s the Silverfang Keep, painting the stone corridors in bruised silver and ghost-blue. Kaela mov

essage burned

not what

hat one sentence had been enough to light a fire in her b

ch was at its most inattentive, she

ing to him make speeches about order and legacy. She had danced in the marble halls with the

at mask, she

ould begin to

eep in the archives wing. The hinges

led in the

lipped

s reserved for texts on magic history-rare scrolls that had outlived three wars and b

ely, she

nthorn, she reminded herself.

r used to read to her from these shelves in secret. Before she

cked volume: "Bloodlin

it on a stone table, lightin

ere brittle

ad for

both stunned an

were celebrated. Wolves born beneath rare lunar events, bearing t

had been

Night

lverf

d seen in her family tree. Her great-grandfather, Taran. His sister

ll of i

spine. But a single scrap of parchment was

aste. Mark

scrawled in the ma

never he

someone who

-

d his eyes, his pipe trailing smoke

aked in spring and the ivy grew wild along the walls. It was her favori

other had trusted. A man of dry wit and sharper

anyway,"

y say it was a sanctuary. A place where

ld. "What do you

e was soft. "I knew your mother. I held you whe

htened. "Why didn'

you in the woods by your fifth name-day. Your mother died p

red at hi

closer now. T

vale real?"

lie beyond the Veil Forest. South of the Frostline.

ve to

ae

to fin

narrowed. "T

dn't a

u trus

spered. "But I trust th

died her, then

out an old medallion-a crescent moon

onged to your mother. She sai

utched i

-

r armor remained untouched in the trunk-too loud, too obvious. She

ght her-three clinks of metal on stone to distract the outer

he ground

Keep was like shedding a

the trees. Her wolf st

et it

time since childho

s twisted. Silver f

ing on four paws, eyes glowing like molt

e

a

ut

ace no one da

perv

est was

, thought and instinct fused into one. Her senses were sharper than steel, her heartbeat wild with purpose. Snow churne

was

not

ng was

anged, and

int. Ancien

rs perked, hackles rising. H

me the

ela

me, spoken l

in a blink, breat

ine-stood a figure cloaked in bl

ve

iv

d still limping slightly from his wound. His eyes glowe

lon

aled. "Yo

forward. "S

like a tidal wave crashing through their veins. Her mark

fect

ave come," Riven

o," she

tense. "They'll hunt

unting

reath that might have

oser. "The raven

ad to be sure y

w if I am,"

e more read

h of fingers, electric and weightless. But in

mo

red behind

s bleeding silver, a sword made of moonlight shat

stars-leading an army of wol

, gasping. "Wha

nd. It's strengthening.

on

y. "You haven

been l

them, thick with trut

into her satchel an

know Whi

rowed. "That's w

-

neath the cano

y, noting the way his movements betrayed pain-his side still heal

a flask of water. She took

ys enemies, were

is knees. "No. We were brothers once-our packs. S

owned.

to rule, not share. So they painted us as mons

ghtened. "Includi

id her mark well-but they knew. Darian's fath

d Kaela's eyes. Sh

yone tell me?"

angerous. And you..

a threat, but a reflection. A mirror image of her

own

he said softly. "T

Riven said. "I

beneath her collarbon

ed. By fate. By

. "I don't want fa

d in. "Then

le

h

issed

ly. Not

ury of two hunted souls clinging to the one

art, gasping, Rive

watch," he sai

"We will. Ju

-

Silverfang Keep, Darian

pty. The decoy

ll, feathers scatte

eaming. R

s turned gol

," the guar

lenched. "No. Sh

the captain

them to track her scent. I want th

sitated. "And

pped to a whisper

g her back

nto a skeletal graveyard of pine. The stars burned bright and clea

ecessity. The terrain was harsher. The air, thinner. And somethin

as they walked. Her ins

as ch

deeper. As if every step north peeled back another layer of

d been

limmering. At its center stood a ruined stone gate, half-swallowed by earth and frost. Vin

" Kaela aske

ded. "Whi

er to the edge,

way nothing from her o

. Un

r

or it by moonrise. There's a tunnel bene

to the valley und

ce, sniffing the wind often

," he muttered aft

he dagger hidden in

Wor

as the moon c

. Gleaming silver ar

fang R

had fou

acked your wolf sc

led. "Let

her wrist. "No

tride, the transformation seamless now. Her fur rippled silver-bright under

ind them. Arro

's shoulder. Blood

idn't

dn't f

broken monument to the old gods. Riven slammed his s

he b

ng the entrance behind them just as the

wallowed t

-

was long an

walls pulsed faintly with a bluish glow. Vines shim

en cavern beneath the v

rved into the stone, built around a pool that gl

sanc

perv

ting. Blood streaked his si

d him to a

For now," h

de him. "You

hould

her of t

t sanctuary. The silence her

glowing," Rive

looked

ulsed with light. Soft. Rhythmic

had calle

him. "This was

lowly. "It'

at

r, a tremor passed throug

in the poo

choed from th

d, dagger

ee wolves-older, marked, and dres

't bare t

y b

," one said. "We

-

me-lit map, fingers trailing along the nort

Whisperval

rtain?" asked the

t-black ink of a snake coiled aroun

n fee

iled

k. Leave no s

d whispered a name he ha

ly

dows, something