Novels by jaybenz0417

The training grounds were already crowded by the time Wren arrived, every unmated wolf in the pack lined up along the edges of the sparring ring, murmuring behind cupped hands. A few of them fell quiet as she passed, exchanging glances that carried yesterday's gossip with them. Darius stood near the front beside the Beta, arms crossed, watching the ring with the patient stillness of someone who already knew exactly how this was going to go.Kade wasn't there. Wren told herself that didn't matter, and mostly believed it."Pairs," the Beta called out, consulting a list in his hand. "Trial matches. Winner moves forward. Losers, back to training." His eyes skimmed the crowd and landed on Wren. "Wren, daughter of Maren. You're against Rurik."A ripple of laughter moved through the crowd, sharp and unkind. Rurik was easily the biggest wolf in her age group, built like a wall, and had spent the better part of the last three years finding new ways to make Wren feel small during training. He g

Wren waited until the house was dark and her mother's door had been closed for an hour before she let herself go to the box under her bed.It was small, plain wood, the kind of thing nobody would look twice at if they found it. She hadn't opened it in weeks. She told herself that was because she'd been busy, not because she already knew what was inside and hadn't been ready to look at it.She was wrong about being ready now too. Her hands trembled as she lifted the lid anyway.The carved wooden wolf sat on top, small enough to fit in her palm, its edges worn smooth from being turned over and over between her fingers years ago. Beneath it, a pressed flower had gone brittle and colorless, and a folded scrap of paper had softened at the creases from being opened and closed too many times to count. Kade had made the wolf for her the summer they were both sixteen, before either of them understood what a mate bond was, back when he used to sit beside her at the lake and complain about his f

The pack gathered at sundown, same as it always did for announcements that mattered, filling the clearing in front of the Alpha's lodge until there was barely room to stand. Wren stayed near the back, arms crossed, jaw set, telling herself she'd only come because Selene was right about one thing. People would notice if she didn't.She spotted the stranger from the training grounds almost immediately.He stood near the front, apart from the crowd in the way that mattered, not shoved to the edges but choosing the space between clusters of wolves who clearly didn't know what to do with him. No one stood close enough to touch him. No one looked at him directly for longer than a second."Who is that," Wren asked the woman beside her, an older wolf named Ilsa who ran the healer's tent and had never once looked at Wren like she was something to laugh at. Ilsa had set her broken wrist once, years ago, without a single word about how she'd gotten it.Ilsa's eyes flicked toward the stranger and

Wren didn't sleep. She lay on top of her covers still wearing the claiming dress, because taking it off felt like admitting the night had actually happened, and some stubborn part of her wanted to pretend it hadn't. By the time grey light crept through her window, she'd stopped pretending. The dress was ruined anyway. She'd torn the hem walking home, catching it on a root in the dark, too numb to notice until she was already inside. She peeled it off and left it on the floor. Downstairs, her mother was already at the stove, back turned, shoulders drawn up around her ears like she was bracing for something. She didn't say good morning. She didn't say anything at all. "You could have said something," Wren said. "Last night." Her mother's spoon stopped moving in the pot. "What was I supposed to say, Wren?" "I don't know. Something." "Kade is the Alpha's son." Her mother said it like it explained everything, like it was a wall Wren was supposed to understand not to push against. "Y

The whole pack was watching.Wren felt it in the back of her neck, in the itch between her shoulder blades, in the way her palms had gone slick against the fabric of her claiming dress. It was too tight across her stomach. She'd told the seamstress twice to let it out and the woman had smiled and said it would be fine, and now she stood in the center of the ceremony circle wondering if everyone could see the seams straining when she breathed.Kade would not look at her."Alpha." The Elder's voice rang out over the crowd, steady and formal. "The moon has chosen. Will you claim your mate?"Kade's jaw ticked. His gaze slid past Wren, past the space where she stood in front of the entire pack, and landed on the edge of the circle. On Selene, standing there in silver silk with her arms crossed and her chin lifted, watching him the way a hunter watches something already caught.Wren's stomach dropped before he opened his mouth."No."The word cracked over the clearing. A ripple moved throug