Embers of Farewell

Afternoon shadows stretched across the clearing as Gideon returned with his son and grandsons to haul away the charred wreckage of the cabin. Because the walls were built mainly of solid stone, the foundation remained salvageable. The Delta warrior Dante had sent arrived shortly after, keeping largely to himself; he offered a brief introduction and got straight to pitching a canvas tent. Meanwhile, I scoured the surrounding woods for dry branches to build a memorial bonfire for my grandmother, Evelina.

Tears spilled over at random moments, giving way to faint smiles as old memories surfaced, though mostly I just stared into nothingness for long stretches of time.

The ache of losing my grandmother was overwhelming. All I could pray for now was that she had finally found peace in the afterlife, reunited with my mother and the rest of her ancestors.

Declan stepped closer as the sky darkened, and his family followed suit, though they stayed a few paces back to give me room to breathe. By the time a bright waxing moon climbed high above the canopy, I touched a flame to the stacked wood. Standing quietly before the rising blaze, I wept for Evelina, for my mother, and for the hollow life I was left with.

“I appreciate all of you staying out here to help me tell my grandmother goodbye,” I said eventually, the crackling heat of the fire barely keeping my voice steady. “Please head home now. It’s already late, and full dark is right behind us.”

Thin ribbons of smoke curled toward the sky, heavy with the smell of damp bark and freshly turned dirt. A biting breeze cut through the trees, prickling my bare skin and whipping the flames sideways until long shadows stretched across the ruined stone walls.

The temperature was dropping fast, and despite Gideon’s enduring strength as a wolf, age had caught up with him. When he held his rough, weathered palms toward the blaze, a slight tremor ran through his fingers. With winter right around the corner, keeping an old man out in this weather wasn't right.

“Declan can stay behind to keep watch over you tonight,” his father, Tobias, offered, pulling his coat tighter as his breath puffed white in the freezing air.

Shaking my head, I forced a small, sad smile that pulled taut against the wind-dried skin of my cheeks.

“There’s no need for that, Mr. Tobias.” I looked over toward the Delta, who was slowly turning the rabbit I’d caught earlier on a spit above the flames, the hiss of dripping fat blending with woodsmoke. “I’m not alone out here, and Declan looks just as worn out as the rest of you. Come back in the morning.”

Dry twigs snapped under their boots as the family finally turned to leave. Declan grimaced, his shoulders slumping while his gaze held mine a beat longer than necessary before he looked away. Plumes of white mist trailed from his lips as he fell in behind his relatives, dragging his feet with obvious reluctance.

Across the fire, the Delta studied me for several seconds before dropping his gaze back to the roasting rabbit, staring at the meat as though nothing else on earth mattered. Wanting to spare him any further awkwardness, I turned toward the shelter.

Ducking inside, I found the tent much roomier than expected. Thick blankets folded into a makeshift bed on the ground looked deeply inviting, yet I still needed food in my stomach if I wanted enough strength to get through tomorrow.

About an hour passed before heavy footsteps crunched toward the entrance.

“Miss Lyra, your dinner’s ready.”

Pulling my coat snug around my ribs, I stepped back out into the cold.

“Bring it inside and share it with me.”

Shaking his head, the Delta held out the whole roasted rabbit on its wooden skewer. The catch wasn't huge, yet there was easily enough meat for two people.

“I already ate before heading out here. I’ll walk the perimeter and keep the fire fed tonight.”

He looked to be right around my age, leaving me wondering whether his stiff distance came from looking down on my status or simply resentment over missing the pack’s grand celebration for my sister and my former mate.

Giving a quiet nod, I ducked back inside, fastened the tent flap, and sat beside the blankets, driving the pointed end of the wooden spit into the dirt to free up my hands.

The hot meat stung my fingertips as I tore into it, though sheer hunger made the heat easy to ignore. Days had passed since my last real meal.

Once the bones were picked clean, bone-deep exhaustion pulled me straight down onto the blankets. Offering Delta Garrett a warm spot inside the tent would have been pointless anyway; I knew perfectly well he would turn it down.

My eyes slipped shut, and sleep took me in seconds.

A sharp scream tore me out of sleep.

Shoving my feet into my boots, I scrambled up in the dark. Midnight had long since passed, and Delta Garrett was nowhere near the tent. Beneath my skin, my wolf paced with bristling urgency, her instincts screaming that danger had arrived. Awake. Primed to strike.

Drawing a slow breath through my nose, I tested the night air and caught several unfamiliar scents. None of them carried the sour stink of rogues. These were pack wolves—a whole group of them.

Keeping my hunting knife palmed flat against my wrist, I slipped out through the tent flap, hiding the blade from whoever was lurking around the camp.

Several yards away, Delta Garrett lay sprawled motionless across the frosted dirt. Hurrying over, I dropped to a knee and pressed two fingers against the side of his neck.

A breath of relief left me when a steady beat answered my touch. He was still alive, only knocked out cold.

My eyes swept the perimeter beyond the dying fire. The weak orange glow barely reached the treeline, leaving the surrounding woods pitch-black.

Kicking off my boots, I yanked the zipper of my coat down with frantic fingers. Shifting into my four-legged form was the only smart play left; if I had to make a run for it, four paws would carry me much faster than two feet.

I never got the chance to finish.

A heavy body slammed into my back at a dead run, driving me face-first into the dirt in a heartbeat.

“Well, look who we have here, little wolf,” a man’s voice rasped against my ear, thick with ugly amusement. “Trying to slip away from us? Your sister sent us out here to keep you from getting lonely tonight. Pretty generous of her, don’t you think?”

Coarse chuckles closed in from all sides, and when I twisted my head, all I could see in the dim light were bare feet stepping closer as jeans and shirts dropped to the ground.

*No, Moon Goddess. Please don’t let it end like this.*

“Let me go, please,” I choked out against the dirt. “I’ll disappear for good—Fiona will never have to lay eyes on me again.”

A wet, warm tongue dragged slowly up the side of my cheek, making my stomach lurch with violent nausea. Pure revulsion crawled over my skin.

“Running away won’t cut it anymore, not after her fiancé called off their engagement this afternoon,” he drawled, dark humor dripping from every word. “Fiona says you’re to blame for the whole mess, which means it’s time you paid the tab.”

Wait. I knew that voice.

“Is that... Kaelen?”

Hearing the low, nasty laugh of my brother’s closest friend—the man set to become our pack’s next Beta—hit me like a dose of poison.

“Stay still and don’t fight me, little wolf, and I’ll go easy on you,” Kaelen murmured right against my ear. “Once I’ve had my fill, my buddies can take their turns.”

Rough hands groped along my waist while his teeth clamped down hard on the side of my neck—stopping just short of tearing skin, applying enough crushing pressure to force a weaker wolf into submission.

Giving a slow nod, I let my muscles go completely slack. Fooled by the sudden lack of fight, Kaelen shifted his weight back just enough to flip me onto my spine. Above me, his green eyes were webbed with red, the black pupils blown wide in the dark.

He was flying high on wolfsbane.

Calloused palms shoved greedily over my chest and stomach, and I squeezed my eyelids shut the second his fingers wedged lower between my thighs.

My fingers locked tight around the hilt concealed in my palm, and I drove the steel blade straight up into his eyeball.

“You fucking bitch!” Kaelen shrieked in agony as hot blood sprayed across my cheeks and mouth.

Bracing my palms against his chest, I shoved with everything I had to scramble out from under him, only for his crushing weight to vanish into thin air.

Gasps broke out around the clearing, and the half-undressed men bolted into the brush the instant Kaelen’s body hurtled backward and smashed against a thick tree trunk. An earth-shaking growl tore from the massive wolf that had just materialized out of the shadows, terrifying Kaelen’s accomplices so badly not a single one stayed behind to drag him to safety.

Truthfully, sheer terror had me pinned to the dirt too. Anyone in their right mind would panic when an absolute monster showed up out of nowhere and started flinging bodies against the trees.

“Good girl. You make me proud.” The voice rumbling through the dark was half feral snarl, half human speech, rooting me to the freezing, blood-soaked earth. “The Goddess has gifted me a true warrior for a mate.”

Those impossible words echoed in my ears right before black shadows rushed inward and dragged me under.