LOGINWillow’s POVI told myself it was nothing. Branches fell in storms like this all the time.Then I heard footsteps, and they weren’t mine.I froze.A second snap, off to my left this time. Then a third, behind me again, closer.I wasn’t alone.My pulse spiked, and I forced myself to keep walking instead of running, because running would tell whatever was out there that I knew it was there.It didn’t matter because within seconds shapes emerged from between the trees on every side of me. Seven of them. Their eyes were pure black, and I understood immediately what I was looking at.Rogues.Only two of them were in human form. They looked me over slowly.“An omega,” he grinned. “Wandering around alone in weather like this.”“Wolfless,” another added, sniffing the air. “No scent of a pack on her either.”The tall one looked toward the direction of the Blood Moon pack. “She's running,” he deduced, his grin widening. “From Blood Moon.”“Poor little thing.” the other one chuckled. “That mean
Willow’s POVThe storm got worse as the night went on, and I made myself wait for it.I sat on the edge of my bed with the lamp switched off, listening to thunder outside and watching lightning flash. Every crack of thunder made the windows rattle slightly. Rain hammered against the glass hard.This was the best chance I was going to get.I made myself wait a while anyway, just to be sure the storm wasn’t passing anytime soon. When it didn’t show any signs of stopping, I got moving.There wasn’t much for me to pack. I had arrived here with nothing and most of what I owned now belonged to this room. I pulled the darkest clothes I had from the dresser and changed quickly, my fingers shaky from nerves.I stood there for a moment looking at the small pile of things I was leaving behind. The blanket Mordecai had once used to cover me. The chair by the window where he used to sit. None of it was mine to take, and none of it would help me survive outside these walls anyway.There was one thi
Willow’s POVI didn’t go back to the garden that evening. I didn’t go to the training grounds. I went straight to my room and sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the wall, and let myself actually think about what had happened.The girl had wanted to leave.She had been a gift, the same as me. An outsider, the same as me.But she had tried to do exactly what I had spent weeks planning to do, and the result had been an execution that took less than a minute.I thought about how safe I had started to feel here. I thought about laughing in the garden with Mordecai yesterday, about the warmth of his hand around my wrist, about every small thing that had made me forget what he actually was.I had let myself forget.I thought about the first night in the stairwell, when I had told him to just get it over with, when I had been too exhausted and broken to be afraid anymore, and he had told me I was lucky he was in a good mood.What would he have done if he hadn’t been in a good mood?I alrea
Willow’s POVI didn’t sleep well that night.Every time I closed my eyes I was back in the garden, his fingers wrapped around my wrist, the apology that didn’t make sense, the disappointment that I couldn’t explain.What was going through his mind? By morning I had convinced myself I was being ridiculous.I went to the garden early. I knelt down in the dirt and told myself I was not going to think about Mordecai today. I had a whole list of things to do.I lasted maybe twenty minutes before I caught myself staring at nothing, thinking about the look on his face right before he walked away.“Stop it,” I muttered to myself.I forced myself to keep working, and for a while it actually helped. The morning passed, and I managed to push the whole thing into a corner of my mind.It was afternoon when I noticed something was different.I straightened up and looked toward the small door. I couldn’t see anything from inside the garden, but I could hear voices. There were more voices than usual
Chapter 73Willow’s POVA week later, the healer grudgingly declared that I was cleared for light work, which meant I was finally allowed back in my own garden. I escaped the clinic before anyone could change their mind.I practically ran there.Well, I didn’t run. My ribs still hurt too much to run. But I walked faster than I should have, and the moment I pushed through the small door and breathed in the familiar smell of soil and leaves, something in my chest loosened.It had only been a few days. But it felt longer.I stood there for a moment just looking at it. The rows I had cleared weeks ago. The blue flowers near the far wall. The tree I liked to sit under. None of it had changed, but I had missed it in a way that surprised me a little.This garden didn’t ask anything of me. It didn’t make my heart do strange things or kiss me and then disappear for a week. It just sat there and grew, and let me take care of it, and that was enough.I knelt carefully beside one of the flower bed
Mordecai’s POV (Yes, it’s HIM)Willow fell asleep faster than I expected.I watched her for several minutes without moving, just to be certain. Her breathing was slow and steady. Her face had stopped showing any sign of the tension that had been there all evening.I waited until her heartbeat settled into deep sleep before I let myself relax slightly in the chair.Willow was not a quiet person when she was awake. She took up space in ways that had nothing to do with her size. Even when she was talking, she was not silent, her movements, and the way her expression changed every few seconds giving away everything she was thinking even when she was trying to hide it.In sleep, she was still.She looked peaceful and younger than she usually did, no longer tense or waiting for the next problem.I could remember clearly the way her breath would catch. The way her heartbeat would spike at my mere presence.Tonight she had argued with me, mocked me, and rolled her eyes at meInstead of being a
Willow’s POVI had lost track of the days. I didn't even know how long I had been trapped in this room anymore.I tried to count them by the meals they brought for me three times a day that were always delivered by silent omegas who knocked, set the tray down, and left without meeting my eyes. But
Willow’s POVFear shot through me so fast my heart nearly stopped.I cautiously grabbed the nearest thing next to me before I decided to move.It was a small wooden candleholder from the table, which I held in front of me with both hands as I crossed the room.I pulled the door open.A girl stood i
Willow’s POVI stopped paying attention to where they were taking me.In the beginning, I tried to keep up. I told myself to count the turns, to memorize the hallways, and study the exits and stairwells—anything that might be useful later.That was what I needed to keep myself alive. But my mind re
Willow’s POVThen I saw him.He was standing with his back partially toward the doors. He was very tall, with very dark hair. He was not wearing any ceremonial clothing or armor or anything that announced rank. Just a dark shirt and trousers with blood splattered across the front, and a bloodied swo







