Valeri

hunger was back with a vengeance, a hollow ache that echoed the emptiness of my situation. Simple acts of goodwill we

, rings, and brooches. Wardrobes stuffed with silk and velvet gowns. Gilded statues and orna

my mind. I would sell these trinkets and buy wha

s known, and my sudden appearance in a pawn shop would raise too many

of a raven, hidden in the back of a drawer. It was used to summon the

uld travel. Moments later, a figure melted out of the shadows on my balcony, so silent I almost didn't s

d, his voice a dry

es of jewelry-valuable, but not so unique as to be insta

an I felt. "Pawn them. Use the money to buy as much meat, bread, and basi

cker of surprise in his dark, unreadable eyes. He was

"And be discreet.

velvet bundle, and was gone a

or sent a jolt of anxiety through me. Was this a mistake? Would Ryk

a massive oak. It was Kade, the boy whose name had appeared on my status panel. He looked thin and exhausted, a ghost haunting the edges of his own home. E

onsibility-pierced through my own fear. It

t wasn't just about survival anymore.

veral large crates of food, a well-stocked medical kit, and a small, heavy pouch of coins. I directed him to leave it all

ary power the old Elara had wielded, but the power to heal, to provide, to unite. But i

a statement. Publ

d his brothers. Inform them that the Luna is calling a

ne the entire pack. It was a definitiv

d and vanish

was standing guard outside, his arms crossed,

ng out in the stone corridor, lou

" I commanded. "His exile

sbelief, the order so far outside the realm of his

, where I knew a lonely boy was shivering in the cold. I was g