Page 21 of Howling Love (Hunter’s Moon Ritual #1)

Gracie

“Elowen, aren’t you supposed to be teaching right now?”

I hated the warmth in Thornar’s voice, but I stuck close to his side as we walked down the steps. I didn’t like the way this woman looked at him or spoke to him. Basir’s hand grazed my back, snapping me out of it.

What was wrong with me? I had no claim on these men. We may have had some forged connection through the aftershocks of the ritual, but for me to assume that they would want me to be so territorial...

I stopped hard on the stairs, and Basir offered me a questioning look. Thornar’s expression was far more understanding, though, as he turned toward me and offered a hand, his smile softer than before.

“You don’t have to stop scenting me, Gracie, but I promise you have nothing to worry about.”

Had I been scenting him? How did he know what I was feeling? I was learning that Thornar had an uncanny ability to directly pinpoint what I needed to hear.

Without a word, I glued myself back to his side, embarrassed for my extreme possessiveness…though not enough to stop. If Thornar was bothered by it, he didn’t act like it. He only pulled me tighter against him, infusing comfort into my very bones.

Elowen was painfully gorgeous .

I never felt beautiful, but it didn’t take much for me to recognize when others were. She was only about three inches taller than I was, but she held herself with an air of authority that was beyond intimidating.

Her defined, voluminous curls created a natural halo around her angular face, and her rich almond-toned complexion glowed warmly beneath her dark outfit.

A high-neck black blouse with sheer sleeves wrapped around her torso and paired perfectly with a black wool skirt that tightened at her tiny waist.

What caught my attention the most, though, was the onyx stone on her nose. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen a piercing of any kind. That type of self-expression wasn’t allowed in the Cold Moon Pack. The idea of it was laughable.

She observed us with curious and fixed interest, but I didn’t see any anger or betrayal at the way Thornar or Basir were interacting with me.

It made me feel slightly better, ruling out her potential as someone having a more complicated relationship with either of them…

but I still was silent as we reached the bottom of the stairs and approached her.

“Am I supposed to be teaching ?” Elowen demanded, placing her hands on her hips.

“Of course I’m supposed to be teaching!” Then she waved a hand toward me in an exasperated and dramatic sweep.

“But I can’t possibly work knowing my potential new best friend is just across town!

You may be my brother, but the three of you have no right to hog her. We all want to meet her.”

“Brother?” I asked, eyes wide with hope. What Elowen was saying hit me like warmth through frost—not just that Thornar was her brother , but that she wanted to be my best friend. I wasn’t sure I had ever called anyone a best friend, even my own brother.

“Yes, Thornar’s my brother.” Her brown eyes sparkled with humor. “Terrible, isn’t it?”

“My little flame here would never side with you,” Thornar growled, my cheeks flaming as he pulled me completely flush with him again. Basir leaned against the wall, watching all of this with a faint echo of amusement that I found fascinating to watch play across his face.

“ She has a name.” Elowen rolled her eyes before looking at me. “What’s your name?”

“Gracie.” I cracked a smile. Elowen’s outgoing vigor instantly put me at ease, her open and transparent way of talking allowing me to relax into our conversation.

“ Gracie , it is wonderful to meet you.” She smiled brightly.

“I hope you don’t mind me crashing the tour.

I had a feeling these two were about to drag you around the city, and look , I was right!

” She shot Thornar a pointed look. “And I cancelled my classes, so don’t worry about that.

I’m not in jeopardy of losing my job, I promise. ”

“I’m your older brother. I worry about all types of shit.” He shrugged in amusement before looking down at me to gauge how I was feeling. “But sure, join us.”

Wiggling out of Thornar’s grasp, I straightened my shoulders and stood next to Elowen.

I didn’t have a full grasp on this positive socialization thing outside of a few people in the compound, but I knew I needed to step out of the protective warmth of Thornar eventually.

I really didn’t want to, but I wanted to make a good impression.

“The elevator is this way!” she chimed.

“You’re a teacher?” I asked as we turned down a hallway to the left.

“Yes! Solkaran University—one of the most prestigious universities in all of Thornfell—is right here in our very own capital city. I’m a doctoral student there, so I also teach undergraduates in my spare time.”

“Wow,” I whispered, trying not to feel a stab of insecurity about my lack of education. “What do you study?”

“Ethical Structures of Empire.” Elowen’s voice was filled with pride. “I focus mainly on the morality and ethical struggles we find in pack structures. More so, how hostile takeovers and dominance fights can affect the general population.”

“A bit intense, isn’t it?” Thornar asked from behind us as we reached a glass elevator.

Before the raids, I had been in an elevator once while visiting a larger city within our territory, but it was nothing like this. You could see in every direction through the glass, and the gold accents shimmered like it was made of magic rather than mechanics.

“Intense…but also really interesting,” I admitted. “My territory was taken over by Ivan Rivers around a decade ago, so I saw that firsthand.”

Elowen’s expression turned thoughtful. “I’ve heard the stories about the Cold Moon Pack. It reminds me of where we came from, although far worse.”

Thornar hummed in agreement as we began to descend, the sensation of dropping making me feel unsteady. Basir, somehow knowing this was the case, put a hand against my lower back to stabilize me.

“What happened to your pack?” I asked once I was sure I wouldn’t be sick.

“A story for another day,” Elowen said, a hint of sadness in her gaze. “I would love to sit down and tell you, though, if Thornar is comfortable with it.”

My gaze moved up to him, his eyes warming in pleasure at my attention—as if it made him happy that I looked to him for his feelings about the situation.

“Gracie can ask any question she wants. I’ll always answer.”

The surety of this man was… perfection .

Elowen made an amused noise as the elevator door opened with a ping. “You are already in so deep.”

What did that mean? Basir made a sound that seemed to be agreement as the four of us stepped out onto the ground floor of the building.

My questions were forgotten pretty quickly, though, as I found myself captivated by the Ironsun Pack’s capital city.

As we walked through the open-air atrium, bustling with people dressed in cold-weather clothes and bright smiles on their faces, I tried to catch each and every detail.

The bridges between the floors above us were littered with people going about their day, and the mix of steel and stone gave a regal yet modern feel to the building.

It was truly a castle, and I could see that reflected even in the smallest details—like the stone floor, each section imprinted with the pack’s crest.

“I wish it was warmer. It’s gorgeous here during the summer months,” Elowen promised as we walked through an archway and onto the city streets.

“This is gorgeous,” I said under my breath as the cool mountain air brushed over me in an exhilarating wave. Even the streets were meticulously clean, iron streetlamps standing proudly with banners all the way down the central street.

Uniformed soldiers moved in groups out of a building to my left, and small children wearing red blazers waved to them excitedly as they walked in a line led by a woman around my age.

Scholars buried in books strode into the castle-like building we’d come out of, and cream and red-robed women laughed openly in their conversation.

Life radiated from this city, and the sun itself seemed to shine down on every one of its citizens.

“Come on, glow.” Basir’s voice was soft and filled with understanding of my awe as he led me forward, Thornar and Elowen having a lively conversation I’d missed the start of.

“She needs to see the temple anyway! It just so happens that Solenne is there.” Elowen waved her brother off as Thornar crossed his arms, an amused smile playing at his lips. “Gracie, you want to meet Ravik’s sister, right?”

“Yes,” I immediately confirmed, because if we were meeting Ravik’s sister, maybe Ravik would be nearby. Although, I had to admit that all of the family dynamics I was being introduced to made me feel the void in my own life.

Is this what life would have been like for me and Owen if Ivan had never raided our farm? Would we have been friends like we’d been as kids? It was almost impossible to imagine.

“Plus, Solenne is big into giving blessings,” Elowen said. “Never a bad thing, right? Always a good idea to keep The Eight watching out for you.”

That nearly brought me to a stop. The Eight —Nyxarra.

I stared off into the distance as we continued walking, my thoughts racing.

The ritual. Something had happened at the end.

My memory was still fuzzy, but now that I’d been awake for a few hours, pieces were beginning to click together.

Nyxarra had sobbed, begged me to understand that her will wasn’t my death.

There had been another force, something darker that had threatened to consume her.

The rescue had interrupted the ritual, but something had changed beyond that. A connection had snapped into place between the four of us. Not just instinct. Not just magic. Something other. I didn’t have the words yet, but I felt the weight of it.

I needed to talk to the three of them about what had happened. Figure out what this truly was.

“Isn’t it beautiful?”

Elowen’s words drew me from my thoughts, making me realize I’d been trapped in them for some time. So much so that I could feel both Thornar and Basir staring at me in concern. My eyes widened as I took in the building we approached, a bridge over a rushing river of icy water separating us from it.

“The Solspire,” she continued in explanation, “the largest temple to Vorrakar in Thornfell.”

I understood where it got its name. The cone-shaped temple was ten stories tall with a massive glass sun-like ornament decorating the top.

The walls, made of glass and iron, reflected the blue skies above, and the ornate red and gold flags whipping in the wind lined the bridge and staircase up toward the front archway.

Considering everything I’d been through, a temple was the last place I wanted to be, but even I could admit that it was a sight to see. My wolf watched it warily but didn’t protest as we began to make our way across the bridge.

“Do you worship all of The Eight or just Vorrakar?” I asked the three of them.

“Oh, all of them, but he’s for sure the most popular,” Elowen answered.

“There’s no penalty for not worshipping, though,” Basir said. When I met his gaze, I could see that he understood my concern. I didn’t know how he understood it, or if I was just obvious in my trepidation, but I appreciated the assurance.

As we stepped off the bridge, I looked forward to the temple and drew to a stop. My gaze went all the way up to the top and then to the archway, where incense holders drifted in the wind. Something about the vision made my stomach tighten uncomfortably, and I dug my nails into my palms.

“Everything okay, glow?” Basir’s voice was rough but comforting…and then he touched me.

Rage-filled screams erupted in my head, ripping a cry from my throat as my knees gave out beneath me. The scent of burning flesh slammed into my senses, suffocating and cruel.

My fingers clutched at my skull, wet, slick blood dripping between them and seeping through my hair. Stone bit into my skin as I fell, my body seizing.

The screams only grew louder, a violent crescendo that drowned out the world. My vision went black. I couldn’t see. Couldn’t feel anything past the pain.

Then it stopped. The cacophony dimmed to a lull as warm muscles held me securely, my body trembling in relief.

“Open your eyes, lux mea .”

Ravik. My eyes snapped open, but the first person I saw wasn’t him. It was Basir.

The man’s face was twisted in agony as he looked down at his hand, still outstretched from when he had touched me. No . I didn’t want him blaming himself for what had just happened to me. It hadn’t been his fault . I wanted to get up, to tell him?—

“Gracie, look at me.”

My eyes moved up to Ravik’s intense gaze, ravaged with worry as he held me possessively and molded my body to his. The scent of steel and fresh linen slowed my heartbeat, and let out a shaky breath, unsure of what to say to him or how to explain.

When I looked to Basir for help, he was gone.