Rhiannon’s POV“It could mean what?” I snapped. I didn’t let her answer. “No, there’s no way. I’m a werewolf. I can’t just lose my wolf-side. It's impossible. There is no such thing as a wolfless werewolf!"“And I’m sure you haven’t lost her,” Medic Beth said, about as placatingly as an alligator opening its jaws wide to swallow me whole.‘Tiger?’ I said. ‘Tiger, you’d better answer me right goddess-damned now!’Nothing. The words rattled around inside my empty skull.I threw off the covers and marched over to my wardrobe. I yanked out the first clothes my hands touched, didn’t spare myself a glance in the mirror, and stormed off outside.Tiger was going to shift out, whether she liked it or not.“Rhiannon!” Medic Beth jogged after me. “I must insist that you come back to bed. You need your rest!”“I’ve been in bed for a month,” I snarled. “What I need is my wolf!”I brushed past the awkward crowd of Cin, Caleb, and Stephen downstairs without looking back. I wobbled on unsteady legs b
Hyacinth’s POVI stared down at Rhiannon and tried to hold back a fresh wave of sobs. I should’ve cried my eyes dry by this point, surely, but there always seemed to be more to fall.‘Don’t feel bad about it, girly!’ said Dolly. ‘These are sad times indeed. Your poor sister. And poor you! It’s always okay to cry, Cinnie, even when you feel like you’ve cried a river and a lake and an ocean’s worth of tears already.’‘But it’s her who should be crying, not me,’ I whimpered. The tears started to fall. I couldn’t help it.Rhiannon was too still. She looked smaller, too, her duvet tucked up almost to her chin. There was just a gap for Foxy Spangle’s cute little nose to poke out. He’d barely left her side since she’d been poisoned.It had been almost a month since everything had happened with Marcella. That meant it had been almost a month since I’d last spoken to my sister. And that meant it had almost been a month since I’d realised the obvious: that Stephen, my sister’s chosen mate, was
Hyacinth’s POVI came to an unsteady halt in front of Dad’s plaque.“Cin.” Rhiannon coughed, doubled over, a hand pressed hard to her chest. Her breath fogged the frosty air in front of her, giving her the effect of looking like a boiling kettle as she wheezed.The seed seemed to bulge in my hand. “It goes here,” I said, falling to my knees and digging my bare fingers into the snow and frozen soil. “It’s a tree for Dad.”The other trees seemed to lean in towards us as Rhi knelt down beside me and started to dig. Everything felt too quiet, more silent even than we’d become used to throughout the winter. With no animals and no insects left to chirp and rustle, the woods had been quieter than ever. But today, that silence felt unnatural, as if the very wind itself were holding its breath.Our hands scraped at the earth uselessly, pulling out small chunks of dirt and stone.“You should shift,” she sighed, her eyes heavy-lidded and her face drawn. “Dolly could dig a hole this size in a mat
Kieran’s POVIt was easier to say I was moving on than to actually do it. I sighed, turned the page of the book I was reading, and tried to focus on the words. The book was one of war strategy in werewolf packs, describing different formations, the best positions to claim on the battle field, tactics, and ways to keep your wolves motivated. It was the sort of thing I often read, finding interest in running and ruling a pack, and trying to put what I learnt into my training as a Warrior Wolf. I’d always thought that I’d be a better soldier if I understood the scope of war as a whole.Even my favourite subject couldn’t distract me from Amelia. Not for long. I’d been trying, really trying, to throw myself into my new (or was it old?) life back in Moon Chasm, spending time with Maia and Carla and the others, re-hashing old friendships and forging new ones. It didn’t help. At all.The hole where my heart used to be wasn’t like the gorge in the earth that we’d somehow caused. It was a bla
Amelia’s POV“You can’t be serious.” I put my hands on my hips and glared at Caleb. First, I’d had to endure being told that he’d slept with someone else. Next, I’d had to watch as he’d spent the better part of a month sat at an Omega’s bedside. Now, he wanted to throw a darn party? It was beyond the pale. It was unreasonable, unthinkable–“It’ll be good for pack morale, Ames.”“Oh, will it?” I scoffed, starting to pace across my office. I passed the window, which looked out from its position on the top floor towards the training grounds and the Warrior Wolves’ lodgings – which meant it now also looked out on the gorge that Kieran and I had somehow carved into the earth. My heart gave a twinge at the thought of him; I turned my back on it and shoved my feelings aside before they could take root. Not that Caleb was making that same effort for me. He’d downright flaunted his affections as of late. It made my lip curl just to think about it. I hadn’t just had to watch, either; I’d had
Rhiannon’s POV Caleb and I snuck around, stealing kisses but never having the chance to do anything more. Guilt still gnawed at me over Stephen, but after seeing him cuddling Cin and remembering that he’d mindlinked her over me in his time of need, I didn’t feel as bad as I once did. “We don’t have to worry about Amelia anymore,” Caleb murmured, carding his hands through my hair, his chest heaving between desperate, open-mouthed kisses. “I’ve told her that I won’t be parted from you.” “You sound like an old-timey gentleman,” I teased, cupping his jaw and feeling the scratch of his stubble against my palm. “I like it.” I punctuated my sentence by nipping his lower lip, and then we were kissing again. His every touch was like starlight, its bright heat spilling straight into my veins and making every part of me throb. I ached to go further, to do more, but I knew I had to speak to Stephen first. I had to tell him the truth, that we were chosen mates only and nothing more, but for the
Rhiannon’s POVThe fruit tree had everyone in Night Wind ready to celebrate. People were calling it a gift from the Moon Goddess, swearing she’d finally seen our plight and had given us a boon for our loyalty to her, even in these darkest of times. The message on the tree had sold it for most people and, while I hated that so many people were clamouring to get close to Dad’s plaque for reasons that had nothing to do with him, I had heard people murmuring that our family had been blessed in return for our loss.My full belly helped ease the pain and people were, for the most part, respectful. I still had time to walk Foxy Spangles out into the woods and sit in silence with Dad’s memory – only now, the tree provided food for us both. I’d noticed that Foxy particularly liked blackberries, and whenever I took him with me, there always seemed to be an abundance of blackberries on the low-hanging branches.It did make me wonder if those awed whispers could hold some truth. Had the strange f
Stephen’s POV“This year, the Chalice of Bravery is awarded to Hyacinth Fox!”I stared up at the Alpha, raw panic engulfing me. It grew and grew, flaring out of control as almost an entire minute passed – probably – with Hyacinth not appearing.“Hyacinth Fox?” repeated Alpha Caleb, frowning out into the crowd. “Hyacinth, are you here?”The raucous applause morphed into concerned mutters. Everyone that knew Cin knew she wouldn’t miss something like this – especially not when she was due to receive such a prestigious award. I mindlinked her again, desperation seeping into my tone. ‘Cin? Is everything okay?’She didn’t reply. That sent the panic into a frenzy. My hands started to shake; I tapped my booted foot against the floor and gnawed on my bottom lip, turning around in my chair to look for her.I knew, in my heart, in my soul, that she wasn’t here. I didn’t know how I knew; it didn’t make any sense, not when my mate was sat next to me, but there was an emptiness in my chest that to