Chapter Sixteen
Mark’s POV
The moon hung low over the Shadowdark keep, swollen and silver, washing the battlements in ghostlight. The air smelled of pine and iron—the scent of the mountains and the pack.
I should have been sleeping. Instead, I found myself pacing the balcony outside the war chamber, restless energy thrumming beneath my skin. Ever since training ended earlier that day, I hadn’t been able to shake the memory of Gabriella’s eyes when Ava surfaced—the gleam of gold, the fearless calm.
A wolf who gave her true name.
I still couldn’t quite believe it. Among our kind, the name of a wolf spirit wasn’t something you spoke aloud. It was sacred, bound to the soul, a secret even mates didn’t always share. To speak it was to give a piece of one’s essence away.
And she—Ava—had wh
