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Alaric She moves through the training grounds with growing confidence now, no longer trying to make herself invisible. My beast purrs watching younger wolves seek her out, seeing her slowly claim her place in our pack. In the morning sun, her silver-blonde hair catches light like starfire."My King." Garrett's voice pulls me from my vigil. If his use of my title instead of my name didn’t, his expression tells me everything before he speaks. "Three more packs report attacks. The mutations are spreading."Ice slides down my spine as I read the reports. The attacks follow a pattern, but one that makes no sense - small packs and large ones, traditional and progressive, no clear connection except growing brutality."The Northern Alliance is demanding action," Garrett continues. "They say as Lycan King—""I know what I am." I rub the back of my neck, cringing when the words come out sharper than intended.The council chamber buzzes with tension when I enter. Lord Marcus stands first, his ag
Sage "Just a little more yarrow," I instruct the River Pack healer, showing her how to mix the poultice. Her wounds from the attack still make her movements stiff, but her eyes are eager as she learns.More refugees arrived during the night - three families who barely escaped with their lives. Their injuries show the same strange patterns I've been noticing: wounds that resist traditional healing, marks that seem almost deliberate in their placement. Something about it tickles my memory, but I can't quite grasp what."The silver-leaf mixture you showed us yesterday helped," another healer tells me. "The burns finally started closing."Pride warms my chest as I watch them work. Not so long ago, I was afraid to show my healing knowledge. Now other packs seek it out."You've given them hope," Alaric's voice makes me turn. He stands in the healing wing doorway, power wrapped around him like a cloak but his eyes soften when they find mine. "Walk with me?"The moon rides high as we stroll t
Sage The packhouse has transformed into something from a fairy tale. Everywhere I look, servants hang crystal decorations that catch sunlight like trapped stars. The great hall, usually imposing with its ancient stone walls, now sparkles with silver and gold."No, no," Iris calls to workers arranging flowers. "The moonflowers need to be closer to the head table. They're Sage's signature after all."My chest warms at her casual inclusion of me in these royal preparations. But anxiety follows close behind - so much grandeur, so many protocols to remember."Stop thinking so loud," Iris scolds, linking her arm through mine. "You've got this. Though..." Her grin turns mischievous. "We should probably work on your dancing.""My what?""You don't think you're getting through a royal ball without dancing, do you?" She drags me toward the training hall, now cleared for dance practice. "Garrett! Perfect timing!"The Beta looks up from his paperwork, immediately suspicious of her tone. "Whatever
Sage I barely recognize myself in the mirror. The deep blue silk makes my pale skin glow, silver embroidered moonflowers climbing from hem to bodice. My silver-blonde hair is partially braided with crystal beads that catch light like stars, the rest falling in soft waves down my back."Perfect," Iris declares, adjusting my pendant so it nestles just right. "You look like moonlight itself. Just wait until Alaric sees you!""I look terrified," I correct, smoothing my skirts for the hundredth time."You look like you belong." She squeezes my hands. "And you do."The great hall takes my breath away - hundreds of crystal chandeliers casting rainbow light over gathered nobles from every pack in the kingdom. I wait at the top of the grand staircase as protocol demands, heart thundering.Then I see him.Alaric stands below in formal Alpha regalia, power wrapped around him like a cloak. But when his eyes find me, everything else fades away. His expression makes my heart stop - pure awe, like h
Alaric My beast roars as Daphne's words echo through the silent ballroom. Sage stands frozen beside me, her scent sharp with fear and confusion. Every instinct demands I tear out Daphne's throat for threatening our mate, but I'm painfully aware of hundreds of eyes watching how the Lycan King handles this crisis."That's enough." My voice cuts through the whispers. "Your presence here is unwelcome, given your history of false accusations.""False?" Daphne's eyes widen with practiced innocence. "You mean when I tried to warn my pack about harboring an unknown wolf?" She turns to address the crowd. "I admit I was hasty in my judgment then. The evidence seemed so clear at the time...""The evidence you fabricated?" Power rolls off me in waves. "The lies that nearly got an innocent omega executed?""I was wrong about that specific incident," she concedes smoothly. "But my instincts about her weren't entirely misplaced. I was only trying to protect my pack from someone with... uncertain ori
Sage The ballroom empties like water draining from a cracked bowl, nobles clustering in whispered groups as they leave. Wolves who eagerly sought my healing knowledge hours ago now avoid my eyes. Even the young healers I've been training edge away when I move."Don't," Iris says fiercely when she sees my face. "Don't let them make you doubt yourself."But how can I not? The memories I've always struggled to access now feel like shadows hiding monsters. Every time I touch my pendant, trying to remember anything before Blackthorn, I hit that same dark wall.Alaric stands with his council, power rolling off him in waves as they demand an emergency meeting. His eyes keep finding me across the room, torn between duty and desire to stay close."Go," I tell him when he approaches. "Handle what you need to handle. Besides, I have no right to be selfish with you when it’s my mess they want you to clean up.""Sweetling—""Please." I manage a weak smile. "I'm fine. This is more important."The l
Sage Three days. Three days of silence broken only by the soft scrape of meal trays being left outside my door. Three days of nothing but my own thoughts spinning darker with each passing hour.Guards murmur outside my room, changing shifts at regular intervals. Sometimes I hear wolves pass in the hall, their whispers carrying fragments that cut like knives: "—definitely poison—" "—just like they said—" "—can't trust—"Not even Iris, with her perpetual positive attitude, comes to visit. But it's Alaric's absence that breaks me. After everything - his promises to protect me, to face things together - he's just... gone. No word, no explanation..My pendant feels heavy against my throat as I pace the confines of my room for the hundredth time. What if they're right? What if somewhere in my missing memories lurks the monster they claim?The door's lock clicks suddenly, making me jump. Alaric fills the doorway, power rolling off him in waves. But his face... Moon Goddess, his face is cold
Alaric My beast roars in triumph as I finally let go of three days' worth of desperate restraint. Having to stay away from her, to maintain distance while investigating James's death and keeping hostile nobles at bay - it's been torture. Every instinct screamed to protect our mate, to keep her close.But now, with her soft body pinned beneath mine on the training mats, her scent filling my head with honeysuckle and rain and arousal, I can't remember why I ever tried to resist this."Mine," I growl against her throat, feeling her pulse race under my lips. The mate bond thrums between us, and even if she can't feel it yet, her body recognizes its other half."Yours," she breathes, and the word snaps the last threads of my control.I capture her mouth again, swallowing her soft gasp as I deepen the kiss. Her hands tangle in my hair, pulling me closer like she's as desperate for this as I am. She’s uncoordinated at first, but what she lacks in experience, she makes up for in enthusiasm a
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