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How can I tell her?

Draken straightened. "He is on patrol. He will be back soon."

Seren nodded, though unease curled in her stomach.

Hagan

Hagan sat under the shade of a twisted tree, his fingers curled around Lia's. Silent tears ran down her cheeks, glistening trails in the dim light.

"We should leave," Lia whispered, her voice trembling. Airlia had grown into a dazzlingly beautiful girl with golden hair and shining grey eyes. There was not a boy in school who did not have his eye on her, even Dain. But all her attention was on Hagan. "We could run far away, somewhere they won't find us."

Hagan closed his eyes for a long moment, his grip tightening around her hands. The weight of expectation pressed against his chest like an iron band. "Lia, you know we can't. Where would we go? How would we survive? Our people... my parents... they are counting on me."

Lia let out a shuddering breath, her fingers squeezing his desperately. "I don't care! I just want to be with you. Isn't that enough?"

His throat worked as he swallowed the ache in his heart. "It is enough for me, but I cannot be selfish. I have a duty, Lia. I cannot let them down."

Tears slipped faster down her cheeks, but she nodded, her lips trembling. "Then what do we do? Just pretend we don't love each other?" Her voice broke on the last words, raw with emotion.

Hagan lifted a hand to her face, gently brushing away her tears. "No. Never. You will always be special to me, Lia. No matter what happens, no matter where life takes us, you will be in my heart. Always."

She closed her eyes at his touch, leaning into his palm. "Then promise me," she whispered. "Promise me that even if we are apart, you won't forget me."

He exhaled shakily, pressing a lingering kiss to her forehead. "I could never forget you. I will do what is expected of me... but my heart will always belong to you."

Lia let out a quiet sob, but she didn't argue. She knew, just as he did, that some things could not be changed.

Chapter 20

Seren

Seren felt their eyes on her the moment she stepped into the township in the heart of Vargrheim. The air was thick with the scent of pine, earth, and something muskier-wolves, watching, waiting. The weight of their gazes pressed against her skin like a living thing, curling around her ribs, settling like a burden on her bones.

She had expected scrutiny, but this was something else. She was an exotic flower in a thicket of wild thorns, her presence an intrusion in a world that did not yet know if it would accept her. Some eyes tracked her with open curiosity, some with suspicion, and others with a hunger she didn't dare decipher.

A murmur rippled through the gathered wolves as she passed.

Look at her eyes...

A human? No, not quite.

She's too fragile. She won't last.

She smells like-

Not pack, not ours.

Her blood is different. I can hear it.

Walks like she belongs here. She doesn't.

She's beautiful.

She's dangerous.

Don't trust her. I don't trust what I don't understand.

Maybe she's a gift.