The night was long, and pain clung to Selena’s every breath. Each movement sent fire lancing through her shredded back, the wolfsbane still burning in her veins like molten ice. Sweat beaded on her skin despite the cold, each drop a mix of fever and defiance. Her wolf whimpered somewhere deep inside, too weak to surface but not gone. Never gone.
When dawn crept across the horizon — a pale, hesitant glow slicing through the cracks in the orphanage walls — Selena was already awake. She hadn’t really slept, only drifted in and out of shallow darkness.
The children stirred around her, their small bodies curled against hers for warmth. Mara’s tiny hand rested in Selena’s, sticky with the remnants of dried tears. Tomas leaned against the broken bedframe like a guard dog, his young face drawn t
