t mean that I wasn’t being cautious as we neared the outskirts of Blue Moon’s central territory. The trees were sparse here, small groves dotted across the meadows, and I pulled her from one to the next, hurrying her acr
“Tell me what Nazte and Scillian are planning,” I said flatly, “and this – all of this – is yours.”My method of torture was exactly the opposite. I gestured broadly to the table before us, upon which were a myriad of foods, drinks, and clothes. Luezza’s scowl didn’t once let up, but her eyes, usually like hard chips of blue ice, seemed to melt at the sight of the steaming buns and herbal tea.Her hands were knotted tightly to the chair I’d sat her on. Her fingers, which had not once stopped writhing in an attempt to shake off her bonds, at last stilled. She sighed. “Fine.”I frowned at her. Was it really so easy to break her? I remembered what she had been like when I’d first met her, with a scowl that never faltered and eyes full of hatred. Even her sugared words had come out sour.Then again… I had seen the way the Winterpaw Warrior wolves lived. Such a spread had o
Waiting a week to speak to Ares was torture. The knowledge I now had burned a hole through my heart, and fear gripped me tight through every waking and sleeping hour.I went down to speak to Luezza every day, swapping out with the Warrior Wolf on guard for a few hours each afternoon after lunch, just to be near someone who knew Ares. Being so far from him, in a place that revelled in his supposed death, made my mate start to take on an unreal quality. Rather than letting myself wonder if I’d imagined everything that had happened between us, I spoke to Luezza. She was tangible proof that Alpha Ares had been real. That he was real.She didn’t give much away, and she alternated between spitting at my boots and begging for my forgiveness, but I took it all the same. Anything to remember that this half-life I was now living wouldn’t be my life forever. Getting away for a second time would likely arouse suspicion, so I had to go about my exploits with more caution when the time finally cam
‘He – he’s what?’ I frowned at nothing, my senses suddenly more alert than they’d been a moment ago. Luezza had found me so easily…‘Gone missing. I haven’t seen him for four days. Cendres kept talking to me through our mindlink until I was out of range, and he still hasn’t returned.’‘Well, where is he? Does Cendres have any ideas?’‘I doubt he’s gone on a peaceful little fishing trip,’ said Ares dryly. ‘I can only assume that he’s gone to the Greyhide Canyon Pack. He’s not used to being an Omega in Winterpaw; there, at least, he’ll have his status back, if what Luezza has told you is true.’I twisted around, hearing sounds where there were none. ‘Yeah. Yeah, you’re probably right. Poor Cen, though.’‘At least I know where you are,’ Ares agreed, though even from here I could feel a flare of pain through the mate bond, like lightning through clouds, as it struck him. ‘If you went missing... If I didn’t know where to find you… I’d go mad, beautiful.’‘Not that much would change, then.