Shared Scars

"I can clearly see why they gave you the scholarship," Alpha Dante’s low, sincere voice broke the comfortable quiet of the moonlit garden.

His eyes lingered on my sketchbook, tracing the lines of the blue rose I had just finished drawing. The raw intensity of his gaze usually made people shrink back, but tonight, under the silver glow of the moon, it felt entirely different. It felt safe.

I let