Page 50 of Donovan

A celebration.

I opened my mouth to politely decline, but before I could say anything, Jonas was already turning, leading Lena back toward the village.

I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck.

“We could just leave,” Declan muttered beside me, voice low.

I shot him a look. “You want to tell the people you just saved that you’re too broody to stick around for dinner?”

He scoffed but didn’t argue.

Which meant he was coming.

I smirked. “That’s what I thought.”

He rolled his eyes but fell into step beside me as we followed Jonas and Lena into the heart of the village.

DECLAN

The village was alive with quiet resilience.

Despite the attack, despite the bodies burned at the edge of the clearing, the sparrow shifters moved about with a steady, practiced rhythm.

Some were tending to the wounded. Others cleaned up the wreckage, repairing what they could and salvaging what was still usable.

Children darted between the adults, their laughter subdued but not gone.

They weren’t broken.

I stood beside Donovan, arms crossed, watching the shifters go about their lives as if this wasn’t the first time they’d been hunted.

I turned to Elder Jonas, who had stayed close since we arrived. “They don’t seem afraid,” I observed. “Not like they should be.”

Jonas gave a small, knowing smile.

“Because we’ve learned fear is a waste of time.” He gestured to the flock, to the injured, to the homes being put back together. “This isn’t the first time we’ve been attacked, and I doubt it’ll be the last. But we don’t stop living.”

I didn’t know what to say to that, because he was right.

Lena approached then, waving someone over. “Come on, let me introduce you to some of my flock.”

Donovan smiled easily, already at home here, but I hesitated.

I could still feel the hunger simmering under my skin, quieter now but never gone.

The fight had burned through the worst of it, had given me something else to focus on. But I knew it wouldn’t last.

The moment things settled, it would return, clawing its way back to the surface, reminding me of exactly what I was now.

And these people, these sparrow shifters… they smelled warm. Alive.

They smelled like food. I exhaled sharply, shaking the thought loose as Donovan nudged my side, giving me a look.

“Just for tonight,” he murmured. “Relax.”

Relax. Right. Like it was that easy.

But the way he was looking at me, the warmth in his eyes, the quiet trust. I wanted to try. So I unclenched my fists, and followed Lena into the crowd.