Stella:
It was past midnight when I slipped from the bed.
Forest didn’t stir. His breathing remained deep and even, arm thrown across the pillow where my body had been minutes before. The moonlight filtered through our window, silvering the room in a soft, holy glow that felt undeserved.
I moved like a whisper through the hall.
Down the stairs.
Out the side door.
I knew the path well—the winding trail through the southern edge of the pack’s border where the guards rotated less frequently. Fewer eyes. Fewer questions.
I found her waiting at the edge of the woods, just beyond the training ring.
Mira.
My friend.
The soldier.
“She doesn't trust you,” Stella said coldly as she approached, boots crunching against the frost-bitten grass. “Hattie. That queen. All of them. They think you
