iends. Some of them managed a kind smile, but I could tell they were just being polite. Years of rumors and prejudice colored their

ured, her eyes dimmed after yet ano

forcing a reassuring s

makes it so m

ne." I laid a hand

w tightened. "I'm going to te

uld end. Trying to fit in with so many wolves at once had been a mis

n a scent snagged my attention. A faint smell, but familiar. The

re here. And I had no d

the darkness of the tree line. Deeper in the forest, the smell hung in t

th, it made a perfect, makeshift seat. The bark was surprisingly smooth, as if polished by tim

e smell returned, sharper and closer this

d he was heading

n's

p had arrived at seven, and I'd been the one to welcome them. Nolan had advised

I'd muttered, walking away. I headed toward the grou

: meet them, see if one of the

had smelled her earlier toda

had been eating at me for weeks. I was circling aimlessly, running the same loop over and over. And then, i

clearer between the trees. Whoever it was, they had been run

most too intense. My wolf stirre

. a blend of baked apples, v

g else: an electric freshness, like the air just before a storm. A hint of

thought in my h

pound. Several routes led toward town, but the freshest trail led directly back

te, I understood. She came from an important

? I couldn'

y that condition soon, I'd be discarded. I'd have to yield my position to Cassian. The thought alone made me si

ter that her smell already made my chest tighten, that my body reacted against my wil

here's a

ust as I was nearing the point

up at a bad ti

lked back toward the house. Some

by a group of she-wolves in revealing clothin

ion to get through an evening. Nothing more.

them were worth it. All they saw in me was status, p

udly, hanging on me shamelessly, press

But after an hour, their shrill voices were

I was looking for. None o

uncontrollable. He refused to be distracted by these insignificant female

y their shocked expressions, I'd pro

But I h

ack members and their endless ques

ps toward the tree line

was

e. I clenched my jaw to maintain

d. I probably bumped into a few guests, tramp

s was l

ulous string lights the elders had insisted

er and stronger. This

ll. But that meant nothing to me. I could

s, letting the

my senses, overwhe

The rest of the world fad

y foot caught on somet

, falling directl

in her hair, and that smell... it was everywhere, and overpow

And instantly, a new not

s she