THE ALPHA NEXT DOOR

Alpha Draven's safehouse. It wasn't what I expected. There was no underlying tension, no suspiciou

to treat my presence as normal. A quiet acceptance settled over th

place where I could retreat when the sheer normalcy of it all became overwhelming

cautiously at first, their eyes curious but not fearful, asking simple questions about my journey or offering bits of local knowledge. The beautiful teal an

led and played in the central courtyard, their yelps and giggles filling the air. Adults

only ever witnessed from a distance, like watching a diff

with each passing day, it began to recede, like a tide pulling back from the shore. I start

window in the common room, simply observing the easy interactions between the pack members, their wolf forms clo

y. My shoulders started to relax from their perpetual tension, my senses didn't feel the constant need to be on high alert. I

nusual nature of my being, but within the walls of this safehouse, among these welcoming wo

t it down, piece by careful piece. I was Feei, the moon-blessed, the wraithbane, and here

*

ehouse was a haven of warmth and laughter; the next, it was plunged into a chilling silence. New

ul stride. Fear, an old, familiar enemy, had found its way inside the walls. Search parties were immediately organized, older wolves scenting the perimeter, younger ones checking

lf named Ronan, took charge,

of calm. My own gut twisted. I knew what it felt like to be lost, to be alone, to be hunted. And while I had only known Lily for

a conventional tracker. I didn't follow paw prints or broken twigs. My world was often one of faint whispers on the wind, of energies that most couldn't perceive, of

ting Ronan's terse instruct

said, my voice

ed on their faces. I was the stranger, the moon-blessed anomaly whose b

"This is dangerous. It's not just track

steadily. "And I have ways of finding thi

tion. The desperation in the air was a powerful all

"But you go alone. It's less risk if yo

ts utility where I might have to go. I gathered