ra

ed in front of a g

d served alongside my father in the border wars, and it was my father who had recommended him for t

made sure the ancient rules of the Mo

n the heavy

ring a loose linen shirt, h

night. What has happened?"

which smelled of old parc

te time with

ied contract from my cloak

e this,

parchment, his eye

g on the desk whitened. His usual scent of calm cedar

e Sunlit Caverns?" Silas whispered, the

urn sits in the lowest level of t

ent onto the desk as if

he future Alpha. He should kno

old as the crypt stone. "He simply

m, his boots heavy

f law here, Elara," he said, his to

"Outline t

ated your father's right to peace. We can petition the Counci

"And the

ibe to relocate an elder's ashes is grounds for th

asked, though I alr

ing and looked me

vor for a foreign pack is treason, wrapped in the foulest

hments for all th

ese, there is no turning back. Kael's mother, Elder Morwen, controls h

t flinching. "Then sh

by my lack of hesitatio

be drafted

e manor, stepping back in

s it finally headed toward t

es and reached

ng silver thread that co

Mind

between pack members, but the bon

y mind. Are you still w

voice echoed in my h

endless. I miss you. I saved you so

ile rose in

so loving,

ge home. Once inside the manor, I bypassed the dining room and went directly to the pack's records

itical speeches blurring into a fast-forwarded haze. Then I found him. Kael, laughing, a glass of wine in his hand. And next to him, a delicate woman's

e hand of

he hand

to his ear, a shared secret passing between them like a wisp

d is suppose

he Moon Goddess gifts th

scent, a scent that m

heart races, and your I

ched, a shock of electric

he was my

knew th

it was the first tremor of a coming eart

I would be buried in the rubble-or st