LOGINRaven's POV“You are still writing in that language,” I said as I stepped into the doorway of the east guest room, my voice steady even though I had already decided not to make this a confrontation.Callum did not look up right away. He continued writing at the small desk positioned near the window, the kind of placement that suggested whoever had assigned this room had not expected him to stay long enough to care about comfort. The exit paperwork was spread across the surface, half completed, and his pen moved with practiced familiarity over the old pack dialect that most wolves in this territory had stopped using years ago.I stayed where I was for a moment longer than necessary, not because I was uncertain about entering, but because I was observing him. I had not seen Callum in twelve years without the distance of a crisis, a battlefield, or a council directive shaping the context between us. Without that pressure, he looked different in a way I was not prepared for. Older, more c
Rider's POV“Are you planning to stay in here all morning,” Declan asked from the doorway, his voice casual in the way it always was when he already knew the answer.I did not look up immediately. I was seated at the kitchen table with a plate of eggs in front of me that I had not planned to eat here, in this room, at this hour, with Bailey sitting on the counter across from me as if this were an ordinary morning and not the aftermath of a political confrontation that would ripple through the territory for months. I took another bite before answering, because I had learned over the years that reacting too quickly to Declan rarely ended well.“I am eating,” I said evenly. “That does not require an explanation.”Declan stepped fully into the kitchen, eyes flicking over the scene in front of him with open amusement. He crossed the space in three long strides, reached out without asking, and stole a forkful of eggs from Bailey’s plate as if it were a habit rather than a provocation.Baile
Bailey's POV“Are they really gone,” I asked quietly, my hands resting on the cold stone of the corridor window as I watched the last of the Council vehicles roll toward the outer gates.The council left before dawn, their departure efficient and controlled, with none of the ceremony that had marked their arrival days earlier. Voss was escorted through the gates by Rider’s men, flanked on both sides as if there were any doubt he would comply, and yet he did not struggle, did not argue, and did not look back even once. That silence unsettled me more than any protest would have, because it felt deliberate, as if he was storing something away rather than surrendering it.I stayed at the window long after the final vehicle disappeared beyond the gates, li
Bailey's POV “I am walking into that hall first,” I said before anyone else could start arguing logistics around me because I already knew they were going to try and protect me by rearranging me and I was done being rearranged for other people’s comfort.Rider looked at me immediately, his expression sharpening with instinct before reason fully caught up with whatever argument he was about to make.“That is not protocol,” he replied carefully.I stepped closer instead of backing down, the mark on my collarbone still warm under my skin and my wolf fully awake inside me for the first time in my entire life, steady and watchful and no longer buried under someone else’s control.“I am the Luna of this pack as of approximately one hour ago,” I told him calmly, “and I will walk in however I choose.”Declan looked away slightly like he was trying not to laugh at the fact that Rider was losing this argument in real time while Raven stayed completely still beside him, though I felt approval f
Rider's POV“It does not change anything,” I told her the second I walked fully into the room because pretending I had not been standing outside listening would have been pointless and because the look she gave me when she turned around made honesty feel less optional than breathing.Bailey held my gaze across the room, steady and calm in that dangerous way she gets when she has already reached a decision internally and is now just waiting to see who else catches up to it.“I know,” she replied quietly.I nodded once but stayed where I was for a second longer before finally sitting down across from her.“I need to say it anyway,” I admitted.
Rider's POV“Are you certain,” I asked her one last time before the doors closed fully because despite everything that had happened, despite the council and Voss and the clock running itself bloody outside these walls, I still needed her to have one final chance to walk away freely.Bailey looked directly at me, then at Raven, then at Declan.“Yes,” she said quietly, “I am done letting other people decide my life before I even get to stand inside it.”Declan exhaled softly beside me, something almost relieved in the sound, “Good answer.”Raven stepped closer to her, gaze steady, “If anything feels wrong during this, you say it immediately.”Bailey nodded once, “I know.”I looked at all three of them for a second and realized suddenly that there was no version of my life before this room that still fit me properly anymore.Then the ritual began.And afterward I understood why the old texts never described it properly.Not because they were protecting tradition, but because language its
Bailey’s POVI couldn’t stop replaying Raven’s words in my head even after breakfast was long over, every step I took beside him feeling careful, measured, like I was walking on something fragile and didn’t want to be the one to crack it, and the worst part was that I didn’t even know what I was af
Bailey’s POVI didn’t know what to do with Raven standing there in front of me like that because I was used to Rider’s anger that filled a room and Declan’s jokes that never stopped flowing, but Raven was quiet, still and intense in a way that made my thoughts scatter instead of sharpening, and it
Bailey’s POVI shook my head slowly.“If this were just romantic, it wouldn’t bother me this much.”I pointed to my chest. “Alpha, this is different. We’re fated mates, and we can’t do anything about that.”He stared at me blankly, though a slight flinch betrayed him.He knew it too.I stepped close
Bailey’s POVI paced around my room throughout the day, restless as I waited for him to return. Hours passed slowly, stretching into evening, and eventually exhaustion won. I lay down on the bed, pulling the duvet up to my chest and tucking myself in.It was nearly midnight when I heard the sound of







