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10 meter
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We had barely walked another ten steps when he grabbed my wrist.
It wasn’t hard but it was enough to stop me.
“Why are you crying,” he asked.
His face was the same, blank.
I wiped my cheeks fast with the back of my hand. “I’m not.”
“You are.” He tilted his head slightly, studying me. “Your breathing changed.”
“I’m fine,” I said again, but my voice cracked.
He stepped closer, lowering his voice so the others couldn’t hear, “look at me.”
I didn’t want to but he caught my chin between his fingers and lifted my face anyway.
“Why,” he repeated.
I swallowed, eyes burning, “I’m overwhelmed.”
“With what.”
“Everything,” I snapped, then immediately shook my head, “I just… I miss home.”
His grip on my chin loosened but he didn’t step back.
“You hated that place,” he said flatly.
“I know.” I raked my fingers through my hair, tugging at the roots. “I know it was shitty and Marcus was trash and everything fell apart but it was mine, it was normal, I knew where I stood.”
My chest started rising too fast.
“Now I don’t know anything,” I said, pressing my palms against my eyes. “I don’t know who hates me. I don’t know who’s testing me. I don’t know what the elders are going to say. I don’t know if I’m enough. I don’t know if I’m ruining your pack.”
He watched me without interrupting.
“I wake up and I’m Luna,l go to sleep and I’m a breeder. I take one step and someone’s questioning me.” I let out a shaky laugh, “it’s a lot.”
He reached up and pulled my hands away from my face.
“You are not ruining my pack,” he said.
His tone didn’t soften but it slowed,
“look at me.”
I did.
115
Gossyp Harbor
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20 Vo
“I chose to bring you into this,” he continued. “That was my decision. If anyone has a problem, they deal with me.”
My throat tightened.
“And after we meet the elders,” he said, “I’ll take you home.”
My brows pulled together. “Home.”
“Yes.”
“Like… actually home.”
“Yes.”
“Not packhouse home.”
His jaw flexed once, “your home, your apartment, your city, whatever you need to settle your head.”
I blinked at him, “you’d do that.”
“We handle the elders, we secure the territory and then we go.” He held my stare,”you don’t run, you don’t spiral. You talk to me.”
I nodded fast, tears spilling again. “Okay.”
He brushed his thumb under my eye once, wiping the tear away almost impatiently. “Stop apologizing for feeling overwhelmed,” he added. “You’re carrying my heir and walking into a council of wolves who would tear each other apart for power, you’re allowed to feel something.”
I let out a small breath that sounded half laugh half sob.
“I’m sorry,” I said anyway.
He looked at me hard. “I know.”
Heat rushed to my face. I stepped forward without thinking and wrapped my arms around his waist.
He went stiff for half a second and then his hand came to the back of my head. “I’ll get it together,” I murmured into his chest. “I won’t break down again.”
“You can,” he said quietly. “Just not in front of them.”
I pulled back fast, wiping my face with both hands. “Right. Sorry.”
He stepped away first, putting space between us like the moment hadn’t happened.
“Fix your face,” he said. “We move.”
I straightened my shoulders.
“Okay.”
245
Cossip Marbor
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18
The climb felt endless, my calves burned.
Damien walked ahead of me without slowing, hands clasped behind his back like this was just another meeting.
We reached the top and I stopped.
The mountain opened into a wide stone court carved straight into the rock.
Tall stone chairs built into the cliff itself, fire bowls burned steady along the edges.
Five elders sat waiting.
They were huge, taller than Damien with broad shoulders under tailored dark coats.
Silver rings on thick fingers.
Hair pulled back tight or braided long down their backs, they didn’t look fragile.
They looked expensive.
One of them stood.
He was the tallest of all. White hair slicked back, eyes that locked on me first before Damien.
“So,” he said, voice deep. “Our Luna.”
My throat tightened but I stepped forward anyway.
“Yes.”
He walked down the carved steps slow and stopped in front of me. I had to tilt my head back to meet his eyes.
He leaned in slightly and inhaled once.
I froze.
He nodded after a second, “strong,” he said.
Relief rushed through me so fast my knees almost gave.
Another elder leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. “You climbed without complaining.”
I blinked. “I wanted to.”
A faint smile touched his mouth.
“Sit,” the white haired elder said.
We sat across from them. Damien stayed straight backed, hands resting on his thighs. The tallest elder looked at him. “Your borders were hit.”
“Yes.”
“Not random,” another elder said, rubbing his chin. “Organized.”
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Cossyp
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Damien’s jaw tightened, “rogues.”
“More than rogues,” the white haired one replied, “displaced wolves gathering under one name. No leader we recognize.”
My fingers twisted in my lap.
“They are circling you,” one of them continued, “testing strength and testing loyalty.”
“They smell growth,” another added, glancing at my stomach. “New life shifts power.”
My breath caught.
Damien did not look at me.
“They believe if they weaken you now,” the tallest elder said, “they prevent a stronger reign later.”
“What do you advise,” Damien asked.
The white haired elder stood fully, stepping closer to the edge of the stone platform.
“You initiate.”
Damien’s eyes narrowed slightly. “If I strike first, it becomes open war.”
“It already is,” the elder replied. “They attacked your gates, they killed your wolves, fhey challenge your claim.”
Another elder tapped his fingers against the arm of his chair. “If you wait, you look hesitant.”
Damien’s shoulders squared, “if I move, every neutral pack chooses a side.”
The tallest elder looked directly at him.
“They already are.”
The wind picked up, whipping my hair across my face. I pushed it back behind my ear and looked between them.
Damien’s jaw flexed once.
“If I attack,” he said quietly, “it makes it official.”
The white haired elder didn’t blink, “it is official,” he answered.
He held Damien’s stare, “war has begun.”
4.5
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Harpo
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