, when even the stars outside seemed to hold their breath. I moved carefully down the dorm hallway, each step light and silent, avo

ly one person ever noticed when I vanished between classes, eyes

or. It creaked open immedi

She said nothing about the blood on my hoodie or the fresh

clan sigils, and handwritten notes. Ayla was obsessed with old things secrets, symbols, bloodlines no one dar

t preamble, locking the door behind

. "That's a grea

She set it between us, pages already worn, stained with ink and so

pecific page. Then she loo

at you remember a

question was

uiet. She was never part of a pack. She raised me in the

that was strange? That she kept you away from every pack

t was safer

"Eva, I've spent the last three we

d burned the moment Dante first touched me. I hadn't told anyone about

did yo

drawing-an identical crescent scar inked in silv

ha. The first-born warriors of the Moon Goddess. The bloodline was t

ightened.

rophecy that a female born of the Scarlet Line would rise again and either save or destroy the future of all Alp

d in my throat;

ou saying?"

andom, Eva. I'm saying your mother

rned t

Eyes like mine. A mark glowing across her spine, her body sur

against my ribs.

ced. Why you're stronger every time you fight, why Dante can't control himself a

. "No. I'm not special. I'm not some chosen thing

said gently. "Maybe sh

dropped to the bed, bur

f. I was a threat. A ticking bom

Dante's anger, all hi

Goddess didn't ju

ave h

hing the world

hispered. "I just wanted

ng," Ayla said, sitting besid

hilled me t

ut something wrapped in black silk. She unwrapped it careful

id quietly. "It didn't burn like it was supposed to. The Elder

red a

t to believe

ce where my wolf had been too si

lic

rem

something a

thin

ing sc

va. If the Elders find out, they'll kill you before

ish what h

he way he'd looked at me tonight... the way his body ha

been

ently. "Maybe he'll choo

"He doesn't cho

ing unspoken. "Then maybe you should know this, he c

caught,

ha

. Sweating. His eyes... golden. The wolf wanted you,

cing again. My body didn't know

now, there was a bigger trut

carlet Line... then I wasn

oing or maybe his redem

e door made u

. Two, th

acing. "That's not curfew

hing had changed tonight. Something had cr

dle of the blade. I walked to the doo

nt

traight from hell to get here but it wasn't the wolf that scared me. It was the way he