Thor

tween us, colder and sharper

ar's fingers dug into my arm, a grounding pressure in the sudden, spinning void. Her face was a pale ma

al part of the stone walls. My first instinct was to run. To turn and flee back to the st

cowed and silent for so long, held me fa

ring her hissed whisper. The heavy oak muffled the voices, turning them i

er this time. Her nails bit into

h frustration. "The pack is a powder keg of rumors. They need their Luna.

ll I was. A stray he'd brought in,

on for this secrecy, for risking... a repeat of last time." Her words painted a picture of a calculated alliance, of a woman with a rare, powerful bloodline who could be a

lt a wave of nausea, so strong I swayed. They weren't just gossiping. They w

gainst my side. I resisted, rooted to the spot b

chaotic ones. It wasn't my voice. It was Briar's, a f

ss! The grief, the fear-it's a be

bled back from the door, my heart finally kicking back into a wild, panicked rhythm. Briar didn't need to pull me again. We turne

*

ind us with a soft, definitive click.

The room was beautiful-a suite, really, with a sitting area and a vast bed-but i

ead, I walked to the far side of the room, to the massive window overlooking the dark expanse of

iar started,

My own voice was thin,

give the horror a shape, a weight I couldn't bear. Not on top of everything els

in the room. I could hear her pacing behind me, the soft tread of her b

e cut throug

ed out her phone. A long pause. I saw her reflection in the dark glass o

ered. She crossed the room in three lon

the screen. It wa

in the west lounge. Time to ease the new Lu

thought was a political powerhouse. The woman they were worried woul

my neck ached. A strangled sound escaped my throat. I backed

breath

ierce warrior melted away, replaced by the friend who had held my hand through a doz

ck to the phone, her thumb

the words tearing from my throa

s flew across the screen, quick and sure. She typed a reply, then hit send withou

n hand, a sentinel guarding a secret that was suddenly infinitely more complicated. The silence descended again, but this t