“It’s your birthday,” Alpha Raymond drawled with a smile that made my stomach flip. “Yes,” I said, looking down, wondering not for the first time how he knew that, but it was probably in some public record for ranked members. I wondered what those records showed of my pack now.“Do you sense your wolf yet?” Dominick asked, eying me hungrily. “No.” I shook my head, clutching my fork. Why was breakfast taking so long to get to the table today? I needed anything to distract me, to distract them. “You’ll get it soon enough,” Luna Natalie said, sounding bored.I was excited to get my wolf, for someone to talk to, even if they were part of me. But my nervousness ate any of my lingering excitement when I awoke today. My nerves weren’t something that even doing my morning stretches twice helped calm. Since the night I killed the visiting Alpha’s son, I never bothered learning his name; I realized how out of shape I was. So I spent some time before breakfast, daily stretching and training

The next morning, I woke early despite not getting much sleep. I didn’t want to get pulled back into those fitful dreams. Even after the events of last night, I felt charged. The senses that awoke with me when I gained my wolf when I shifted never dulled. I didn’t realize that I would be this powerful even after we shifted back. I could hear the scuttle of Omega’s waking down the hallway. I could smell the lingering dampness of the bathroom from last night's shower. I could see the dust motes floating through the air. I knew my wolf senses would be heightened, but I felt like I was looking at a whole different world. I looked in the mirror. I didn’t look different. Possibly, my dark hair was a bit shinier, and my gray eyes flickered with something that wasn’t a fiery hate. But I could have been imagining things. Wishful thinking, maybe. On the way down to breakfast. I was pulled back against something hard, someone hard. Palms dug into my waist so deep I yelped. “I didn’t know

I drifted from the library while Ezra stayed motionless. I was clogged with emotions and uncertainty, and I had to take a few minutes of silence. But before that, I had to do something. I couldn’t let my sadness overtake my plans, and Dominik gave me a fantastic idea this morning. I listened outside the Alpha and Luna’s office wing of the original packhouse, and her nothing, not even an Omega cleaning. Maybe The Goddess started to take pity on me after all. I slipped into the room Ezra had shown me and grabbed what I needed. I listened again. Still nothing. I had just enough time to carefully extract what I needed and set the place as I found it. Then, I did something I rarely ever did before. I went to the new wing. I knew the layout; it was in Amelia’s office here. She rarely, if ever, used this. Only for meetings with The Luna. I slipped in and memorized the rooms months ago. I thought I knew their schedules; I was pretty sure they were training. I knew that I was being reckl

I didn’t see or hear Miles again. For all I knew, he slipped out as quietly as he came. If I had my senses about me, I would have stayed and listened, see if Miles had any plans for me or if Alpha Raymond agreed to anything regarding my welfare.But I knew no matter how many times I wished I could go back to the moment I ran, nothing would have changed. I wouldn’t have been able to focus with that ripping shock and betrayal that sliced me in half. This would be risky, hell, everything I had been doing was risky, but it gave me new determination, new purpose. If this new plan didn’t work out, I could go back to just ending their pathetic lives. But even as I thought it now, that plan seemed so dull and lifeless compared to the colorful promise of unending revenge.Ezra called it justice. I didn’t care what word we used for it as long as we could pull this off. I got the sense that he was still trying to figure me out, and I didn’t trust him completely either. Not with my full plan. I

The room quieted as I walked in. I wasn’t entirely sure why, but it was the desired effect. That’s why I came late. If I only had a few moments, I needed as many eyes on me as I could. But would they recognize me? I changed in the past four years as any child would, but everyone also thought I was dead. I wasn’t on anyone’s radar anymore. I didn’t look for them as I walked across the room. I didn’t take in the surroundings either. I focused on slipping into that place I used to go when I trained, where the only thing that mattered was my next move, where nerves had no place. I picked a point to stare at on the wall across from me. A large window with the stars twinkling beyond despite the warm glow of the party within. I learned early enough that if you walked somewhere with enough confidence, people would move out of your way. And they did. I smelled some food near enough and changed direction to give me something to do, an end goal, instead of just walking into a wall. Before I