Serena
The courtyard was quiet that morning, deceptively so, as if the world itself was holding its breath. Sunlight spilled across the stones in soft gold, brushing warmth against my skin, but beneath it all there was a restlessness in the air, a prickle I had felt for days now. It wasn’t wolf instinct I had none of that but something else, something strange curling low in my chest that I couldn’t name.
Ari’s laughter cut through the unease like music. For weeks he asked endlessly about his grandma, searched every corner of the estate as of she was hiding from him. He kept asking questions upon questions I had no answers to. I couldn’t bring myself to explain to him that his grandma is gone for good.
He chased a wooden ball across the grass, his little legs stumbling, his arms flailin
