The Avila lounge felt warmer than usual that evening, the fireplace crackling softly in the corner while pack members relaxed after dinner. Claire sat curled up on one of the oversized couches, a book open in her lap that she hadn’t turned a page in for twenty minutes. Her mind kept replaying Victoria’s words from training earlier: You’re so brave for a human… Xander has always needed someone strong.
She stared at the flames, the insecurity she had tried to bury creeping back in like shadows at dusk. Victoria wasn’t wrong. Claire was human. Slower. Weaker. She couldn’t shift, couldn’t hear the pack link, couldn’t fully understand the world Xander had grown up in. What if one day he realized that?
Alissa dropped down beside her, legs tucked under her, and nudged Claire’s shoulder. “You’ve
