UNE BLACKTHO

VALEN

a storm, he always did. Even when he sat cross-legged on the floor of his office, knees splayed over a tapestry of maps and rune

e didn't use my al

things, jars of moonwater on the windowsill, a desk carved with a map of the old packs, a stack of letters tied with red thread,

ers and if Rune had them, I would take them

id when I sat. "Then you

ll him I could run, that I had run before and always survived, Inste

me here?" I asked.

mor. "To stop you fr

h mis

thinking, runnin

cted, I pushed a loose curl behind my ear.

top rested a scrap of leather, old and brittle, Rune opened the box and produced a p

hat," h

om an old chant I had heard in flashes, Moonblood must not be

ne said quietly. "You are a part of it, A

palm. "I know what they told my p

eyond our modern packs. It was feared because it could change things, lead or break kingd

ey looked at me. I thought of the night Kael called me weak and the hottest shame I ha

those who believe burying Moonblood will stop change forever, they would rather remove the seed than

fabric of my sleeve. "And you

itualized, a symbol appears sometimes, three lines crossed by a moon-shard." He sketched it quickly on a scrap. The mar

now it's abou

efore you were exiled." He tapped the scar on my shoulder as if to prove it. "And because

loosen. "So what do you want me to do? Sit a

ind the moon to your will, there are secrets under Lycanridge, old places the Council has forgotten. They are dangerous, but they will

tered. "What

, they asked for names, housing, they asked about 'Miss Riel' in a way that did not sound like curio

ed my ja

the clerk could answer, but a question like that is never i

the person at his window with the hood. I imagined their finger hovering ove

aces." Rune's voice softened. "And I w

en desk, I thought of Elias, of the way he'd called me Ava and smiled, the warmth in his palm when he wrapped his

border, hide with whoever still remem

I stay?"

n to make them afraid to come for you, because a hunted thin

ay I felt, small and dangerous. "I don't want t

because they must, but because they choose you. Elias, for one, has already stood in the pit for you. Kael" He paused. "Kael is twisted with regret and gui

ngs, the sea, a small house, no banners in my face, yet the line on t

I said, voice small.

asure. "Trust yourself," he said. "That

stured, and Elias slipped inside without waiting, he was wrapped in a

said, breathless. "Ru

s face lost color, he stepped closer to me, hand finding mine and sq

he said quietly

the warmth of his touch, the way he'd wrapped his cloak around me wi

s in my voice. "I won't run blind, I'll learn, I

nswer. "Good, then tomorrow we begin, at dawn, you meet

, hiding the black that had slipped into his eyes. As he le

choice heavy as a stone in my chest, I had feared being hunted before, I had feared shame and exile, but this

dents breathing, words humming, the distant cry of a night bird, I wrapped my cloak tig

ke a stand, tonight, I would let Elias keep my hand and the wolf in my chest w

r they found Ava Riel or Aria Val