umbled throu

lay pressed together the way they had been in the womb. The river roared a

en reeds like dying embers, keeping th

r

ged downstream. It tilted dangerously, nearly capsizing, then righted itse

m cut off abruptly, swallowed by

r newborns. They stared at each other in the darkness, their tiny faces inches apart. No sound

y. A recognition that went deeper than

fin

fin

he rap

. Water sprayed through gaps in the weaving, soaking the silver cloth. The male i

ct sent shockwaves through the fragile vessel. The m

n through the

re no longer one bundle but two separate bundles, the current pulling them in different direct

atched, mouths open wi

the middle with a so

Two infant

eddy that pulled her toward the shallows. The boy's half shot towar

d by the width of the river, the d

the other. They could only feel the emptiness

n Bank

had gone complete

head after another brutal fight with her mate. Another accusation that she wa

the silence. So ti

rness, no one ever came. The woman stopped at the water's edge and stared at the rushing current.

considering it whe

sperate, gasping sound that was almost i

a b

n the reeds about twenty feet downstream, barely visible in the pre-dawn darkne

e

she didn't slow down. She crashed through the reeds and fell to her knees beside t

by g

ed blue from the cold. Ches

brea

s with desperate care. The baby was so cold, her tiny body limp

ng ha

the baby over carefully, supporting the tiny head with one hand while pressing firmly on th

as tears streamed down her face. "Come o

firmly, desperation making her movements almost frantic.

. That's i

raying to the Moon Goddess for

aby c

nd then she gasped. A huge, shuddering breath that filled her lung

hen s

y eyes opening slowly, staring directly into the woman's fac

. Something powerful. Something that didn

no ordina

in the torn silver cloth. Her hands were still shaking, but from relief no

ware. One tiny hand reached up and wrapped arou

d the first rays of dawn breaking over the distant mountains. No footprints in the mud besides her own. No signs of a str

she shared with her mate. About showing him this

shed down on her lik

o

m into raising another man's bastard child. He'd kill the infant, or worse. He'd sell her. Every

fierce and maternal awakened inside her chest, something she'd thou

he first time in years. "I'll protect you. I'll keep y

f to cry out in relief or gratitude. But no soun

ded at the same time. "You can't speak, c

y. Nothing. The silence wasn't physical. It was something else. Somethin

chest. "That's alright. I'll love you anyway. I'll teach you other

could feel her heartbeat. She couldn't go back to that shack. Not to that

d in abandoned buildings and makeshift shelters, where no one asked questions and every

oth have a chance

she began walking away from the river. "Something stro

rest, heading toward the slums she'd always avoided. The

t means 'will' and 'protection.' You have the will to sur

her face at the sound of the name

tly in the dawn light, pulsing once like a heartbeat. Then the last rem

woman carried a silent child toward an uncertain

on the opposite bank, an

bout the prophecy or t

t

n Bank

hated hunting trips with a pas

track a wounded deer if it left a map with detailed directions. Too much forced laughter at crude jokes a

ve himself in private. Really, he just wanted silence and solitude. A moment to him

te and the wild neutral territory beyond. Daemon sat on a fallen log, watching the

rritory. To leave the Sterling name and all its weight behind him. To abandon the expectations, the arranged marria

nce in his miserable,

attered hi

g to immediate alertness. That sound. Tha

nd yet not there at the same time, like his ears were picking up

sound, his hunting instincts taking ov

ht on a tangle of exposed tree roots. Inside, wrapped in tattered silve

nd his tiny fists clenched tight. He was clearly screaming with ever

ely no soun

e it with his own eyes. But there was no noise. Just eerie, impos

pulling the entire thing out of the water. The moment his hands ma

a switch. Those silver-grey eyes, ancient and knowing and far too

nto him like a physic

eature that felt fundamentally wrong and dangerously powerful. But then, just as quickly, h

side Daemon recognized something even older in this baby, and his wolf knew i

on breathed, his voi

answer came, of course. Just that unnerving, silent stare that seemed

ically, searching for any sign of the baby's parents. No one. No tracks in the mud except his own b

ce

the rapids. Toward where someone could theoretically have put a baby in a b

nd of monster would abandon a helpless chil

arefully on the silver cloth wrapped around the baby. He could see faint markings on the fabric, re

ul protection magic that predated

peration. This was a last resort. This was someone tr

own at the baby's face. The infant's grip tightened around his finger

im to his family. His cold, calculating mate who'd made it clear she'd married him purely f

couldn't answer. They would want to know where the baby

ing this obviously special child here at the river's edge

o

possessively at the mere thought. Something primal and pater

arefully against his chest. The infant settled against him immediately, si

ose knowing silver-grey eyes that seemed

counsel' in the old language. Fitting for a boy who ca

hand, and Daemon could have sworn h

l. A distant cousin's child, orphaned in a tragic accident. No one would question a Sterling

ke it work.

carrying with it the last flickering remnants of protection runes

walked away from the water carrying two infant

ga woman knew about the other h

he twin left behind

y that had marked these childr

t

y would remember. One day, they would fulfill their mother's fin

survive, separated

lly reunited, the