l's

st silent when we cr

watched and waited. Every instinct I had sharpened immediately, p

it difficult to think straight. Berries-rich and alive-wrapping around my senses and twisting something deep inside me that I wasn't

lose behind. Sor

he only thing keeping

n a way he rarely was. He'd caught one breath of her

Luna. That a mute, timid girl who had never once stood up for herself couldn't lead be

listened to

nored a

y that had caught me completely off guard. "

with it, the harder it became to argue. Ayla had endured years of cruelty-from us, from the pack, from a life that

sn't we

ed to see it for w

way, but quietly. She'd endured our torments daily without cracking under the pressure.

old her close grew into something harder to ignore. I fought it the

r now, the scent thick

-not randomly,

I said quietly,

Soren said from behin

fed. "Oh,

anymore," Soren continued,

harp. "You do realize that, right? We're out here in the freezi

ike a stone droppe

ped wa

d a half-ste

iately, and the silence that foll

rned arou

ng flickering behind his eyes that looked almost like re

oice quiet and absolutely

tone that didn't invite a response. "The next tim

like he might push back-and then something in him deflated, just slightly

ed away

ent red at

mean-" h

en said. "That

r, jaw tight, shoulders rigid. The embarrassment was written all over him-not the clean kind, but the messy k

ker's eyes had darkened slightly at the edges.

idn't know what to do with emotions that weren't anger or adrenaline. Everything else just came out wrong. He would

back to t

and started moving again

arp and frustrated, but fell back

r, the trees thinning ahead where the li

ward, pulling my

close,"

w," I

he snow underfoot. The bond hummed under my skin, low and insistent,

ly, his voice different now. Quieter. L

as much," S

back. "Y

The way she carries herself-even the way she endur

fully understand it, and over time I'd convinced myself I'd misread it. I had thought that she was too quiet, to

rong about

ars twitch

ehind the large birc

st immediately-just visible, pressed against

runn

e way I used to speak to her-no edge, no dismissal. That vers

idn't

was something almost fond underneath it. "

oren said quietly.

what looked like genuine effort, hands curled at his sides, and jaw locked. He wasn't good at this-

oving," he muttere

"She won't be able to re

keeping my voice even. "We

held the

e, his attention fixed entirely on th

whatever she decided in the next few moments was g

move. Did

enough reasons

do now was give he

*