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Alaric I feel it first as a sharp spike of terror that isn't mine. The mate bond pulses with Sage's fear, yanking me from a meeting about border security."—and the northern patrols—" Garrett's voice fades as another wave hits me. Despair. Betrayal. Pain.I'm on my feet before I realize I'm moving. "Find her. Now.""Alpha?""Sage." Her name comes out as a growl. "Something's wrong."My beast claws beneath my skin as I stride through the packhouse, following traces of her scent. She was in the library recently – honeysuckle and rain lingering near her favorite window seat. But the trail goes cold at the entrance.More guards join the search. No one has seen her for hours. Each minute that passes sends my wolf into greater frenzy. The bond pulses with her distress, but I can't pinpoint her location."The grounds are clear," Iris reports, face tight with worry. "No sign of her in the gardens or training fields."A servant mentions seeing her run from my study earlier. When I burst in, he
Sage Cold stone seeps through my thin dress, but I can't stop shivering. The chains Eris insisted upon are too familiar – the same way Cassius bound me before... before…I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to block the memories. Different dungeon. Different pack. Same lesson: I'll never be more than something to be caged.Footsteps echo on stone. The click of expensive heels, unhurried. Confident."Comfortable?" Eris's voice drips false concern. "I do apologize for the accommodations, but thieves can't be choosers.""We both know I didn't steal anything." My voice sounds smaller than I want it to.She examines her perfect manicured nails in the dim light. "Do we? The evidence seems quite clear. A silver candlestick from the royal vault, found in your possession. Really, what would your parents think?" Her smile curves like a blade. "Oh wait, you don't know who they were, do you? Perhaps they were thieves too."I curl tighter into myself, the chains clinking. "Why are you doing this?""Bec
Alaric She feels impossibly small in my arms, her silver-blonde hair spilling over my jacket wrapped around her shoulders. My wolf paces beneath my skin, torn between rage at those who hurt her and the desperate need to protect.I carry her to my private quarters – the most secure rooms in the packhouse. No one enters here without my explicit permission, and right now, I don't trust anyone else to keep her safe."Brother?" Iris appears in the doorway as I lay Sage on my bed. Her eyes widen at the sight of the chains' marks on Sage's wrists. "I'll kill her.""Not if I get to her first." The words come out more growl than speech. "Stay with her?"Iris nods, already moving to check Sage's injuries. "What are you going to do?""What I should have done weeks ago."I find Eris in her quarters, guards posted outside. She's clearly been expecting me, perched elegantly on a settee like this is a social call."My King," she smiles. "I trust you've secured the thief?""Interesting choice," I say
Alaric The taste of blood lingers in my mouth as I approach the packhouse. Three warriors dead, twelve injured. The mutant wolves are evolving – stronger, faster, more organized. But right now, I can't focus on that threat. Pack politics wait for no one, not even a blood-soaked Lycan King."They're waiting in the great hall," Garrett reports, falling into step beside me. His own wounds are still healing – claw marks that should have closed hours ago. "Your father has already started damage control with the Northern Alliance."My beast snarls at the reminder of politics when all I want is to check on Sage. But I can smell the tension in the air, feel the weight of watching eyes. Every noble wolf in the territory has gathered for tonight's dinner – and Eris's public apology."How is she?" I ask quietly."Still in your rooms. Iris hasn't left her side." Garrett hesitates. "But the nobles are talking. Lady Victoria has been particularly... vocal about pack stability."Of course she has. V
Sage The healing wing has become my sanctuary over the past weeks, but this morning even that peace is shattered. Lady Victoria reclines on an examination table, holding her wrist as though it's made of glass."Such primitive methods," she murmurs as I grind herbs for a poultice. "In my family's pack, we have actual healers. Ones with proper training. And wolves, of course."I focus on my task, trying to ignore the other noble she-wolves who've suddenly developed various minor ailments requiring treatment. They cluster around Victoria like perfectly groomed vultures."The traditional healing arts are passed down through bloodlines," Lady Eleanor adds. "Though I suppose without knowing your family history, you wouldn't understand such things."The mortar and pestle nearly crack under my grip. I think of my pendant, of half-remembered songs about moonlight and healing. But those vague memories won't help me here."The poultice is ready," I say instead, keeping my voice steady. "For your
Sage The messenger's black and silver uniform catches my eye first – Blackthorn colors. I freeze in the hallway, heart hammering against my ribs. He's speaking with one of Alaric's guards, but all I can focus on is the familiar crest on his jacket.Memories surface like drowning things: Daphne's cruel smile, Cassius's gentle lies, the pack's jeering faces as he rejected me. The corridor suddenly feels too small, the air too thin."Sage?" Iris touches my arm, making me jump. "You're white as a sheet."I try to speak, but the messenger turns slightly, and something in his profile reminds me so much of Cassius that bile rises in my throat. A flash of memory hits me – finding him in his study late one night, hunched over strange vials, speaking to someone in hushed tones. He'd seen me and smiled, but there had been something wrong about it, something I'd been too naive to recognize."Just tired," I manage, but Iris's frown says she doesn't believe me.The messenger disappears into Alaric'
Alaric Blood soaks into the ground at my feet, but for once it's not from enemies. Three of my best warriors lie writhing in pain, their wounds refusing to heal. The mutant wolves' latest attack was coordinated, precise - and their claws leave marks that resist our strongest healing magic.But even as I kneel beside my injured men, my beast claws beneath my skin, sensing Sage's distress through a bond she doesn't know exists. The conflicting pulls of duty tear at me - protect my warriors, protect my mate, protect my pack. All while maintaining the facade of cold control everyone expects from their Lycan King."Alpha." Garrett's voice draws me back. "The council is gathering. They're demanding answers."Of course they are. I leave my warriors in the healers' care, though something tells me traditional methods won't be enough this time.The council chamber buzzes with tension when I enter. Victoria holds court among the noble wolves, her golden hair arranged to display her family's cere
Sage My fingers tremble slightly as I sort herbs, too aware of the noble wolves watching my every move. Their whispers follow me like shadows through the healing wing, where more warriors arrived this morning with wounds that won't heal."Such a shame," Victoria's voice carries clearly. "These injuries are getting worse instead of better. Almost like someone's interfering with the healing process."I focus on grinding silver-leaf, trying to ignore how the other healers draw away from me. They've been using my remedies - they work better than traditional methods on these strange wounds - but no one will acknowledge it."Sage!" A young wolf bursts in, breathing hard. "Please, it's my sister. She's hurt - fell down the old cellar stairs. She's asking for you."Victoria's perfectly shaped eyebrows rise. "Surely one of our trained healers would be better suited—""No," the young wolf interrupts. "She wants Sage. Please."Something feels wrong, but I can't ignore an injured pup. I gather su
Sage "Again," Iris instructs as I shift back to human form. "You're getting faster, but you need to be able to change instantly if threatened."My bones and muscles protest, but I welcome the physical discomfort. It's easier than the constant ache of the mate bond, the awareness of Alaric that I can't shut off no matter how hard I try.“He suffers too,” Aura reminds me. “I can feel it through the bond.”“Then he should have thought of that before lying to me,” I snap back, shifting again into my white wolf form.The sun rises fully as we practice, other wolves gathering to watch. My transformation has changed how they see me - some with awe, others with lingering suspicion. But at least they're open about it now, unlike some people."The Alpha's in another emergency meeting," I overhear one guard tell another. "More attacks reported from the eastern territories."Of course he is. There's always another meeting, another crisis, another reason to be anywhere but here.“He's doing his d
Alaric Memories torment me as I try to rest - every time she asked what she meant to me, every opportunity I had to tell her the truth. The night in the training room when she gave herself to me so trustingly. The mornings after when she looked at me like I hung the moon.All while I kept this secret from her.“She is OURS,” my beast rages. “Has always been ours. Why did we hide it?”"Because I'm a fool," I tell the empty room."Yes, you are." Garrett appears with reports about the attack. "But a fool who can still fix this.""How?" The word comes out more desperate than I intend. "You didn't see her face, Garrett. Didn't feel her pain through the bond.""No, but I saw her face every time you pulled away in public. Every time you maintained 'proper distance' while knowing exactly what she was to you."His words cut deep because they're true. I thought I was being noble, giving her freedom to choose. Instead, I made her feel unwanted. Unworthy.Just like Cassius did.Pain from my wou
Sage Power courses through me like liquid moonlight as I stand over Alaric's fallen form. Everything feels different - sharper, clearer, more alive. I am different. Where once there was emptiness, now my wolf fills me completely, as if she was merely sleeping all this time, waiting for this moment.My pure white fur gleams in the moonlight, and some deep instinct tells me my name - Aura. But I can't focus on the wonder of finally finding my wolf, not with Alaric still bleeding before me.The mutant wolves retreat, but their corrupted scent lingers, reminding me how close we came to losing everything. How close I came to losing him. The memory of his blood mixing with mine, of power exploding through me when I thought I'd lose him forever, still burns in my veins.“We need to shift back,” I think frantically, trying to figure out how to access my human form.“Breathe,” a voice inside me soothes - my wolf, Aura. “Feel the change in your bones. Let it flow naturally.”Her presence in my
Alaric "The healing pack abilities are a threat to pack stability," Lord Marcus declares. "History shows us the dangers of unchecked power. Already she gains followers, already she challenges our traditional ways—""By healing our wounded?" I counter, barely containing my beast's rage. "By saving lives when our usual methods fail? If that’s the trade off then I don’t give a fuck what history shows!""It's not just about healing," Victoria's father interjects. "These abilities... they're unnatural. The old texts speak of powers that could control wolves' very natures. What's to stop her from—"The howls that cut him off carry notes I haven't heard in years - pure terror mixed with desperate warning. My beast recognizes the threat before my human mind can process it. These aren't normal patrol signals. These are primal, urgent. A warrior bursts through the council doors, bleeding from multiple wounds. "Mutant wolves... breached the borders... attacking the gardens..." He manages the
Sage The pendant feels different now that I know its history. Not just a mysterious link to my past, but potentially a key to ancient healing knowledge. If only I knew how to access it."Focus," the head healer instructs as I examine a warrior's infected wound. "Don't think about healing. Feel it."I close my eyes, letting my hands hover over the injury. There's something there - a sense of wrongness I can't quite explain. "The infection spreads deeper than it looks," I murmur. "Like threads of darkness under the skin.""Exactly." She sounds pleased. "The healing packs could sense illness this way. Reading the body's patterns, understanding what it needs."We've been testing these abilities all morning. Not the dramatic soul-healing the ancient texts describe, but practical applications of what seems to come naturally to me. My mysterious talent for knowing which herbs to combine, for sensing where injuries run deepest."It's like..." I struggle to explain as I work. "Like the body t
Alaric The scouts kneel before my throne, exhaustion clear in their postures. Three weeks in the northern territories has left them gaunt but determined."We found it, my King." The lead scout places a weathered scroll case at my feet. "Hidden in the mountains where the healing packs once lived."My beast stirs at the scent clinging to the artifacts - ancient herbs and something that reminds me of Sage's unique fragrance."The settlement was destroyed," another scout reports. "But some records survived in underground chambers. Records that tell a very different story than the one the Blackthorn Beta Female presented."I unroll the first scroll carefully, its edges crumbling with age. Detailed accounts of the healing packs fill the brittle pages - their abilities, their bloodlines, their sacred duty to protect all wolves."There's more." The lead scout hesitates. "We found evidence of an attack. Not by their own pack as was claimed, but by outsiders who feared their power."Garrett e
Sage The training room feels different in early morning solitude. My muscles remember the moves now, body flowing through sequences Alaric has drilled into me night after night. I catch glimpses of myself in the mirrored walls - not the scared omega from Blackthorn anymore, but someone stronger. Someone who knows how to fight back."Your form is improving."I don't startle at Iris's voice. Another change - I'm more aware of my surroundings now, harder to sneak up on."Alaric's a good teacher." When he's not distracting me with other activities, I don't add."Speaking of my brother's... teaching." Her grin turns wicked. "Those marks on your neck are new."Before I can sputter a response, voices approach the training room. Eris enters with her usual entourage, including Victoria and three other noble wolves."Well, well." Eris's smile shows teeth. "The little poison-maker, practicing her... skills."I continue my exercises, remembering Alaric's lessons about staying calm. "Good morning
Sage Small changes ripple through the pack in the days following the poisoning incident. Wolves still whisper when I pass, but some nod respectfully now. The warriors I saved make a point of greeting me publicly. Their families send quiet thanks through Iris.But at night, when I'm alone with my thoughts, doubt creeps in like poison. I know who I am now - a healer, someone who saves lives. But what about then? What about the memories that stay locked behind that dark wall in my mind?"You're brooding again," Iris declares, finding me in the garden. "I can practically smell the self-doubt.""Wouldn't you doubt?" I touch a moonflower petal. "Everyone keeps talking about how well I know poisons, how easily I recognized them. What if...""Don't." She grabs my hands. "Don't let their accusations make you question yourself.""But that's just it - I don't know myself. Not really." The words that have been haunting me spill out. "I know who I am now, but what about before? What if I really
Alaric "The practice is unnatural," Elder Marcus declares, his face twisted with revulsion. "We honor our dead, not mutilate them.""Two warriors are dead," I growl, barely containing my beast's rage. "Dead under suspicious circumstances that some are using to condemn an innocent wolf. You'd deny us the chance to prove her innocence because of tradition?"The council chamber fills with uneasy murmurs. No Alpha has ever suggested examining our dead this way before. But no Alpha has ever had their mate falsely accused of murder either."My King," Lord Harrison speaks carefully. "While we understand your... personal interest in clearing the omega's name, there are centuries of custom to consider."Phantom snarls at their inability to say Sage's name, to acknowledge her as pack. But I force my voice to remain steady. "And what of justice? What of truth?""There are other ways to investigate," Victoria's father suggests smoothly. "Ways that don't desecrate our fallen warriors."Before I c