The Boy fro

Great Hall like a crimin

locked in iron, yet his steps did not f

filled the Blood Moon p

he pack was known for strength, unity, a

thern border without permission was no

a Durkehn stood at the e

omething ab

entity within her restless and alarmed.

er very marrow and the burden she was born

hat made warriors lower

h the hall. "He was caught ne

guards dragged the b

an like someone who had spent m

was unkempt, h

ha Jones asked, his voic

pack. I've been alone since the last war. I

ttled over

ere was something unreadable in his gaze, something that

without permission," he said. "That a

on the boy, but Nicole did not m

d. "If you must punish me, Alpha, I will accept it. But I hear

ght he carried. She ignored the calculation behind his eyes, though her inner wo

Nora straightened instinctively. "She is beginning her combat training,"

If you stay, you will work, train, and live under our

and when he smiled, it seemed almost

hand rested on her shoulder. "This is Nicole. From

a warm smile spreading across her face. "

" he replied, his voi

of the hall, she beg

ounds, about the warriors, about t

who had never been give

s, they sounded harmless enough, like ordinary curiosity from a newcomer

w, casting long shadows across the earth as warriors watched from a distan

sked, a small s

ect that masked his true intent

e that, a ne

violently this time, not in

side. She only smiled, choosing to see a friend

ply watched, unreadable, as

his gaze lingered on

seemed too controlle

someone

truck

ise. Insti

e in her life... her

already ste

lickered through th

as too clean a

wed surprised, bu

again... hard

finally

t her wrist mid-air, twisting her

from the watch

a f

but because no ordinary newcomer

edge murmured under his breath, "his s

gh for only her to hear. "You fight like

nd in that moment... her

sion faltered just f

the fading light, neither of them real

ething neither strength nor