“That’s a bedtime lie,” Neris scoffs from inside my head. “A myth for cubs who cry too much.”
My shoulders sag. “Yeah,” I sigh. “There’s a tale that gets passed around. But even if it had a grain of truth, that guy was a fallen god. Kind of helps when Thanatos is your brother and picks up your calls.”
The bitterness in my voice tastes like poison.
For a second, I think about collapsing right here — just dropping into the dirt and howling at the sky until the Moon Goddess gets so fed up with me that she fixes everything just to shut me up.
But I don’t have time for drama. Not now. Not when the full moon is just days away.
I suck in a sharp breath, straighten my spine, and keep walking. The weight of the impossible presses against my shoulders, but I push forward anyway.
Because if no one’s ever done it before, then I swear I’ll be the first.
I stop at the entrance to the den I once called home. Funny how it feels even smaller now. I didn’t think that would be possible.
“Excuse the mess,” I mumble toward Sin and walk in like I never left.
It’s not much. Just a shallow hollow in a big rock, cluttered with donated scraps — blankets, a few rusted pots, cracked pans.Things kind-hearted shifters leave at the edge of the forest for the exiled. You learn to survive with what you’re given.
And the perk of being a shifter? You don’t need a bed when your wolf doesn’t care about thread count.
Sin grabs a blanket, wraps it around his waist, and leans on the wall with a sigh that’s way too heavy.
“It’ll be okay, Sin,” I tell him, though I sound like a liar. “We’ll find a way.”
His silence is louder than anything I could say.
“Every two months,” he whispers, voice hoarse.
I frown. “What?”
He looks at me, and the grief in his eyes makes my chest ache. “Every two months, I went to the Pack Priestess. The High Priestess, too. Just to check. Just to make sure my Mate Spark was still bright. That she was still out there, waiting for me like I was waiting for her. I even traveled to the edge of the realm searching for her. Several times.”
His jaw tightens. “And now she’s here. Working for the bitch trying to kill us all.”
“We don’t know that,” I say gently. “Not for sure.”
“She stood there, Kass. She let herself be used. She knew what she was doing.” He growls low, something feral twitching in his eyes. “I can’t believe I’m mated to a fucking witch.”
“Hey!” I snap. “It’s not her fault she was born that way. Not all witches are evil, you know that. Stop being a prick. Maybe she needs help.”
“She mouthed to me that she was sorry,” I whisper. “Right before the witch strengthened her hold on Draven.”
He doesn’t answer. He just mutters, “Doesn’t matter. Not now. Draven’s what we focus on. The witch now has access to his Alpha Command. She can control every shifter — except me. And you, of course. No one can command their own mate.”
I widen my eyes.
He pauses.
“Why wouldn’t the Alpha Command work on you,” I ask. “Draven is the King. The Alpha of Alphas. It works on all shifters. All of them.”
“It just doesn’t,” he says too fast. Too flat.
I narrow my eyes. “You’re withholding information. Important information.” I throw my hands up, pacing a tight line across the dirt floor. “What the hell are you, Sin? How come you have two beast sides? That’s never been heard of. And don’t even get me started on the blood magic — that’s witch territory. Dark witch territory.”
He doesn’t even flinch. Just crosses his arms, his expression unreadable. “What I am isn’t what matters right now.”
“That’s crazy talk,” I spit. “If your powers can give us an edge, then it matters. Don’t pull the noble mystery act on me. You’ve seen what we’re up against.”
