Cierra:
The night pressed soft and close against the pack house, heavy with silence, like the world itself was holding its breath.
I sat curled on my floor, knees tight against my chest, forehead pressed to the cool wood of my door. My body ached from too much emotion, like grief had been threaded into my bones, a rawness that wouldn’t let me rest. I thought I could sleep. I lied to myself.
When the knock came, it wasn’t loud. Just the barest brush of knuckles against wood, hesitant, questioning.
“Cierra?” Dane’s voice.
My pulse jolted, traitorous. The wolf beneath my ribs twitched, restless. I clenched my fists. “Go away.”
“For Goddess' sake, please,” he murmured. His voice cracked on the word. “Please, let me in.”
“Leave,” I whispered, but my legs betrayed me, carrying me to the
