Leaving Bracken Hollow was harder than he expected.
The road curved past the last houses, past the frozen river, and past the wall that marked the town’s border. With every step, something tight pulled deeper in his chest.
Edric called him a hero. His wife fed Kade like he was part of the family. The townsfolk smiled at him when he passed instead of the previous distrust. For one night, one precious night, he had felt what it was like to belong somewhere.
He missed it already.
“You can come back,” Ash noted. “We don’t have to go back to Midnight Crest if you don’t want to. You could join the pack here, whatever it is.”
As he adjusted his new armor, it was light, strong, and perfectly fitted. He realized Edric had treated him more like a son than Beta Garrett ever had. He wondered brie
