The full moon hung low in the sky, veiled behind drifting clouds, as Rowan stood on the cliffs overlooking the valley. The night was unusually still, the usual chorus of crickets and owls replaced by a heavy, waiting silence. Below him, the campfires of his pack flickered like dying stars against the darkness.
And somewhere down there—Caleb moved among them.
Rowan tightened his hands into fists. He wasn’t sure when it had started, this relentless shift inside him. Maybe it had been the night Caleb stood before the entire pack and bared his soul, revealing sacrifices Rowan had been too blind, too proud, to see. Or maybe it had started long before that — in fleeting touches, glances heavy with unspoken understanding.
Caleb wasn’t the broken, timid omega Rowan had once thought him to be.
