The tension in Crescent Ridge was suffocating, thick as smoke, when we arrived for the morning meeting. Wolves whispered in clusters, their eyes darting toward me and my brothers like we were the storm itself. Even from across the room I felt it. Fear. Suspicion. Awe. The threads of the Moonbond stretched tight along my wrist, pulsing with every heartbeat in the hall.
Half the pack believed I was salvation. The Moon’s chosen. The other half whispered that I was a danger wrapped in silver flame, and they wanted us gone. My brothers moved like rolling thunder beside me, each of them vibrating with emotions I felt as clearly as my own.
Kael’s hands curled into fists. “They do not understand.” His voice was low, jaw tight. “They think we are monsters. We protect the pack, Kaia. That is all t
