Maya's POV:
Morning came too fast. And not fast enough.
I sat on the broken remains of our porch steps. The wood was black and crumbled under me. Smoke still clung to my skin and clothes. My chest hurt where Kai’s claws had torn through me, though Marie’s healing salve dulled the sharpest pain. The cuts in my body would heal. The cuts in my heart—watching my pack search through the ashes of our home—were worse.
“Found something,” Danny called. He came out of the rubble holding a photo frame. The glass was shattered, but the picture inside was safe—our last Christmas dinner, everyone around Marie’s table, laughing at one of Tommy’s jokes.
I took it carefully. “We’ll rebuild the photo wall first.”
“Maya.” Kai’s voice had that warning tone I knew too well. “We can’t rebuild here.”
“Why
