ind you. What did that even mean? She stayed up, cross-legged on her bed, staring at the mark on her wrist. It pulsed lightly beneath h

•

emple. An old stone building at the edge of the east woo

carved into the corners, their faces worn with age. A large mural covered th

silent, until she heard t

ite as snow, skin lined with time. She wor

d here," she said, her

am," Ava

rowed slightly. "Wha

. Ava

oser. Her eyes drop

ide it, but it

haled slowly

inked.

the woman said, her voice almost a whisper n

n know what

as a line of wolves born with the Moon's fire in their blood. Not Alpha, no

don't even know who my parents were. I wa

en when the mind for

down at her

ded. "The Moon doesn't mark light

•

nder the trees behind h

nbl

y

here, not as a wo

emple," he said. I

spying o

uldn't h

shouldn't do, but no one tells

ayed

"You knew, didn't you?

you. Even before I knew you were my mate.

rejected me?" she as

rejected you t

"You did it to protect yourself. Beca

s silenc

away. "You

breath

I've fought wars. Buried friends. Carried this weight. But when I saw you, the

ared a

," he whispered. "But rej

t know wh

ated stillness, a loud scr

trees nearby, exploding on

wls. Closer this

ran cold. "T

"That's not just rogues

out. Tall, cloaked, wearing bone

her kne

pointed dir

inhuman and cold. "The Moonblood mus