The memory wolf

ne kind, this was the kind of silence that leaned in too close, heavy and suffocating, like the wal

lf ha

pacing back and forth like she'd been warning me

uttered, her voice a low s

s as if that would chase the feeling away.

huff

very time befor

rld had tilted slightly off its ax

rst instinct was

al flaw. That, and a complete in

k despi

ually avoided. Hallways that felt colder than the rest. Rooms no one used

be here', my

less," I told

snor

ia

d it. The narrow little room everyone pretended didn't ex

d and forgotten junk. Boxes leaned against the walls, britt

ed something that

urmured. "That

ent utter

t tou

way. Because o

too easily and I inst

e floor beneat

one quickly, secretly, like whoever made it

ath hi

I whis

e mark in the forest. Not perfectly, but close enough to make my blood turn to ice. Li

w in my chest. 'Kn

ttered. "I just don't

through me like broken glass. My mother's voice, hushed and serio

er than alphas and laws. They leave marks behind. And if you

here I

taring at a warning carved into the floo

d, because apparently talking to curse

the surface, urgency vibrating through me. This

d. "Any chance you c

ed stubbor

aybe longer. Time has a way of folding in on its

anicked scream ripp

ed up. "Did y

't wait for

ov

over. I was already on my feet, already running, the house

ad, moonlight slicing across

m echoed clos

breathed. "

ice, my wolf sai

elled like fresh ear

id, already sp

lly awake. Blood hit my nose before I even reached the clearing, it wa

ned up and I

had arrived

eam had

that followe

it hurt to breathe. The boy's scent lingered faintly, stretched thin li

d forwar

t exactly, but the impri

shifted, and suddenly I wasn't

s th

teeth. The boy's panic flooding the night. His feet slipping as

..not

a curling violently in my stomach. My wolf

ispered hoarsely.

ered toward us

frantic, calling his name like it c

e!" someo

s where

arched

't see wh

't feel w

st, breath ragged,

s gently. "Ayla! Talk

thing came out. My throa

enly, it all

k in th

beneath the

er-eyed

hadow

n't a co

as the

reeline as my wolf snarled low in warni

"What do you me

d, heart pounding, "

r suddenly. I didn't n

only the

standing right a