The Bloodline Seal

Chapter 6: The Full Moon Run

Mara didn’t trust me.

Not even a little.

I saw it in the way she watched every movement I made, as if she were waiting for the moment my kindness changed into something else.

It only made me question her history more.

I wanted to know who had turned her life upside down. Who had decided that a child was easier to blame than the truth. Who had allowed her to grow up believing she deserved every bruise.

Once Mara returned to her room, I called my Beta, Eric.

He had been watching Silver Hollow from a distance, looking for anything unusual. So far, he had found nothing.

That was what bothered me.

A pack could hide a secret for a while.

It couldn’t hide everything forever.

“How long have you been watching them?” I asked.

“Since yesterday.”

“And?”

“Nothing obvious. Wolves go to work, train, tend the crops, and follow their daily routines.”

“Any unusual patrols?”

“No.”

“Anyone leaving the territory?”

“Not that I’ve seen.”

I stared through the window of my office toward the distant mountains.

Silver Hollow was less than fifty miles from Ironveil, yet I had barely heard of the pack before Rafe contacted me.

That alone made no sense.

“Return before nightfall,” I ordered. “The full moon run is tonight.”

“Understood.”

I ended the call.

Mara had not smiled once since I met her.

Not once.

I wanted to know what she looked like when she felt safe enough to smile.

More than that, I wanted to know what Silver Hollow had done to make happiness seem dangerous.

I found her in her room, standing beside the window.

She turned the moment I knocked.

“May I come in?”

Her eyes widened slightly at the question.

Then she nodded.

I stepped inside.

“Raven said the cream needs to be applied three times a day.”

“I can do it.”

“I know.”

She looked at me, uncertain.

“I’m asking if you want me to.”

Her gaze dropped to the jar in my hand.

After a moment, she lifted the edge of her sweatshirt.

“Thank you.”

I crouched in front of her and opened the jar.

The wound was still red around the edges. The infection had not worsened, but it had not improved enough either.

I applied the cream carefully.

Mara held her breath.

Again.

“Are you afraid of me?” I asked.

Her fingers tightened around the fabric.

“Everyone is.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“That isn’t what I asked.”

She stared at the wall behind me. “You have the largest pack in the northern territories. You’ve gone to war and absorbed other packs. You’ve killed Alphas. People ask for your help. You don’t ask for theirs.”

Her voice remained quiet, but every word was deliberate.

“It would be stupid not to fear you.”

A smile pulled at my mouth.

Mara was far more intelligent than Rafe wanted people to believe.

“That is why people fear my title,” I said. “I’m asking about me.”

Her eyes lowered.

I wanted her to look at me, but I knew better than to demand it.

“I am not them,” I said.

Her breathing changed.

“I will never beat you because I can. I will never lock you away for speaking. And I will never use your fear to make you obey me.”

Mara’s fingers slipped lower over the sweatshirt, hiding more of herself.

“You are one person who does not need to fear me,” I continued. “I want you to understand that.”

She didn’t answer.

But she didn’t pull away when I finished applying the cream.

By nightfall, she still hadn’t spoken first.

Every conversation began with me and ended with her nodding or shaking her head.

She was almost impossible to read.

I didn’t mind silence.

I minded what it concealed.

“You need to sleep,” I told her.

She glanced toward the large clock in the hallway.

The moon had risen above the mountains.

“I’m going to lead the pack run tonight,” I explained. “I’ll be gone for a few hours.”

Her brow furrowed.

“Pack run?”

“You’ve never been on one?”

She shook her head.

“It’s when the pack runs together beneath the full moon. We hunt, train, and reinforce the territory.”

Her eyes widened.

“Silver Hollow doesn’t do pack runs?”

She shook her head again.

I studied her.

As far as I knew, every pack followed the tradition. The full moon strengthened their wolves and sharpened their senses. It was one of the few times an entire pack moved as one.

“Once your wolf is free, you’ll join us.”

Mara looked toward the doorway.

“You don’t have to worry about anything while I’m gone,” I added. “The guards know you’re under my protection.”

She remained still, as if she wanted to ask something but didn’t know how.

I left her with a quiet goodnight.

Downstairs, Eric and Jenson were waiting near the entrance.

Jenson was already unbuttoning his shirt, his Gamma insignia visible beneath it.

“How’s the new arrival?” he asked.

“Mara is staying,” I said. “And Silver Hollow doesn’t hold pack runs.”

Eric frowned. “They don’t?”

“No.”

“I thought every pack ran during the full moon. It’s the strongest time to hunt.”

“So did I.”

Jenson pulled his shirt over his head. “Did Eric find anything unusual while he was watching them?”

“Nothing obvious.”

“Then they’re hiding it well.”

I looked toward the dark windows.

“Who really killed Mara’s parents?”

Eric’s expression tightened. “Rafe?”

“I don’t think Rafe is clever enough to arrange something that complicated. He didn’t even read the contract before signing it.”

Jenson gave a humorless laugh. “We should pay Silver Hollow another visit.”

“Tomorrow.”

“Surprise them?”

“Sometimes people reveal more when they don’t know they’re being watched.”

Jenson’s eyes sharpened.

“Then we’ll leave before sunrise.”

I nodded.

“Make sure the northern patrols are doubled while we’re gone.”

“We will.”

The pack run lasted longer than usual.

By the time I returned to the estate, the moon had begun to fade behind the clouds.

I stopped outside Mara’s room.

Her door stood slightly open.

She was curled on her side beneath the blankets, one hand tucked beneath her cheek. The sweatshirt I had given her hung loosely around her thin frame.

She looked younger when she slept.

Not weak.

Just tired.

A faint scatter of freckles crossed her nose. I hadn’t noticed them before.

I remained in the doorway for a moment, listening to her breathing.

Then I closed the door most of the way and returned to my room.

Mara didn’t wake while I showered.

She didn’t stir when I crossed the hall again.

The next morning, I knocked before opening her door.

“Mara?”

She gasped and sat upright.

“Where am I?”

“You’re in Ironveil.”

Her blue eyes locked on mine before drifting toward my bare chest. I had just finished pulling on a black shirt, and the collar hung open.

Color rose into her cheeks.

“You’re in my pack,” I added. “You’re safe.”

She looked down at herself, checking that she was still fully dressed.

The tension in her shoulders eased by a fraction.

My wolf stirred.

*She’s beautiful.*

*She’s frightened,* I reminded him. *We take this slowly.*

My wolf growled but retreated.

Mara stepped into the bathroom and closed the door.

I heard her whispering to herself.

“Get it together.”

When she returned several minutes later, I held up the jar of cream.

“We need to apply this again.”

She eyed me carefully.

I pulled on a clean shirt.

“Eric, Jenson, and I have an errand to run. You’ll remain here while we’re gone.”

“Alone?”

“There will be guards and household staff in the estate. So no, not completely alone.”

She lifted her sweatshirt.

I approached slowly.

“May I?”

After a moment, she nodded.

I crouched in front of her and applied the cream to her wound.

Her breathing changed when my hand moved closer.

I stopped.

“You can tell me to stop.”

Her eyes lifted to mine.

“No.”

It was the first time she had answered without hesitation.

My wolf pressed against the back of my mind.

*She’s right here.*

I wanted to claim her.

To place my mark on her and silence every rumor surrounding the pull between us.

But Mara wasn’t ready.

And I wasn’t going to become another person she needed to escape.

I lowered my hand.

“Tomorrow, we’re returning to Silver Hollow,” I said. “This time, Rafe won’t have the advantage.”