y face, and the man

the photo

didn't recognize: Selene. A

y mother

he kind of silence that

h down. Looked at h

's a

aled.

he

ompound. Since

d. Twelve ye

pt her

t you

table. The wood was warm from t

everyth

ing key. A power that rewrites loyalty in every wolf within range. Th

each word land like a ston

inished,

me the

as older tha

symbols. At the center, carved deep into t

line will end what

stone. Wai

gers to the lett

ed covers. I opened the top one to the last e

a moon. If she finds this, I want her to know: The Hol

urnal. Held it

ing all

ther

me everything else. Or

hed. "To

e journal

at dawn exactly

ls open, tea long cold. He knocked twice

At my face. Sat down acro

It didn't ask. It j

"My mother. She kn

born." His voice was careful. "My father is

id of a woman h

o

ain today. Th

aven't

Blood Moon." I stood. "Are y

almost-smile. "

in

ollow

ition

u are exactly what t

the door.

n was alive in a

he pine. The slope of the ground befor

feel th

beside me.

lways th

t used

wer, years of learning to live with something to

how to

ent

ed. The surge, the contraction,

didn't say try ag

ghting it,

m n

is head. Ar

ut it. The br

ightin

es

do I

o tilt my chin up. His eyes dropped to my ha

Don't push. Don't grab. Just find it.

it immediately. It had

t i

it. Just let it

t it

Warmth. Slow. Enormous. Rising through my hands and

I br

es

g my face. That intensity, lik

reating it l

est. The Howl is the forest." He paused. "You t

ut, alone at seventeen, that some things nee

you lea

g to be what my father wanted." A pause. "Th

n my chest

ed awa

ga

I could hold it

ed, mine. Kael stood at the edge of the clearing, arms cros

k, the sun full

. Two hundred yards out. Mov

t stop

the trees. N

ce was low. "I felt

is

don't keep a distance. This is someone w

wl carefully, not gra

sence s

voice through a thick wa

so

rm

gnit

someone who knew you b

ught. I stop

ithout thinking. His muscl

ae

." Very

e presence was too far to see, perfectly wit

. West. Deliberate

g, the Howl roaring in my chest, and Kael's hand

hed my knuckle

d. The words made no sense.

ightened a

es

hink. No

t:

n the brightening woods, his thumb still tracing the bones o

spoke. L

d to be able to le

n his jaw, the amber eyes that

n ho

"But if she's out, your mother is

on my wri

ights, it s

ent