Stolen Mate

d and unreadable. We'd run for hours after the infirmary burned, until the scent of smoke faded and our

strip of dried

an's blood lay beside me, a cursed treasure

. "She'll wan

word, he shrugged off his tunic and tossed it to me. The fabric wa

tried to hand it back. "

llowing the urge to bury my n

all, staring at the flames.

tled me. "My moth

e is

took her when

ed that. "Mine too. Wolves,

t, but his knuckles whitened around the

ed me. Caught me sabotaging a raid. C

laughter. "Why stay a rogue?

?" He shook his head.

. An owl hooted

d suddenly. "After Lila b

mbers. "Where

ywh

ome. Even if

eyes reflecting the

I'm

it wasn't uncomf

y. "Older. Taught me to fight. Ni

ightened.

ng." A ghost of a smile touched his lips.

my neck. "Not

live, are

rel

the trees outside. Rylan's breath

fter the ritual

u get your scent back. Expos

elt hollow.

"Move on. Fin

in my ribs. "Y

king onto mine. "As

. a f

ftening the edges of him. "Friend

ke a new

ened. He look

ara. Dawn

ng around me. Somewhere in the night, the howling began-Ki

ark, quiet but clear. "I had a

Names were

," I o

fed. "

ated. "My mother called m

long, I thought h

u," he m

first time in months, I

s, but the woods around her lair stayed stubbornly dark. Rylan walked beside me, his silence heavier than usua

clasped around a jar of murky liquid. "Late,"

oice steadier than I fe

s blood. It glinted black in the dim light as she poured it into a clay bowl. "The thief's essence," sh

d his arms.

bowl's contents hissing into smoke. The fumes coiled into shapes-a laven

ssolving. "Plucked under the full moon. Onl

. *Nightshade's te

e grinned. "The Blackvein Gro

d. "That's a d

" She thrust a jagged knife at me. "

him.* The blade bit, my blood dripping into the

. "The moon waxes. Fail, and

*

kvein Grove wasn't just dangerous-it was sacred to Nightshade, guar

crubbing soot from his hands.

," I said. "Even w

re chasing so

"You're

"Got a bet

. "Why are you doing this? You could'

old you. Hate

ia

ade brand, half-faded. "They took my sister in that grove. Cut her down for refu

. I knelt beside him. "We'll ge

ening. "Justice is a fairy tale

*

niform. Use the chaos of their moon feast. Rylan would dr

s on birch trees-warned trespassers. Beyond them, the grove's

, the fabric straining across his

u t

ipped my wrist. "I

won'

ed my pulse poi

ne, a shadow i

ter. Howls. I ran, the gr

s shimmering like captured starlight

pped throu

urn

r loomed, fangs bar

lan's roar ech

for the